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SCMP: Why is Beijing afraid of a free press?

March 09, 2005 |  

Wednesday, March 9, 2005

View From America

Blanquita Cullum

Quietly and without fanfare, CCTV and 11 other Chinese television channels have started broadcasting inside the United States. The so-called "Great Wall Package" is part of a concerted effort by the Chinese to communicate their views of China to the rest of the world.

It is good that China is now eager to tell its story; it is a sign of self-confidence. The country is becoming an international power, it is a member of the World Trade Organisation and is hosting the Olympics in 2008. Soaring energy needs will soon make China a rival to America's influence on oil prices.

Unfortunately, the China of today still does not believe in level playing fields. It too often wants for itself what it is unwilling to allow for others.

On the one hand, China buys Boeing jets while, on the other, it censors all information relating to politics and international relations. Take the way that it has handled the news of the death of former premier Zhao Ziyang .

In his heyday, Zhao was praised by US president Ronald Reagan for initiating reforms, yet even Zhao's own private secretary was not allowed to pay his last respects to his former mentor by attending the funeral service. The man's wife suffered a broken rib when the two of them were prevented from leaving their home during the visitation period at Zhao's home.

What kind of a country expects to host the Olympics but beats up the wife of a former top-level official for mourning a fallen colleague?

It is a country that is afraid of its own people. It is a country that will do anything to keep its own people from learning the facts about political developments. China has managed to revolutionise its economy but it is still in the Stone Age politically. The contrast could not be starker than in the way the Chinese restrict the movement of foreign journalists in the country. The regulations prohibit them from travelling outside Beijing unless they have permission from local authorities.

To get permission, a journalist has to produce a list of names of the people to be interviewed, along with an outline of the interview and the questions to be asked. Getting permission takes time, and applications are often denied.

The Chinese allow casual travel to "open" areas, but their regulations forbid unscheduled interviews. And any travel to "closed" areas - like Tibet or wherever there is a demonstration taking place - must be authorised in advance by the local security bureau.

Contrast these regulations with the way that the US State Department advises journalists from China about how and where they can travel.

The Chinese are free to move about the country, interview anyone they want at any time - just like every other domestic and foreign journalist.

That is the way a civilised country works. And that is the way China will be expected to work when it hosts the Olympic Games, when a legion of 10,000 or more foreign journalists descends on Beijing.

Blanquita Cullum is a member of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors, the independent, autonomous entity responsible for all US government and government-sponsored, non-military, international broadcasting. The opinions expressed here are her own.

http://focus.scmp.com/focusnews/45JA585E.html