Talking Points, May 7 - 18, 2011

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The first official Chinese government response to the killing of Osama bin Laden came on May 2 at a foreign ministry press conference. Spokesperson Jiang Yu said, "We have noted [US Pres. Obama’s statement that Osama Bin Laden had been killed] and regard it as an important event and positive development in the international counter-terrorism campaign. Terrorism is the public enemy of the

People's Daily, May 3, 2011

international community."

The next day, the front page of the official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People’s Daily included a short article in the lower right corner of the front page, “US announces [it] killed Bin Laden.” The article noted that Pres. Obama announced the death and that he had ordered the raid. The article credited the CIA and Navy Seals with the successful attack and highlighted a US State Department warning that Americans abroad should on guard in case of retaliatory attacks.

Coverage of this story clearly shows how China’s media environment has changed in the past two decades. Market-focused tabloids went with big photos and headlines.

[Larger versions of the images here and other front pages are available at our website.]

Wuhan Morning News and the City Commercial News went with, “[Bin] Laden is really dead”
Jianghuai Morning News, “[Bin] Laden falls.”
Beijing Times offered a graphic of attacking helicopters and the headline, “[Bin] Laden is dead”
Eastern Guardian had a wanted posted of Osama stamped “deceased” and this headline over the burning World Trade Center: “Bin Laden off the FBI [most] wanted list.” The front page also had a large cell phone ad.
Inner Mongolia Morning News, “[Bin] Laden Killed”
Southern Metropolis Daily, “[Bin] Laden Dead”
 

Jianghuai Morning News	Jinghua (Beijing) Times	Eastern Guardian, all May 3, 2011

Meanwhile, those newspapers under the direct control of provincial or municipal communist party committees, followed the lead of the People’s Daily and were generally more restrained.

Yunnan Daily had a small headline and a photo of celebrating Americans: “Al Qaeda leader shot.” Some papers carried no mention of the killing on their front pages: Xinjiang Daily (published in a region where Uyghur/Han ethnic violence erupted in 2009), Guangming Daily, and Guangxi Daily.

Exceptions to this pattern included the Gansu Daily with its “[Bin] Laden killed by American forces” headline and a large photo and the Liaoning Daily which featured prominent pictures of the burning World Trade Center towers and Bin Laden.

Pres. Obama told CBS News that photos of Osama’s body would not be released. That didn’t hamper

Hefei Evening News, May 3, 2011

the tabloid Hefei Evening News in its effort to sell papers. It featured a color photo of Bin Laden’s head showing a gun shot wound – above a headline that read “Website’s photo is suspected of being fake.” The Liaoshen Evening News had a drawing showing Bin Laden with four bullet holes in his forehead.

The Beijing Morning News emphasized Pres. Obama’s role, featuring his picture along with Bin Laden’s on the front page. On page three, an artist has Obama at a pool table, striking an “8” ball featuring Bin Laden’s head, while two other balls, featuring the heads of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sit nearby.
 

Detail from p. A3, Beijing Morning News, May 3, 2011.

At the end of April, representatives from the US and China met in Beijing for their renewed Human Rights Dialogue. The meeting occurred shortly after the two governments issued their dueling human rights reports, detailing each other’s shortcomings. These reports are, along with earlier ones, available in the “documents” section of the USCI website (US => China; China => US). The Chinese report, for example, highlights crime, electronic searches, and other infringements on Americans' human rights. This year's dialogue also occurred in the midst of a continuing constriction of the work of human rights lawyers and other activists. Shortly after the meeting, the Chinese government announced that internet regulation would be consolidated under a newly established State Internet Information Office.

It is not as if the net in China was lacking in government supervision. Freedom House, in a report released on April 11, concluded that

The Chinese government boasts the world’s most sophisticated system of internet controls, and its approach has become even more restrictive in recent years. Blocks on Facebook and Twitter have become permanent, while domestic alternatives to these applications have risen in popularity despite being forced to censor their users. The authorities imposed a months-long shutdown of internet access in the western region of Xinjiang during the report’s coverage period, and at least 70 people were in jail for internet-related reasons as of 2010.

It is worth noting that the Freedom House project was funded, in part, by Google and by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Google, of course, has been engaged in a struggle with Chinese net regulators for more than a year. USAID is intended to foster economic development and provide assistance to support US foreign policy aims. On April 28, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a report critical of Chinese government religious policies and practices.

Chinese authorities have rejected such criticism. Back in February Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu responded to Hillary Clinton’s pledge to spend $25 million to develop tools to help internet users in China get around the Great Firewall. Ma asserted that Chinese internet users have freedom of speech and that “[W]e are against any other countries using Internet freedom as a pretext for interfering in others' internal affairs." This week, leaders of China’s five state-recognized religious associations said, “What has been described about China in the report is entirely different from what we have observed and experienced….” People have religious freedom and the work of religious organizations is respected, they said, but they condemned “evil cults that are against society and humanity… Separatist activities [a charge sometimes aimed at Tibetans and Uyghurs] under the disguise of religions have nothing to do with religious freedom.”

It does not appear that much was accomplished at last week’s dialogue in Beijing. Afterwards, the lead US representative, Michael Posner declared, “It’s important to be clear about what our Human Rights Dialogue is and what it isn’t. It is a chance for us to engage in depth and in detail on a number of issues and specific cases. It isn’t a negotiation. It is a forum in which we engage frankly and candidly.” Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, reported the Chinese delegation held “that only through abiding by a spirit of equality and mutual respect can the human rights dialogue achieve positive progress."

The Human Rights Dialogue came less than two weeks ahead of Monday’s start of an even bigger discussion, the Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) meeting in Washington. A People’s Daily editorial this week summarized the central Chinese government attitude:

Although the Cold War has been over for about 20 years, certain Westerners are still trapped in the Cold War mindset, and often unrealistically demand China to solve a bunch of non-existent problems in hopes of forcing China to make concessions or even to change its political system. To their disappointment, all such efforts are destined to be in vain because neither the Chinese government nor the Chinese people will compromise on principles. China's development pattern should depend on the Chinese people, and foreign countries should not interfere. The Chinese people will never allow anyone to damage the interests of their country.” -- May 4, 2011

The S&ED discussions will center on security matters, including regional concerns such as the Korean Peninsula and South China Sea. With regard to economics, China’s currency has effectively risen by 10% against the US dollar, lessening the tension over that issue. Market access and intellectual property protection remain big concerns, though progress on these matters was reported after Hu Jintao’s January visit.

Essential information about these issues can be found at the USCI website. Those resources include documentaries on the South China Sea and Taiwan, as well as recent lectures about China’s military, soft power efforts, and economy. The “documents” section of the site includes Chinese and American reports about China’s military as well as Congressional Research Service reports on currency, trade, and other matters. Recent speeches by Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo on China's peaceful development as well as US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are available.

USCI hosts two important presentations this week. William Callahan will be speaking on the interplay between Chinese identity and security and Yi Feng will look at a broad spectrum of US-China issues. We hope you can join us for those talks. We also want to encourage secondary school teachers from outside the Los Angeles area to apply to participate in our 9-day residential summer seminar this August. Grants from the Freeman Foundation and the US Department of Education allow us to provide housing (double occupancy) and instruction without charge to participants. Please visit the K-12 curriculum section of our website to learn more.

Finally – for those who have earned the title “mother,” we offer our warmest wishes for a great mother’s day.