CHINESE PRESS COVERAGE OF TIBET PROTESTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 001039

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2033
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KIRF ASEC CH
SUBJECT: CHINESE PRESS COVERAGE OF TIBET PROTESTS

REF: A. BEIJING 981


B. CPP20080316968161

C. CPP20080318338001

D. FEA20080315583827

E. CPP20080317530002

F. CPP20080318584017/CPP20080318584016/200803185 84011

G. CPP2008031854013

Classified By: Deputy Political Section Chief Ben Moeling. Reasons 1.4
(b/d).

Summary and Comment
--------------


1. (C) China's media strategy in covering the Tibet protests
appears aimed at offering a coordinated "official" version of
events for domestic and international audiences. On the
evening of March 15, Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jieyi
provided a propaganda-heavy description of the protests to
the Ambassador, characterizing the "beating, smashing,
looting and burning" in Lhasa as a coordinated effort by the
"Dalai clique" to weaken stability and to disrupt the
Olympics. Since then, Government officials and media have
repeated similar themes and have focused on the "victims" of
the riots as well as the economic costs to Lhasa businesses.
The official Tibet media has included sharper rhetoric than
that issued by the central state media. For example, a March
17 editorial of the Tibet Daily, the TAR Party Committee's
official paper, calls on authorities to "resolutely strike
back" in "tit-for-tat fashion" and to "fight a people's war
to oppose separatism and preserve stability." One media
observer said that the authorities have issued guidelines on
Tibet reporting and that media should "keep reporting to a
minimum," "only report what is on Xinhua" and limit comments
on articles. Comment: The Party leadership has orchestrated
a carefully calibrated media response that appears designed
to legitimize whatever action it takes to crack down on
Tibetan protesters, contain the scope of unrest among Tibetan
communities and deter other dissenting groups from creating
disturbances before the Olympics. End Summary and Comment.

"Beating, Smashing, Looting and Burning"
--------------


2. (SBU) China's media strategy in covering the Tibet
protests has evolved in the March 15-19 period and appears to
be increasingly aimed at offering a coordinated "official"
version of events for domestic and international audiences.
The first Chinese-language report on the Tibet riot appeared
late March 14, a few hours after China's official news agency
Xinhua's English-language wire service began reporting on the
disturbances. The Chinese-language Xinhua report stated that
"since March 10, 2008, a very small minority of monks and
nuns in the Lhasa region have been stirring up trouble and
doing their utmost to create social chaos." The report went
on to blame the "Dalai clique" for the violence. A
broadcaster on CCTV-1, the official state television station,
repeated the Xinhua report on March 15.


3. (C) On the evening of March 15, Assistant Foreign Minister
Liu Jieyi provided a propaganda-heavy description of the
protests to the Ambassador and characterized the "beating,
smashing, looting and burning" as a coordinated effort by the
"Dalai clique" to weaken stability and to disrupt the
Olympics (Ref A). (Comment: "Beating, burning and looting"
is a Cultural Revolution phrase used today to describe
violent events that are spinning out of control and which the
regime perceives to be fomented by regime enemies. This
construction is very close to that. End Comment.)


4. (SBU) Since then, the Chinese Government's media message
has repeated many of these themes and has emphasized the
Dalai Lama's culpability for the violence. During a March 15
press conference by Qiangba Puncog, Chairman of the Tibet
Autonomous Regional Government, reported by Xinhua and widely
re-broadcast on Chinese state television, he reiterated the
claim that the protests in Lhasa were "organized" and
"pre-meditated" by the "Dalai clique." Xinhua also published
an English-language article on March 17 entitled, "Dalai
Clique's Secessionists Attempts Doomed to Fail" (Ref B).
According to the article, the police reported that three
monks "lacerated their bodies with knives and took pictures
of one another" to be used in implicating others for their
injuries. The report claimed that "innocent civilians were
stabbed, stoned and scourged." Lhasa police officers
exercised "great restraint" in dealing with the lawless
rioters, the report lauded. On March 18, during the regular
MFA press briefing, the spokesperson repeatedly referred to
the violence as "beating, smashing, looting and burning,"
saying that China has ample evidence to prove that the events
were masterminded by the Dalai Lama. He also emphasized that
the situation in Lhasa was normal and stable.

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5. (SBU) Beginning on March 15, CCTV 1, CCTV 4 and Lhasa
Tibet Television 2 (in Mandarin) began to carry news clips,
approximately one minute long, of the violence in Lhasa and
emphasized the lawless actions of the rioters. Most of the
coverage, including video clips of the violence, has appeared
on CCTV-4, a channel aimed at overseas Chinese. CCTV-1,
China's main channel, has carried brief summaries of Xinhua
reports at the end of some of its nightly news reports,
including a March 15 report with video clips. The coverage
on local Tibet television has been much more extensive than
central television, and on March 18, the entire 30-minute
news program on Lhasa Tibet Television 2 was related to theprotests (Ref D). (Comment: TV is the medium that reaches
the most Chinese news consumers. End Comment.)

The Real "Victims"
--------------


6. (C) The coverage by the Chinese pres, which largely
repeats or recycles Xinhua reports, has also focused on the
"victims" of the riots. For example, a March 18 report in
China Daily, the Party's official English-language paper,
states, "It is ironic, and even ridiculous, to raise the
issue of 'human rights' when the rioters have infringed upon
the rights of the majority of Lhasa people...to work in peace
and prosperity." The article also underscored that, "anyone
who visits Tibet can see how life has improved for the
people, the freedom they enjoy in religious affairs and how
much their cultural heritage has been preserved." The
Chinese reports have also highlighted the plight of Han,
Tibetan and Hui business owners whose shops were looted.

Official Tibet Media Urges Strong Action
--------------


7. (SBU) The official Tibet media have included sharper
rhetoric than that issued by central media. A March 16
article posted on the website of the Tibet Autonomous Region
(TAR) quoted Tibet Party Secretary Zhang Qingli as he
encouraged PAP "comrades in the midst of the struggle of fire
and blood" to "stand firm in your positions and carry on the
attack against enemy forces." He urged them to continue the
"old Tibet spirit" of not fearing sacrifice or fatigue, and
maintaining "special abilities to fight, suffer hardship and
exercise patience." A March 17 editorial in the Tibet Daily
(Xizang Ribao),the TAR CCP Committee's official paper,
called on authorities to "resolutely strike back" in
"tit-for-tat fashion against a "very small number of lawless
elements who have engaged in beating, smashing, looting and
burning" (Ref E). "We must...completely smash the arrogance
of the hostile forces, win total victory in this struggle and
ensure a stable social situation in the Tibet Autonomous
Region." The editorial, which was read on Tibet TV, called
for the mobilization of "cadres and masses to fight a
people's war to oppose separatism and preserve stability."
(Note: Editorials in provincial Party Committee dailies
carry the imprimatur of the Provincial CCP Committee.)

Internet Censorship of Information
--------------


8. (SBU) There have been reports of tightened Internet
censorship in China since the rioting began on March 14.
China's major chat rooms, including Sohu's "Let Me Say Two
Sentences," Strong Country Forum (People's Daily's BBS) and
Xinhua comment sections include commentary on the
disturbances, but it is clear that they are heavily
moderated. Opinions on these boards (which are not normally
known for their unanimity of opinion) seem to all be in favor
of suppressing the protests. Separately, a posting which
first appeared on March 16 on the Harbin Real Estate Web
network had a first-hand account of a netizen's experiences
during the Tibet protests. Following the article, another
netizen wrote, "Another disturbance in Tibet. I honestly
don't understand why Tibet wants to be independent. The
Government gives them such big subsidies every year!"
Another commentator wrote, "Kill them all. It looks like the
Tibetans sill want to be serfs!!!" This posting was removed
but cropped up on other PRC websites the next day. Reporters
Without Borders reported that the BBC, CNN and Yahoo News
websites have been "regularly inaccessible over the past few
days."


9. (C) Jeremy Goldkorn (strictly protect),a longtime Chinese
media observer and owner of danwei.org, told EmbOff on March
19 that censorship of Western and Chinese internet websites
has intensified since the eruption of violence in Lhasa. The
major difference between Chinese reporting on the 1989
Tiananmen incident and the Tibet protests is that there
appears to be more coverage of the violence in Lhasa.
Goldkorn speculated that the Chinese state media has been

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forced to report on the Tibet protests because of "leakage"
to the Western media. He noted that, when the Tibet protests
began, Chinese censors were already on high alert because of
the National People's Congress. On March 14, Goldkorn found
some "non-harmonized comments" which were sympathetic to the
Tibetan people ("Pity the poor Tibetans") on Tianya.cn, but
the postings were removed shortly thereafter. Since then,
the online postings are largely unsympathetic to the Tibetan
people. According to Goldkorn's friend who works for
Sohu.com, the press guidelines from the authorities is to
"keep reporting to a minimum," "only report what is on
Xinhua" and limit comments on articles.

Media Blackout
--------------


10. (SBU) Official media in Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan have
not been observed to carry any reports on the violence in
Lhasa or in the Tibetan areas of their own provinces (Ref F).
Official media in Tibet have also been heavily censored and
numerous media did not carry any reports on the Lhasa
protests (Ref G). However, a search of the TAR official
website (http://www.xizang.gov.cn/index.do) on March 19 shows
numerous articles about the Tibet protests.

Foreign Journalists Protest
--------------


11. (SBU) Reporters Without Borders (RSF) issued a statement
on March 17 condemning the restrictions placed on journalists
seeking to report on the Tibet protests. The organization
complained that foreign journalists have been stopped from
entering Tibet and Tibetan areas in neighboring provinces.
RSF claims that 25 journalists, including 15 from Hong Kong,
have been expelled from Tibet or Tibetan areas in China. The
Chinese Government's actions are in "contravention of the
rules for foreign media adopted in January 2007, ahead of the
Olympic Games," RSF claimed.

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


12. (C) Chinese language media were silent about the
developments in Tibet until late March 14; well-informed
Chinese contacts knew nothing at all about the week-long
protests, which had erupted into violence March 14, until
March 15. It seems clear that on March 15, the Chinese
leadership agreed on an official position on the Tibet
unrest, which was communicated by the MFA to the diplomatic
community and the foreign press corps the same evening. The
Party leadership has orchestrated a carefully calibrated
media response to the unrest in Tibet tha appears designed
to legitimize whatever action it takes to crackdown on
Tibetan protesters, contain the scope of unrest among Tibetan
communities and deter other dissenting groups from creating
disturbances before the Olympics. The media message may also
be designed to portray China's response as consistent with
international norms. The content of the message and the
scope and selective pattern of response signals the
leadership's concern over the potential for dissident groups
to undermine social stability as the Olympics approaches as
well as its sensitivity to international opinion.
RANDT