THE faction led by President Jiang Zemin has stepped up the party's control over propaganda in an apparent bid to better position itself in the post-Deng Xiaoping power struggle in China.
For the second time in six months, the head of the party's Propaganda Department, Ding Guan'gen, has held a major conference on ideology and the media to push home Mr Jiang's line to the nation's journalists and commissars.
The meeting, which was reported by the national media yesterday, called on the official press to promote national unity under the banner of ''Comrade Zemin as the core of the new leadership''.
Mr Ding, a close ally of Mr Jiang, also promoted the President's year-old slogan highlighting the ''leitmotif of the times'' - socialism, patriotism and collectivism.
''The main thrust of journalistic work is to uphold unity and stability, to generate enthusiasm [for economic construction] and to make positive propaganda,'' said Mr Ding, a Politburo member.
Press sources in Beijing said it was uncommon for the Propaganda Department to hold two national-level conferences within six months.
They said that in recent internal meetings, Mr Ding and other hardliners in the department had imposed further restrictions on the media.
