Document Number Nine (or Document No. 9), more properly the Communiqué on the Current State of the Ideological Sphere (also translated as the Briefing on the Current Situation in the Ideological Realm), is a confidential internal document widely circulated within the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP) in 2013 by the General Office of the CCP. The document was first circulated in July 2012. The document warns of seven dangerous Western values, allegedly including media freedom and

judicial independence Judicial independence is the concept that the judiciary should be independent from the other branches of government. That is, courts should not be subject to improper influence from the other branches of government or from private or partisan inte ...

. Teaching on any of the seven topics is forbidden. There is an emphasis on controlling and preventing communication using the internet of ideas subversive to one party rule. The document was issued in the context of planned economic reforms and increased calls for political reform. It has been described as a critique of the "liberal ways of thinking". "Document 9," as it would come to be called, heralded the tone of the new

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

administration. It laid bare many major themes of Xi's tenure: a disdain for genuine, grassroots civil society; a reassertion of CCP control over any and all media messaging; and an insistence that the CCP alone can describe and interpret history. The document was not made available to public by the CCP or any branches of the Chinese government, but in July 2013 was allegedly leaked by Chinese dissident journalist Gao Yu, who in turn was sentenced to a seven-year imprisonment for "leaking state secrets". It is unclear whether this document is official Chinese policy or just a faction within the party. However, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' suggests that it "bears the unmistakable imprimatur of

". It is thought that Document No. 9 was issued by the General Office of the Central Committee, and would have required the approval of

CCP General Secretary The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党中央委员会总书记, p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zǒngshūjì) is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party ...

Xi Jinping and other top leaders.

Name

The document has been described as a communiqué or circular. The name of the document (''Document Number Nine''), as it came to be commonly referred in Western English-language press, comes from the fact that it was the ninth such document issued that year in China.

The document is highly critical of what can be broadly described as " Western values" (the document itself uses terms such as "Western values", "Western principles", "Western standards", "Western ideas", and more precisely, "Western constitutional democracy" (its first item) and "Western-style theories of governance", as well as making references to "Western anti-China forces"). The document is critical of "extremely malicious" ideals spreading in the Chinese society, such as ideas of (Western)

constitutional democracy A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of Legal entity, entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. Wh ...

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.universal values (

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

, democracy, and human rights),

neo-liberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...

, and

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...

(described as the "Western news values"). The document warns that such subjects undermine the CCP's control over Chinese society. The document also promotes ways of dealing with these problems, which include "Unwavering adherence to the principle of the Party's control of media."

Prelude

The prelude to this document references a previous article of 2012 and raises six challenges faced by the CCP in asserting control over its ideology, while also identifying various routes by which Western hostile forces might subvert CCP ideology. # The cultural penetration of Western hostile forces threatens the security of our ideology. There are three main ways of cultural penetration: #* The first is direct cultural propaganda, that is, the use of modern media for long-term ideological penetration. #* The second is to use cultural commodities as a carrier to infiltrate the various values of the West into the public. ''(Cultural commodities refers to movies, novels, commercial goods, and other commodities which might be subverted by Western hostile forces.)'' #* The third is to infiltrate Western values into social elites such as high-level scholars and intellectuals under the cover of educational and academic exchanges. # Various social thoughts aim to hinder or subvert the authoritative identification of China's mainstream ideology. # The

collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

and the fall of communism in Eastern Europe have undermined belief in China's mainstream ideology. # The theme of development and the goal of modernization have played down the opposition between ideologies. (i.e. opposition between the Western system of liberal democracy and the Chinese system of "

socialism with Chinese characteristics Socialism with Chinese characteristics (; ) is a set of political theories and policies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that are seen by their proponents as representing Marxism adapted to Chinese circumstances. The term was first establ ...

", which by implication are irrevocably opposed.) # Diverse value orientations have a negative impact on China's mainstream ideology. # Information networking poses a challenge to the control of our ideology.

The Seven Noteworthy Problems

The document specifically addresses the following issues that were seen as problems. These are the terms used in the document itself: # Promoting Western Constitutional Democracy: An attempt to undermine the current leadership and the "socialism with Chinese characteristics" system of governance. (Including ''the

separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state (polity), state power (usually Legislature#Legislation, law-making, adjudication, and Executive (government)#Function, execution) and requires these operat ...

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional ...

, general elections, and independent judiciaries''.) # Promoting " universal values" in an attempt to weaken the theoretical foundations of the Party's leadership. (That ''"the West's values are the prevailing norm for all human civilization"'', that ''"only when China accepts Western values will it have a future"''.) # Promoting

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere. are paramount and ought to be immune to obstruction by the state''.) # Promoting

neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...

, attempting to change China's basic economic system. (i.e. "unrestrained

economic liberalization Economic liberalization, or economic liberalisation, is the lessening of government regulations and restrictions in an economy in exchange for greater participation by private entities. In politics, the doctrine is associated with classical liber ...

, complete

privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

, and total

marketization Marketisation or marketization is a restructuring process that enables state enterprises to operate as market-oriented firms by changing the legal environment in which they operate. This is achieved through reduction of state subsidies, organiza ...

".) # Promoting the West's idea of journalism, challenging China's principle that the media and publishing system should be subject to Party discipline. # Promoting historical nihilism, trying to undermine the history of the CCP and of New China. (For example ''to deny the scientific and guiding value of Mao Zedong thought''.) # Questioning Reform and Opening and the socialist nature of

. (For example, saying ''"We have deviated from our Socialist orientation."'')

Leak

The contents of the memo became known when accounts of presenting it to cadre in the Liaoyuan municipal government were published in the local paper. In May 2013, cadre at the

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

Party Committee for Urban and Rural Construction studied the material, as did cadre in

Anyang Anyang ( zh, s=安阳, t=安陽; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan, China. Geographical coordinates are 35° 41'~ 36° 21' north latitude and 113° 38'~ 114° 59' east longitude. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the eas ...

. In April 2015, ''The'' ''Wall Street Journal'''s Josh Chin reported a 71-year-old Chinese journalist was convicted for releasing Document 9. Journalist Gao Yu was sentenced to seven years in prison by Beijing's Third Intermediate People's Court after being found guilty in a closed trial of leaking state secrets to foreign media. Ms Gao was accused by the court of leaking an internal CCP directive to an overseas Chinese news site in 2013, according to her lawyer, Mo Shaoping. Historically, it is rare for Chinese authorities to detain or jail elderly critics, who were traditionally given quiet warnings when they crossed political red lines. The article suggests that the charge is a pretext for aggressive action against political dissent and cites other examples of elderly publishers and journalists being prosecuted.

Analysis

According to an analysis by a reporter at ''

'', the emphasis on political discipline was also intended to forestall leftist, or Maoist, opposition to needed economic reforms, thus avoiding the split which resulted in the Soviet Union during Gorbachev's reform efforts when media freedom resulted in publishing of a great deal of critical historical material and alienation of the mass of party workers.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, China, Communism, 2010s 2013 in China 2013 documents Classified documents Xi Jinping Chinese Communist Party Censorship in China