Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Gao Jiancheng


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Liz Read! Talk! 03:08, 27 March 2022 (UTC)

Gao Jiancheng

 * – ( View AfD View log | edits since nomination)

Doesn't appear to be notable. Pepper Beast   (talk)  02:41, 20 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions.   Pepper Beast    (talk)  02:41, 20 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of China-related deletion discussions.   Pepper Beast    (talk)  02:41, 20 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Keep. The article has multiple references. An act of bravery like this might well earn a soldier of the United States or United Kingdom one of their country's top awards for bravery, and recipients of the George Cross, Victoria Cross or Congressional Medal of Honor are always notable. Eastmain (talk • contribs) 04:52, 20 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Military-related deletion discussions.  Spiderone (Talk to Spider) 13:28, 20 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Keep Good amount of coverage on Chinese websites, and he was given the "Flood Fighting Hero" title (the PRC's military honours system is very ad hoc, but this sort of title ranks very very high). Atchom (talk) 17:55, 20 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Delete as WP:PROPAGANDA, only Chinese media sources given, poorly written and not NPOV: "He loved study as a child. He was an outstanding student", "He was awarded by the Air Force several times" and "After his death, his mother sent his brother Gao Jianmin to inherit Gao's career." Seems like an attempt to create a new Lei Feng. Mztourist (talk) 04:02, 21 March 2022 (UTC)
 * It's a fact of life that most coverage of a PRC person is going to come from the PRC; that itself isn't disqualifying. Atchom (talk) 18:05, 22 March 2022 (UTC)
 * It is disqualifying when its propaganda from a country without media freedom. Mztourist (talk) 03:09, 23 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Unless you think Wikipedia should not cover most of the world at all this is clearly a ridiculous position. Atchom (talk) 05:40, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Unless you think Wikipedia should be an echo of Chinese Communist Party propaganda it is clearly not a ridiculous position. Mztourist (talk) 07:39, 24 March 2022 (UTC)


 * Changing my vote to Keep I have cleaned up and rewritten the page to describe his role as a Chinese Communist Party propaganda icon. Mztourist (talk) 09:00, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Congrats for all of us. Even when Gao was a propaganda icon, I think he is still more realistic than many superheroes of Marvel Universe. I have just found a comics book about him at https://www.abebooks.com/Flood-fighting-hero-comics-Series-flood-Gao/8873430185/bd . Another successful propaganda icon, it could help improve rescue operations and save more lives in future. Leemyongpak (talk) 10:06, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Yet you said he was "neither Commercial nor Political character" when he clearly was a "Political character". Mztourist (talk) 03:36, 25 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Ah, let me rephrase my words "neither Commercial nor Political character" clearly. We can modify our opinion during the consensus, someone just rephrase a few words to clarify their mind, others even change their vote from Delete to Keep :) Leemyongpak (talk) 04:51, 25 March 2022 (UTC)
 * My change of vote was due to the provisions of RS (Guardian and SCMP), that's how AfD works. Mztourist (talk) 18:13, 25 March 2022 (UTC)


 * Keep A hero who sacrificed to save his teammate and people. He was the "Flood Fighting Hero", neither Commercial nor Political character. Recognized by Chinese government and Admired by million of Chinese persons is notable enough. Leemyongpak (talk) 06:30, 21 March 2022 (UTC)

Keep per the significant coverage in multiple independent reliable sources.  The article notes: "Gao Jiancheng was swept away on August 1 in a disaster on the Yangtze River which has been reported only sketchily. The first day of August happened to be national Army Day.Named by China's president, Jiang Zemin, as a 'hero of flood resistance', Gao has become a posthumous propaganda icon. His unfortunate wife has also been swept up in what amounts to a media flood. She has been shown studying an over-lifesize statue of her late husband, knocked together hastily by some sculptors in Shanghai. 'It's just like him,' she was quoted as saying: 'I feel as if he is still alive.' There is a well established convention for the writing up of heroic deeds which dates back to the 1949 revolution. Though China has changed greatly in recent years, this politico-literary style remains absolutely the same."  The article notes: "A new national hero has been created as part of the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to transform the most devastating natural disasters of the decade into a patriotic campaign to unite the nation. The late Gao Jiancheng, a 32-year-old PLA lieutenant, was hailed by the Central Military Commission as a 'flood combat hero' - the first and only such title conferred by President Jiang Zemin for PLA officers. Supervised by the party central, the People's Daily accorded front page coverage to Gao's gallantry. As political instructor of an anti-aircraft company, he had insisted on being in command of a mission in protecting a dyke in Jiayu County, Hebei Province, even though he had been suffering from a fever for days." Xinhua News Agency sources:  The article notes: "Gao Jiancheng was the political instructor of a certain air force artillery regiment. On 1st August, he heroically sacrificed his life while trying to rescue the masses and his comrades-in-arms during his unit's emergency and rescue operation in Bizhouwan, Hubei's Jiayu County." <li> The article notes: "At the meeting, Zhang Wannian presented a heroic model medal, first grade, and a certificate for martyr Gao Jiancheng to his wife Lu Pei. Prior to the opening of the meeting, Zhang Wannian also met Lu Pei and extended lofty greetings and warm comfort to the family of comrade Gao Jiancheng on behalf of Chairman Jiang Zemin."</li> <li> The article notes: "Li Gang, a press photographer, still can remember till this day the scenes on the flood-fighting forefront in 1998: When the body of Gao Jiancheng, a CCP member and a young servicemen, was retrieved from the water, his left hand was still held high. ... Four years have passed, yet these words coming straight from the depths of the hearts of the masses still can make his blood boil today."</li> <li> The article notes: "The long list of heroes who have sacrificed their lives in the arduous battle include Gao Jiancheng, an air force officer who died while attempting to save the life of a comrade. Gao's septuagenarian mother, a resident of Hunan Province, learned of her son's death and decided to allow her three remaining sons and two grandsons to join the effort."</li> </ol></li> <li> The book notes: "On August 1, 1998, Gao Jiancheng, a soldier of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, died of fatigue after he had rescued several of his comrades-in-arms from a flood. Lu Bei, his 28-year-old wife, made a present of the more than 100,000 yuan donated to her and her daughter by soldiers of the unit in which her husband had served</li> <li></li> </ol>There is sufficient coverage in reliable sources to allow Gao Jiancheng to pass Notability, which requires "significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject". Cunard (talk) 11:00, 23 March 2022 (UTC) </li></ul>
 * The Guardian and South China Morning Post articles you have quoted just confirm my earlier comments that this is WP:PROPAGANDA by the Chinese Communist Party attempting to create a new Lei Feng. Mztourist (talk) 07:41, 24 March 2022 (UTC)


 * Keep Per Cunard's sources. We would cover an American or European war hero even though that is also likely propaganda, and not covering a Chinese one because of "propaganda" is WP:SYSTEMICBIAS. Questionable claims can be resolved with attribution: "According to state-run media..." Jumpytoo Talk 17:20, 24 March 2022 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. <b style="color:red">Please do not modify it.</b> Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.