FOREIGN JOURNALISTS TEST CHINA'S RELAXED MEDIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 000318

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2032
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KCUL SOCI CH
SUBJECT: FOREIGN JOURNALISTS TEST CHINA'S RELAXED MEDIA
RULES WITH MIXED RESULTS

REF: 06 BEIJING 24239

Classified By: Politcal Section Internal Unit Chief Susan A. Thornton.
Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

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


1. (C) Foreign journalists have had mixed results in
testing China's newly relaxed travel and interview
rules (reftel). Several dissidents and controversial
figures have given interviews to foreign media outlets
with no official interference or repercussions, our
contacts told us. Nonetheless, officials prevented
reporters from meeting with Shanghai-based lawyer
Zheng Enchong shortly after the new year. A key
reckoning will come the next time a violent protest
flares and grabs the attention of the international
press, Chinese and foreign journalists said. The
relaxed restrictions have not translated into more
openness for China's own journalists, who remain keen
to avoid arousing the censors' sensitivities.
Domestic media has presented predictably positive
coverage of the policy's rollout, about which
Propaganda authorities have issued no specific
coverage guidelines, contacts told us. End Summary.

A Welcome Relaxation
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2. (C) The Foreign Ministry announced State Council
order No. 477 on December 1 (reftel),specifying that
foreign journalists will not need permission from
provincial foreign affairs offices to conduct news
gathering activities in China during the period
surrounding the 2008 Beijing Olympics, from January 1,
2007 to October 17, 2008. Our foreign media contacts
told us the previous regulations, adopted in the wake
of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, had become largely
irrelevant because reporters found ways around them
and enforcement was inconsistent in any case.
Nevertheless, reporters we spoke with were upbeat
about the relaxation, remarking that local officials
can no longer dust off the old rules and use them to
justify detentions or harassment. "This is a positive
step," said Associated Press Beijing Bureau Chief
Charles Hutzler.


3. (C) Hutzler and other reporters told us that the
real question is whether the dissidents and
controversial figures they interview will suffer
official retribution because of their contacts with
foreign media. Contacts we spoke to said they are
unaware of any negative repercussions to their
interviewees and that some of the subjects themselves
continue to talk to the press. Activist Hu Jia, who
is under house arrest, has been granting phone
interviews since the new year. On January 12 he told
poloff he has spoken with several foreign outlets
about the appeal decision upholding the original
verdict in the highly sensitive Chen Guangcheng case
(septel). Li Jinsong, a rights lawyer, also told us
he has spoken with the overseas press with no official
fallout. One positive result of the new rules is that
"it has emboldened dissidents to speak more freely
with us," said Benjamin Lim, a Reuters correspondent
who interviewed former Zhao Ziyang aide Bao Tong, also
under house arrest, on January 1.

Key Test: Social Unrest
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4. (C) Lim added, however, that it is too early to
judge how consistently the rules will be applied. For
example, he related that officials prevented Reuters
reporters from meeting with Shanghai rights lawyer
Zheng Enchong just after the new year. Like Hu and
Bao, Zheng is under house arrest and has the
additional sentence of being "deprived of political
rights" for one year, which raises questions about
whether the Government will use such legal loopholes
to limit sensitive contacts. Another bellwether will
be how officials react to foreign media attempts to
cover a number of upcoming sensitive anniversaries,
Lim said. January 17 will mark two years sncethe
death of Zhao Ziyang, he specified, adding that many
in the foreign media corps intend to go to the former
leader's house on that date to attempt to interview
family members.


5. (C) At the same time, Chinese and foreign

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journalists we spoke with all agree that the acid test
for the relaxation will be how local officials respond
to foreign media interest (and presence) when an
incident of unrest flares in their area. "The
problems we face are usually with security personnel
who do not tend to care what the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs says," Hutzler of the AP said. The MFA and
the State Council Information Office can disseminate
all the new rules they like, he added, but the
question is, will the message get to the right people?
(Note: The State Council order was mum on the subject
of covering social unrest and MFA spokesman Liu
Jianchao was ambiguous on the subject at the December
1 press conference, saying only that "local officials
may restrict foreign reporters' news gathering in
cases where there are disturbances of public order or
emergencies." End note.)

No Relief for Chinese Journalists
--------------


6. (C) The easing has had no appreciable effect for
Chinese journalists, said Wang Feng (protect),an
editor and writer at the influential bi-weekly Caijing
Magazine. As ever, media content that crosses
censors' red lines can land journalists and editors in
trouble. He assessed that the relaxed rules are
little more than a public relations tool designed to
boost China's international image in the run-up to the
Games in 2008. At the same time, he speculated that
the increased openness could benefit Chinese reporters
by giving them some cover when traveling to areas of
simmering unrest. Security officials will be less
likely to arrest or abuse local journalists in the
presence of a CNN camera, Wang theorized. Li Tao
(protect),a professor at the Tsinghua University
School of Journalism and Communications, separately
made a similar point, although he added that most
reporters he has spoken with believe the relaxation
has "nothing to do with them." Li said the Order is a
good sign overall and reflects confidence on the part
of Central authorities.


7. (C) Chinese media reporting on the State Council
Order has been straightforward and upbeat. The
English-language China Daily newspaper and website,
whose readership is primarily foreign, have
predictably provided ample coverage. Local newspapers
and magazines have also run articles and the Xinhua
News Service listed the relaxation as one of the "top
10 media stories of 2006" in a roundup on January 10.
The Sina.com news portal published an interesting
article on the subject on January 1, recounting the
"positive" experiences of Lim of Reuters in securing
interviews. The piece quoted a People's Daily
reporter as saying that the influx of overseas press
will pose a challenge because the different working
styles of foreign and Chinese journalists "will make
me feel more pressure."
SEDNEY