“Cherish your own political future,” one document said.
Students are also asked to “use various skills to hide [their] identity and pretend to be an ordinary netizen,” one document says. They are to “expand [their] online influence through networking with other netizens, especially influential bloggers.”
Common techniques listed in the training materials include “inspiring hostility and fear” for democratic countries, labeling dissidents as traitors, creating debates or controversy of trivial matters to distract attention from politically-significant topics, and encouraging nationalism.
There are also major projects or themes, for which talking points are developed. One document listed techniques on how to attack democracy, for example. It included arguments like: “Democracy is the Western world’s weapon to invade China,” “there is no real democracy,” “democracy leads to turmoil and chaos,” and “democratic countries also have corruption and crime.” All these arguments closely shadow official Party propaganda.
Staged Debates
One individual identifying himself as a paid web commentator told dissident artist Ai Weiwei in an interview that a fifty-cent blogger typically has many different online IDs, and in order to stage dramatic online debates often plays different roles.
When the government raised gas prices, for example, this person was instructed to control negative comments. In one remark he said: “I don’t care. It should rise more, so you poor people can’t afford to drive and it'll free up the roads. Only the rich should drive.” Then he used several other IDs to quote and attack his own comment. His strategy worked: people attacked the provocative remark instead of the Communist Party, and the discussion was diverted away from the high gas prices.
“I usually debate with myself ... It’s like playing a mind game,” he said to Ai Weiwei.
Another strategy he cited is to use apocryphal details when citing negative news reports, in order to undermine the story.
The blogger also said that 10 to 20 percent of the comments he sees online are by paid commentators. “Chinese netizens are really quite stupid. They become easily agitated. I can very easily control them,” he said.
Though he justified his work, he also said he thought the Chinese regime had gone too far on certain issues, such as carefully-crafted attacks against the Falun Gong spiritual practice and the Dalai Lama.
Click www.ept.ms/ccp-crisis to read about the most recent developments in the ongoing crisis within the Chinese communist regime. In this special topic, we provide readers with the necessary context to understand the situation. Get the RSS feed. Get the new interactive Timeline of Events. Who are the Major Players? 
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