Chines media face closure if they offend in run-up to Party Congress.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

Beijing has launched a massive propaganda blitz singing the praises of President Jiang Zemin in the run-up to the 16th Party Congress and lauding the importance of stability and unity.

The campaign began with a three-day national conference from Monday [26 August] attended by Mr Jiang, Vice-President Hu Jintao, propaganda chiefs from all provinces and relevant ministries and bosses of major media organizations.

To counter criticism of widespread corruption and massive unemployment, Mr Jiang told the conference the state propaganda machine should bolster public confidence in the Communist Party...

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