BEIJING, March 31 Kyodo
China's latest political ideology, former President Jiang Zemin's Three Represents theory, is starting to catch on with the Chinese masses after almost three years of nonstop official propaganda and media saturation.
Because of the publicity blitz that came to a head when Three Represents was added to China's Constitution earlier this month, experts and students say they are beginning to understand its application to modern China.
The constitutional amendment links Three Represents to the teachings of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping as a continuum of Chinese political dogma.
The awkwardly titled theory, announced by Jiang in July 2001, says the Communist Party must represent ''advanced productivity,'' ''advanced culture'' and ''the fundamental interests of the majority.''
''Most know it now, maybe not the content, but the approximate meaning,'' said Wang Lei, an instructor with the Peking University Legal Studies Institute's Constitution Research Room.
Because of the constitutional change, he said, ''a lot of people will see and understand.''
Copies of the revised Constitution, which also include first-time statements on human rights and private property ownership, are selling in bookstores and appearing in the press.
The theory, cited by government officials in contexts ranging from space launches to bird flu, is also catching on with low-level Communist Party cadres as a guide for good government, Wang said.
But over the past three years Chinese people, regardless of education, could not recite Three Represents.
They complained that China's political theories old and new were distant from their daily lives of trying to pass exams, find jobs or get ahead financially.
Some called Three Represents nothing but a way to secure Jiang's name in Chinese history.
At the University of International Business and Economics, a Beijing campus where students normally focus more on trade than politics, Three Represents is catching on because of a new semester-long class.
Yang Kaifeng, a sophomore French language major, said students are more interested in this theory than Marx, Mao and Deng because it applies to modern China.
''Deng Xiaoping theory is still more important than Three Represents,'' said Yang, referring to the 1970s directives by the late patriarch to privatize state companies and open China's markets.
''But Three Represents -- any party any time can use this to run the country,'' he said.
Graduate student Si Nuo said the theory deserved a place in history outside the Constitution. She called the theory ''more specific'' than past doctrines, saying it should raise the status of Chinese farmers, the majority of the population but also the poorest segment. But she could not name each ''represent.''
As common people see Three Represents' impact on their own lives over time, the theory will gain more recognition, said an editor at the Beijing Youth Daily, which has published articles about the theory.
He said the theory means the government will work to perfect the economy, which the public will notice.
''The basic meanings and connotations are pretty clear,'' he said. ''Some common people understand the meanings, but the theory still needs to go through a realization process.''
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