China Spins Mandela to Fit Its Political Narrative In 1964, Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid campaigner, was convicted of treason in a South African court and sentenced to life in prison. He spent 27 years behind bars. In 2009, Liu Xiaobo, a veteran human rights advocate, was convicted by a Chinese court of inciting subversion and sentenced to 11 years in prison. He is still behind bars. But before comparing the two Nobel Peace Prize-winning political prisoners, think again. In a rare mention by state media of Mr. Liu - whose name is blocked on Chinese microblogs sites - an editorial on Wednesday in the nationalist state-run newspaper Global Times issued a frothing dismissal of unnamed Western media, which it asserted had "deliberately focused on the imprisonment of Mr. Liu and praised him as "China's Mandela." " "Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for leading African people to anti-apartheid victory through struggle, tolerance and efforts to bridge differences," the editorial said. By contrast, it said, Mr. Liu "confronted authorities" and "was dealt with under strict legal procedures. This system ensures that a society of 1.3 billion people runs smoothly. Mr. Liu was detained and sentenced following his participation in Charter 08, a petition calling for greater democratic freedoms in China. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in absentia in 2010. "We can say that Liu reminds us of Nelson Mandela," the Nobel committee chairman, Thorbjorn Jagland, declared during the ceremony in Oslo as he stood beside an empty chair representing the imprisoned Mr. Liu. The Global Times editorial echoed the Chinese government's furious reaction in 2010, when Beijing accused the Nobel committee of meddling in its internal affairs. "Only Chinese law has the final say as to whether a person has violated its law or not," it said. In lionizing the former South African president, who died on Dec. 5 at the age of 95, China's propaganda authorities have hopscotched over much of Mr. Mandela's life as they try to write him into a political narrative that burnishes the Communist Party's legitimacy. It has not been easy, since Mr. Mandela's actions as a human rights campaigner, political prisoner and democratic leader of post-apartheid South Africa could be viewed as an emphatic rejection of the Chinese government's authoritarian rule. To thwart open discussion of Mr. Mandela's legacy, which might trigger reflections on China's own checkered human rights record, the authorities have demanded that the country's media and Internet companies adhere to the approved script by playing down his advocacy of human rights and democracy, his friendship with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader and fellow Nobel Peace laureate, and South Africa's erstwhile diplomatic ties to Taiwan. "All media and websites must be prudent in selecting the materials and report appropriately," stated an order from the Central Propaganda Department, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post. China's social media were also a concern. All posts and comments on Weibo and blogs that take advantage of Mandela's funeral to attack our political system and state leaders must be deleted immediately. Never mind that the apartheid government in South Africa also used censorship to maintain its dominion over the majority of its population denied political rights. Instead, the Chinese government is portraying Mr. Mandela as a freedom fighter cut from the same cloth as its own founding leader, Mao Zedong. That sentiment gained a boost on Tuesday from the South African ambassador to China, Bheki Langa. "They were both very strong leaders who fought for the liberation of their people, and who also contributed to laying the foundation for further development in society," he told Xinhua, the state-run news agency. In 2009, China became South Africa's top trading partner, and is now South Africa's biggest export destination. The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1998, a year and a half after Mr. Mandela retired as South Africa's first black president. Mr. Mandela once flirted with communism. But critics of the Chinese government say his embrace of democracy, political compromise and term limits place him at the opposite pole from Mao, whose decades-long dictatorship was marked by the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese from famine and persecution. "Mandela is not Mao," said Ai Weiwei, the dissident artist who was detained by the Chinese police for 80 days in 2011. Mandela devoted his whole life to fighting against autocracy, while Mao built an autocracy. Mandela left a nation free to vote, while Mao left a nation in feudal autocracy who still doesn't have the right to vote. Chinese liberals are not the only ones taking issue with such a comparison. In the days since Mr. Mandela's death, Chinese nationalists and Maoists have criticized the state media for insulting Mao's legacy with comparisons to the late South African leader. On "Utopia Online Daily," a Maoist website, "Kunwu Mountain Man" wrote "I laugh when I see newspapers, TV, and Internet media praise Mandela at all costs. Compared to Mao, Mandela is 180,000 li (about 56,000 miles) behind Mao. In the 30 years under Mao, there was no exploitation, no oppression, no toxic food and no smoggy days.