The Guomindang Attempts to Win the Hearts and Minds of the Chinese People: A Report from Yunnan

Abstract

Recently, the Propaganda Department of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee and the province's Bureau of Public Security issued the joint Circular Concerning the Strengthening of the Struggle against the "Heart Battle."¹ According to the circular, the methods of conducting Heart Battle (xin zhan) sabotage by the Taiwan Guomindang consist chiefly of beaming Heart Battle radio broadcasts; Heart Battle ballooning; mailing, and inserting in postal deliveries Heart Battle propaganda materials; sending "strategic" letters through the mails, and so forth. Compared with the past, the enemy floated Heart Battle balloons over Yunnan Province for longer periods, over larger areas, and in greater numbers last year. Incomplete statistics indicate that enemy Heart Battle propaganda materials dropped from balloons were discovered in fifty-nine of the province's counties in 1980, and reactionary pamphlets and booklets totaling more than 400,000 items in 260 categories were seized in addition to small quantities of watches, radios, medicines, foodstuffs, clothing, and other Heart Battle articles. The reactionary propaganda materials include pictures, cartoons, photographs, newspapers, pamphlets, and booklets, as well as reprinted or fabricated publications and writings by illegal organizations, the contents of which are extremely reactionary. Recently, the enemy has been inserting Heart Battle propaganda materials into publications and printed materials imported by China's science and technology departments and academic institutions.