For anyone who is attempting to find solid information on the recent T*bet occurrences, good luck because you most likely won't be too successful. As if China didn't already make it difficult to get solid information, expelling every foreign journalist made the difficult task pretty much impossible.
I am a bit of a media junkie. Although I know the New York Times and BBC (my go-to-media sources when I'm abroad and short on time) have no more reporters in the T*betan area, I find myself checking the NY Times and BBC on almost a daily basis. At best, I find an article of the Dalai Lama making another statement about the importance of peace or an unnamed witness who saw something from a distance away.
Some numbers have surfaces, but they are largely disputed depending on the source. Chinese media sources claim thirteen died in Lhasa on March 15 while the Dalai "clique" claimed at least 80 casualties. Western media sources state eyewitnesses to have seen and heard bullets, but Chinese officials stand firm that the officers could not have done so because they were not armed with any lethal weapons that day.
As an example, here are two articles from March 18 showing the contradicting coverage:
"T*bet chairman: Police exercised 'great restraint'" -China Daily
"Simmering Resentments Led to T*betan Backlash" -The New York Times
Chinese media is known for withholding information which has a possibility to hinder their "image." Because of this history, it is difficult to take much of their coverage seriously. On the flip side, mainstream Western media has a talent of reporting fragments of stories and making them appear to be the full story. From the pictures and coverage it appears the entire T*betan region is either on fire or up in protest. Although the recent events have some sort of impact on all T*betans, the majority of them are most likely making little to no change to their daily routines.
Whatever happened last Saturday and the days to follow, China is not helping themselves by removing all foreign media personnel from the area. A couple days after the March 15 riots, the Chinese government claimed Lhasa was back in order, so it can't be for the sake of the reporters' safety. Besides, reporters are in the heart of the Middle-East's worst areas which even if T*bet is as much of a mess as the NY Times plays it out to be doesn't compare to the danger posed in those Middle-East areas.
China has made large strides for the past couple decades at becoming a large world player. They have made many positive moves to earn the respect of foreign leaders, but this is a major step back. Whether or not the Chinese government has anything to hide, this secrecy sure makes it look as though they do.
Monday, March 24, 2008
What do you have to hide, China?
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1 comment:
This kind of thing happens all the time in China-- there's an event, the Chinese government wants to cover it up/control all the news about it, and pretty soon the cover up of the event eclipses the event itself. This is also because, as you point out, all foreign journalists got kicked out of the region, so the international media can only a) find out about the situation indirectly or b) address other dimensions of the story, such as information censorship.
It is unfortunate, and I think most people on the outside agree that it makes it look like China's hiding something. An alternative, or maybe complementary, hypothesis is that there really hasn't been a culture of political critique in the PRC-- criticism from regular folks in China isn't welcome (lands you under house arrest, etc. for compromising social stability), and criticism from foreigners (who have historically "humiliated" China) certainly isn't welcome, either. Perhaps as China's place in the world becomes more secure, criticism will seem less threatening. But arriving at a place where criticism is considered a normal part of a healthy society won't happen without a pretty major attitude adjustment on the part of the Party.
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