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 National TV broadcaster China Central Television films a military program in a studio in this file photo. Military programs become popular among Chinese. Li Jianjing / For China Daily |
BEIJING - A top Chinese military think-tank has selected 70 of its researchers to offer what it calls "professional" interpretations of the Chinese military for the media.
The People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Science will also release research reports to the public, said Bao Guojun, the academy's deputy publicity chief. "We would like to share our research findings with domestic and foreign media for them to better understand the development of the army."
Bao said the move to encourage the researchers to get the media in line with international practices and aims to "provide access to reliable, timely, and authoritative information" regarding China's military activities and policies.
The academy is the center of Chinese military research, which studies important issues related to national defense and providing advice for the top brass.
"There are a lot of biased foreign media reports on Chinese military, which has fueled 'China threat' theories in some Western countries," Bao said.
However, some observers also believe that the appointments show that the military is growingly impatient with views offered by commentators in the Chinese media as it tries to be increasingly transparent.
Zhao Xiaozuo, a military expert from the academy, said the Chinese public has become more interested in military topics, which can be shown by the many popular television military talk show programs and news reports.
For example, searching for "the Yellow Sea military drill" on popular search engine Baidu produced nearly 3 million entries.
However, Zhao said some hosts' opinions on military issues have confused the public.
The military experts with the academy will provide professional explanations on topics ranging from military strategy, military history, combat command, military training, weaponry and international military situations, Bao said.
"They'll accept interview requests from a wide of spectrum of news media including newspapers, television, radio and Internet websites," Bao said.
Chinese media could contact the academy's publicity department for an interview. Foreign media are welcome to schedule interviews with the acadmey's researchers through the International Press Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Military show gaining in popularity in China
A talk show about China's military is apparently one of the most popular shows on television with hundreds of guest speakers on standby to discuss new weapons and even unidentified flying objects, according to State broadcaster China Central Television.
An editor of The Defense Review show on CCTV said it aims to explain issues involving the military in plain language to the public. The editor prefers to remain anonymous.
The show, he said, features commentators from military think-tanks such as the People's Liberation Army's Academy of Military Science and the National Defense University of China.
The most recent episodes of The Defense Review discussed new types of warships and fighter jets developed by the US and Russia. It also tried to explain possible causes for UFOs.
The editor refused to tell how much CCTV is paying the commentators, but said fees for guest military experts are equivalent to the fees paid in other shows on CCTV.
It has been recognized as one of the 30 most popular programs aired nationwide in 2009 by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, according to the show's producers.
The show is produced by CCTV's military news center and airs on Saturdays and Sundays on CCTV-7.
CHINA DAILY
