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
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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
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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
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4. (C) As part of a broader tightening of media

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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
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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."

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Little Change Versus Last Party Congress
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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

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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