Village loudspeakers tested to voice Party policies
Villages across China have been testing their loudspeakers along the streets and lanes to carry the voice of the Communist Party of China for the 19th CPC National Congress, next week.
For example, the 5,700 villages in the city of Cangzhou, North China’s Hebei Province will be able to hear the new Party policies and other information loud and clear via large speakers, the Xinhua News Agency has reported.
These village speakers were an easier way to inform the people than other media, and they could bring the CPC and Chinese people together better, said officials from Cangzhou.
The city of Renqiu, Hebei, also revived its loudspeakers this year for another reason – to help the local Party officials to better promote local policies and activities among villagers, before and after Party meetings, China Organization Personnel newspaper reported.
The loudspeakers can also be used to publicly appraise Party members who have done well, and this, the authorities say, will cause Party members to be more vigorous and motivated, the newspaper noted.
Villages in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province also use loudspeakers to provide security information in both Putonghua and local ethnic group languages, Xinhua reported.
The clear reason the village loudspeakers, which were quite popular in the 6os and 70s, were gradually phased out and eventually forgotten was the arrival of television, Shanghai’s Oriental Daily News reported.
In the village of Nanmiao, a local, Yuan Erduo, said, “I haven’t heard a voice from a loudspeaker for years.”
The 68-year-old Yuan, a Party member, added, “They used to be the only channel for villagers to learn about national and Party policy. They were sacred and authoritative. I felt lost if I didn’t hear their sound,” Xinhua reported.
Unfortunately, when the loudspeakers stopped working in the modern age, many villages were full of noise from the Internet that left some beneficial policies misunderstood, Xinhua has reported.
One person from Hengli village, South China’s Guangdong Province told news site btime.com that the old loudspeakers not only broadcast domestic and international news but also carried songs and dramas in the leisure hours, and would even air a report about lost items.