Apr
21
The Tibet information war
April 21, 2008 | | Leave a Comment
Kitty XIE Rui (3)
Shrill protests about CNN’s commentator Jack Caffertu filled the air in recent days. His remarks about Chinese goods and the Beijing government inflamed a community which is already angry about international condemnations directed at the host country of the upcoming Olympics. The website anti-cnn.com, which aims to document inaccurate foreign coverage of the recent unrest in Tibet, has achieved over 500 thousands hits everyday.
So far, the founder Mr, Rao Jin said the site had collected more than a dozen inaccuracies or exaggerations on the Western press. The website’s supporters argued “foreign news media frequently write about censorship in the Chinese press, so they should be forced to see their own bias”.
Every time the Chinese citizen complaint about the Beijing government’s censorships on the news, the western media stands as a symbol with justice and neutral. But it seems western attitudes towards Tibet has triggered searing critiques by the Chinese this time. Even South Metropolis Daily, which is one of the most critical newspapers in China, ran a full-page story documenting the “unbelievable variety of errors” by the western media.
The Chinese is no fool, or they would not have great feelings of Chinese government’s strict controls over free expression. Therefore it is not an easy job to trick the Chinese on China-related news. In terms of Tibet issue, the Chinese have more knowledge and understanding than most western reporters.
On the other hand, during the torch relay, when the foreign protesters with “Free Tibet” banners were asked to point out the exact location of Tibet on the map, they had no idea. They said the matter was not where Tibet was and the matter was “Free Tibet”.
Yes, the matter is not where Tibet is. The matter is the long-standing image of China’s lack of human rights and democracy in western views. The matter is the European and the American have begun to regard China as a grave threat to them. According to a recent Harris opinion poll for the Financial Times, China has overtaken the U.S. as the greatest threat to global stability in the eyes of Europeans. Also, the recent Gallup Poll finds that China has replaced North Korean as U.S. third enemy in the eyes of Americans with the fact that more American name China rather than the United States as the world’s leading economic power.
The coverage of international news is usually in consistence with a country’s own political agenda and foreign policy. It is likely that in order to find a wavelength to in tune with the people’s perceptions of China, the reporters will cover the stories in a certain angle and find the evidence to support their presumption.
But, except for preconception of western media, China’s government took the unworthy battle at first. They did drive all reporters out of Tibet when the protest began
The western world has already used its previous experience to conclude that China has an authoritarian government. Without reporters’ experience and reports from the scene of Tibet protest, how can the Chinese government convince the world that is a violent protest?
No evidence, No retort.
In 2006, China’s relevant authorities formulated a regulation to facilitate news coverage by foreign journalists before and during the 2008 Olympic Games. This is a major turning point. In doing so, China will have the authority to insist that others hold a more objective and fair attitude towards China.
But if China’s government dares make that promise, she has to keep it.
For China, being open does not mean allowing others to determine China’s political and social existence in an environment.
Also, for western media, having free speech does not mean abusing it. It is just as the slogan of anti-cnn.com said “we are not against the western media, but against the lies and fabricated stories in the media”.
