At a recent national meeting of press and publication bureau heads,
GAPP director Long Xinmin delivered a keynote speech, during which he made the following impromptu remark:
There is some work that is not yet finished and must be continued this year. So we will not issue a new slogan.
Sun Yuemu (孙月沐), the head of China Book Business Report who writes commentary on People Online under the alias "Deadwood" (朽木), took this quote and ran with it. Beijing TV's morning news digest program later picked up his article, most of which is translated below:
A new year must have new actions, and if there are new actions then there must be new slogans. We don't bat an eye at this way of thinking or working. Every year there are new reports, and every year there are new slogans. If you are so inclined, go work it out - how many new slogans have we come up with, how many new actions have we had? Who really knows?
For the sake of a new slogan to shout, a squad of geniuses and brain trusters is given a hard time; they knit their brows and wrack their brains, hoping to come up with something creative, something that'll with them over, that'll astound them, that'll make a splash. However, what use is this kind of trend-chasing, made-to-order new slogan, created to complete a task?
New actions are definitely good. What we mean are those new actions that have real content, that are drawn out of practice and reflect the state of society and the will of the people. For they bring inspiration, open-mindedness, and regulated operations; for in today's information age, innovation can bring remarkable benefits.
But are new actions and new slogans necessary every year? Do new actions and new slogans really work for an entire year, but on the 366th day they're no longer any good and must be exchanged for new ones? If things aren't finished, if they're still in process, being implemented and carried out, should they too come to a sudden halt? Wracking your brains every year, even to the point of beating your head against a wall to draw out a New Slogan - it it really effective?
Seeking truth from facts and keeping your feet on the ground are always the keys to mastery; legalism and red-tape are forever the source trouble. Yes, as the year turns annual reports must be made and blueprints drawn up for the new year, but they must fit in with reality and take the facts as their starting point. If a major project from the last year or even the last two years is incomplete, then the new blueprint should still have a place for it; if it is important, then it should still be placed in an important position. If the new year has no "new slogan" to speak of, then there is no need to come up with one. Temporarily underdeveloped new plans and new measures should be taken out later when they are mature and perfected. If that is the middle of the year, then so be it; if they are ready in August or September, then launch them in August or September. Fruit that you have to strip off the branch isn't sweet; it will fall off itself when it is ripe. Otherwise, you're just like the farmer who pulled on his seedlings to help them grow. The "shoots" won't bear fruit. Or you're shooting blanks, throwing up a false front - impressive, good-looking, but useless. It won't do.
The new year is here, time to ring out the old and ring in the new, so be practical. Only in that way can you truly enjoy new weather and reap new harvests in this new year.
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Comments on No new slogans for the new year
I am quite impressed by you guy's good sense about China's politics and society, capable of singling out good stuff to talk about.
Yes, in China, people are never able to escape those false hollow political slogans which does no good the common people but serves as new tool to portray those VIPs and new stage to put on national show.
Big words never bring out big benefits for the ordinary people. It is quite astonishing if we realize that Chiese politicians tend to tell big lie, for example the Nine Year Compulsory Education, to its people wihtout feeling ashamed.
I personally pin some hope on this administration in a wish that the Hu-Wen could take China to a better society. We have to wait in their second term what they would come up with to building a better China for all.