Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BEIJING13858
2006-06-29 10:08:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Beijing
Cable title:  

DRAFT LAW ON COVERING "SUDDEN INCIDENTS" RILES

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KCUL SOCI CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
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OO RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHBJ #3858/01 1801008
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 291008Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0630
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 013858 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2031
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KCUL SOCI CH
SUBJECT: DRAFT LAW ON COVERING "SUDDEN INCIDENTS" RILES
CHINESE JOURNALISTS


Classified By: Political Section Internal Unit Chief Kin W. Moy. Reaso
ns 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 013858

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2031
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KCUL SOCI CH
SUBJECT: DRAFT LAW ON COVERING "SUDDEN INCIDENTS" RILES
CHINESE JOURNALISTS


Classified By: Political Section Internal Unit Chief Kin W. Moy. Reaso
ns 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) News that the National People's Congress draft
law on handling emergency situations will include a
section limiting the media's ability to report on
"sudden incidents" has stimulated anger among Chinese
journalists. Editors and reporters told us the
proposed rules constitute another in a string of
Government measures aimed at subduing an assertive
press corps. The influential bi-weekly Caijing
Magazine is preparing to fight the provision in the
hopes that the NPC will remove it from the draft law.
But contacts said the legislation enjoys backing at
the Party's highest levels and that the NPC Standing
Committee will almost certainly recommend passage as
is at the NPC's next session in March. Media insiders
stressed that the Chinese leadership views a genuinely
free press reporting on disasters, epidemics and civil
discord (as "sudden incidents" are loosely defined) as
a potential threat to social stability. If the final
legislation includes language limiting coverage in
these areas, it would constitute a significant setback
for the Chinese media. End Summary.

Negative Reaction
--------------


2. (C) The Xinhua News Agency first reported the
content of the media section of the draft law at the
end of a larger article about the legislation on June

25. The NPC has been considering codifying in law the
methods the Government should use in response to
"sudden incidents," which contacts broadly defined as
disasters, health crises or social unrest, for several
years. According to the wire service article, under
the draft law, news outlets would be required to
obtain local government approval prior to running
related stories or risk fines of up to RMB 100,000
(USD 12,500). Reporting "false" news could incur
similar penalties. Editors and journalists told us
the portion prescribing how the media treats such
events is a recent addition to the law's text.


3. (C) The response in the pages of some Chinese

newspapers and on Internet portals has been negative.
The Beijing News, a progressive high-circulation
daily, ran the Xinhua article under a banner headline
focusing on the media angle on page four (teased on
the front page) on June 26. The Southern Metropolitan
Daily ran a commentary the same day, calling the
proposed reporting rules "nonsense." The Internet
news portal Sina.com published a scathing opinion
piece charging that limiting the media's ability to
cover important news "violates the public's right to
know." The commentator wrote that the draft law also
violates the United Nations Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights. Referring to the key role the press
played in promulgating vital information during the
SARS crisis of 2003, the writer contended that such
openness earned the Government public confidence and
approval in the international community. Imposing new
rules, on the other hand, only increases public doubt
about the Government.

"Assemble a War Team"
--------------


4. (C) The influential bi-weekly Caijing Magazine has
decided to take a strong editorial stand against the
media portion of the draft law, said Wang Feng
(protect),an editor at the magazine. He related that
on June 27, editor in chief Hu Shuli phoned him from
the United States, where she was traveling on
business, and directed him to "assemble a war team."
Wang said Hu wants Caijing to rally a respected group
of legal experts to write a series of columns refuting
the proposed coverage rules. But time is tight. Wang
speculated that the Propaganda Department would issue
guidelines within a week on how to cover discussion of
the draft in an effort to squelch open debate about
the media portion. To stay a step ahead of the
censors, Caijing intends to post the commentary on its
website in the coming days. The magazine's next issue
is not scheduled to appear on newsstands until July

13. Wang said the magazine's aim is to rally enough
influential voices to criticize the measure, thereby
pressuring the NPC to remove the media segment from

BEIJING 00013858 002 OF 002


the legislation. He expressed optimism on this front,
adding that Hu Shuli "understands the boundaries" and
would not muster troops if the case were hopeless.

It's About Social Stability
--------------


5. (C) Others are less upbeat. The draft law,
including the media rules, enjoys support at the
highest levels of the Party, said Dong Yuyu (protect),
an editor at party mouthpiece Guangming Daily who
closely follows leadership issues. As a result, the
NPC Standing Committee will likely recommend passage
of the full legislation at the NPC's next session in
March. In Dong's view, the press coverage rules are
directly related to the leadership's growing concern
about social stability. He added that he believes top
Politburo members do not view a genuinely free media
as conducive to maintaining civic order. In fact,
with the number of protests over land seizures,
pollution and other issues on the upswing across
China, Propaganda Department efforts to keep related
stories under wraps will only intensify in the near
term, Dong predicted.


6. (C) Disasters such as the Songhua River pollution
incident in December 2005 are part of the impetus for
the proposed rules, Wang of Caijing said. The wide
media coverage of the Songhua spill was embarrassing
for local governments in northeastern China as well as
for the Central Government. As news of a cover-up
spread, officials must have feared a total erosion of
public confidence in local authorities, Wang surmised.
He added that censors prohibited Caijing from
publishing a story about a deputy mayor in Harbin who
allegedly committed suicide after being pressured to
take the blame for the chemical spill. That is
precisely the kind of article the Propaganda
Department wants to stop, Wang said.


Old Rules, New Game
--------------


7. (C) What kind of effect the proposed rules might
have on the media depends on how the censors enforce
them, Wang of Caijing said. Dong separately made a
similar point, adding that the Propaganda Department
has long been conducting monthly training sessions
aimed at providing guidance to journalists in how to
treat flash events. In this context, Dong said the
language in the draft law related to the press
reflects old Propaganda rules from the 1950s that the
Government is dusting off in an effort to rein in an
increasingly assertive press corps. Nonetheless, with
or without the regulations, media outlets face a
dilemma, Dong said. News about important events
inevitably becomes public knowledge via the Internet
or other means. The media has no choice but to
attempt to cover these incidents, but to avoid
unwelcome attention from the censors, the trick is to
know what details to leave out, Dong remarked.

Comment
--------------


8. (C) If the final legislation includes language
that curtails the media's ability to report on "sudden
incidents," it would mark a significant setback for
the Chinese media. In recent years, open reporting on
natural and man-made disasters and other crises was
one of the major advances for a profession that has
seen a narrowing of its ability to cover hard domestic
news. In China's current media climate, reporting on
disasters not only symbolizes greater press freedom,
but also increases circulation and viewership. From
this perspective, there are huge stakes for editors
and reporters, who appear to be headed on a collision
course with the Propaganda Department and the NPC.
RANDT