Former China propaganda chief Ding Guangen dies at 83

Ding Guangen, a former chief of propaganda for the ruling Communist Party who oversaw party control of media and the arts in the 1990s, has died at age 83.Ding, who retired in 2002 after a decade as propaganda chief, died Sunday of an unspecified illness in Beijing, the official Xinhua News Agency said.[caption id="attachment_386489" align="alignleft" width="380"] AFP[/caption]Born in 1929, Ding spent the early decades of his career in government maritime and railway agencies.He became minister of railways in the 1980s but resigned in 1988 after a series of train crashes that killed scores of people. He later was head of the Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office and the party's United Front Work Department, which oversees China's noncommunist organizations.Ding returned to prominence in 1992, becoming the party's chief of propaganda under then-President Jiang Zemin. Seen as a conservative, he affirmed party control of media and called on artists to show political loyalty and adhere to the party line.AP