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The international press mostly calls government officials, from anywhere in the world, "spokespersons". The US President's spokespersons are called "White House aides". Why are Chinese government officials labelled "communist propaganda chiefs"? Western media bias against China is so predictably boring. The Chinese word "xuanchuan" means to broadcast or spread informa-tion, and has no negative connotation. It does not carry today's meaning of "propaganda" defined by Webster's as: "chiefly derogatory information, especially of a biased or misleading nature to promote or publicize a particular cause or point of view." When xuanchuan was translated into English before World War I, "propaganda" was freely used in Western Europe without the attendant stigma. But its deceptive use during the wars, gave it a sinister ring, especially when the word fell under the evil shadow of Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. After the wars, government PR departments around the world no longer practised "propaganda". Instead it came to be called communications or public information. China also changed the name, but only in the past decade. These government spin doctors carried on exactly as before, singing the praises of the powers that be, but under a new title. Today's governments, in China, the US and everywhere, continue their spin. It's not bad, it's not good. It's just politics. It is what it is. | 
