CHINA TIGHTENS MEDIA CONTROLS AS PARTY CONGRESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 006606 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2022 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PROP CH SUBJECT: CHINA TIGHTENS MEDIA CONTROLS AS PARTY CONGRESS APPROACHES REF: A. OSC CPP2007092871002 ¶B. BEIJING 5706 Classified By: Classified by Political Internal Unit Chief Dan Kritenbrink. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) As the 17th Party Congress rapidly approaches, propaganda officials are telling Chinese news outlets to avoid "negative" reporting, according to numerous media contacts. News of accidents and disasters, especially mining accidents, will be tightly controlled. Media speculation about Party leadership changes has also been strictly forbidden. In addition, propaganda officials have launched a campaign against "low-class" television and radio programming, including severe restrictions on American Idol-style talent shows. According to one source, media restrictions are largely the same as they were for the 16th Party Congress in 2002, although the Party is reportedly doing a better job this time of controlling information about leadership personnel decisions. Though keeping a lid on bad news and "lowbrow" culture, the Party is granting both domestic and foreign reporters a higher level of access to this year's Congress. Journalists we spoke with, however, held little hope that press freedoms will improve significantly after the Congress. End Summary. Eliminate the Negative -------------- ¶2. (C) Propaganda officials have clamped down on "negative" news in the run-up to the 17th Party Congress, media contacts report. Such controls are in keeping with past practice of trying to suppress any reporting that would cast the ruling party in a bad light. Several of our contacts highlighted accidents, and mine disasters in particular, as targets for government censors. China suffered one of the largest mine disasters in its history when flooding killed 172 miners in Xitai, Shandong Province, August 17. Though China's media reported on the Xitai accident, Cai Wei (protect),an editor with Sanlian Shenghuo Zhoukan ("Lifeweek") magazine, told Poloff September 26 that propaganda officials would severely curtail coverage should a similar incident occur just before or during the Congress. Such accidents, which often involve illegal mines operating with the collusion of corrupt local authorities, are especially sensitive because they highlight systemic problems in China's political system, Cai said. Xu Fangzhou (protect),a professor at the Communication University of China, likewise said that during the Congress the Party will restrict coverage of disasters or anything that could hurt the "symbolism of the Party." News of any domestic financial crisis, Xu added, will also be tightly controlled. Information on Personnel Changes Closely Held -------------- ¶3. (C) In addition to disasters and other "bad" news, propaganda officials have also strictly forbidden any media speculation about Party leadership changes, according to Liu Jian (protect),chief editor of The Economic Observer, one of China's few privately owned newspapers. Wang Chong (protect),a journalist for the China Youth Daily, said that Party officials are doing a better job than in the past of controlling information about personnel decisions. Observers supposedly had an easier time predicting the leadership lineup that emerged from the 16th Party Congress in 2002. This time, the makeup of the new Politburo Standing Committee remains a "mystery" to all but a few insiders, Wang said. (Note: A September 27 article in Hong Kong's well-connected but independent Ming Pao newspaper (Ref A) describes details of some of the measures authorities allegedly are taking to prevent leaks. Officials are keeping staff responsible for the printing and translation of Congress documents in an isolated location where they are not allowed to use cell phones or the Internet, according to the article.) Censors Guarding Against "Lowbrow" Programming -------------- - ¶4. (C) As part of a broader tightening of media BEIJING 00006606 002 OF 003 controls in the months leading up the Party Congress, propaganda officials have engaged in a wide-scale clampdown on "low-class" broadcasting, particularly China's many American Idol-type television shows. China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) August 15 banned Chongqing TV's "First Heartthrob" (di yi ci xindong) idol show, according to a Xinhua report. SARFT reportedly pulled the plug on the show after a judge began crying during a live broadcast August 10. In September, SARFT issued new rules banning such talent shows from prime time. The new rules forbid any voting for contestants via cell phones or the Internet and stipulate that any live broadcasts must be on tape delay. Since August, SARFT has also ordered a clampdown on all sexually explicit advertising and banned 13 radio talk shows for sexual and drug-related content, according to Xinhua reports. Chen Hao (protect),executive editor- in-chief of the International Herald Leader newspaper told Poloff September 27 that the new rules reflect broader government concerns that television programming is becoming increasingly coarse, lowbrow and overly emotional and thus represents a negative influence on children. SARFT explicitly banned audience voting because the voting was subject to manipulation and even vote buying, Chen said. Better Access for Journalists -------------- ¶5. (C) Despite these growing restrictions, Cheng Mingxia (protect),a senior reporter at The Economic Observer, commented positively that the Party is increasing media access to this year's Congress. Cheng said the early announcement (made August 28, see Ref B) of the Congress dates has given reporters more time to obtain credentials. Compared with past meetings, this Congress will be open to a wider array of domestic media beyond Party organs such as the People's Daily. Domestic journalists who cover the Congress, however, must still be Party members, Cheng said. Foreign journalists are also receiving greater access, according to Chinese media reports. The influential, mass-circulation Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao) reported October 9 that a select number of foreign photojournalists will be allowed onto the first floor of the Great Hall of the People during the Congress, a privilege previously reserved for a small number of domestic media outlets. The Party Congress Press Center, according to Xinhua, has also announced that reporters, both domestic and foreign, will be granted an "unprecedented" level of access to meetings and officials. (Note: Unlike the annual National People's Congress held in March, however, foreign diplomats and press officers have been prohibited from attending the Party Congress.) An Associated Press reporter (protect),however, on October 11 commented critically on the supposed greater access for reporters to the Congress. "They will just waste our time with more useless press conferences," he said. The AP reporter also explained that, in years past, the Party did grant first-floor privileges for foreign photographers at the Congress. "Legend has it," he said, that such access was curtailed only after a foreign news service ran a photo of then-General Secretary Jiang Zemin "picking his nose." SIPDIS Little Change Versus Last Party Congress -------------- ¶6. (C) Liu Jian told Poloff September 27 that media controls surrounding the 17th Congress are about the same as they were for the 16th Congress in 2002. Propaganda officials are instructing journalists and editors to "create a favorable scope of public opinion" (liang hao de yulun fanwei) for the Congress, he explained. Some local officials are using this guidance in an attempt to kill any unfavorable reporting, no matter how tangential to the Congress. Liu described how he recently received a call from a lottery official in Liaoning Province who asked Liu, in the name of maintaining stability before the 17th Congress, to spike a story about lottery cheating. Liu ignored the request and ran the story anyway. Controls Likely to Remain Tight Even After Congress -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) Media contacts gave mixed reviews to Politburo Standing Committee member Li Changchun, the top Party official in charge of propaganda, who some contacts BEIJING 00006606 003 OF 003 speculate may retire after the 17th Party Congress. Xu, the communications professor, gave Li high marks for promoting marketization of China's media outlets, but he asserted that Li has not succeeded in significantly relaxing press controls. Xu attributed the slow pace of media reform to the opposition of the propaganda bureaucracy, which views greater freedom as a threat to its power. Wang Chong, of the China Youth Daily, echoed Xu's comments about the intransigence of the propaganda bureaucracy. It is a mistake, Wang said, to believe that one single person can control media policy in China. Regardless of whether a new propaganda chief is selected, Xu and Wang predicted there will be little change in press freedom following the Congress. Piccuta