China wrestles with new media era

By Peter Feuilherade
BBC Monitoring

China has pledged to allow greater access to the foreign media

A senior Chinese information official has outlined new measures to improve the presentation of China to the world's media and to boost the flow of news to both local and foreign journalists.

He was speaking after new regulations came into force at the start of the year which will allow foreign journalists greater access and freedom to report across China ahead of next year's Olympic Games - although they will expire in October 2008.

In an interview published on the China Daily website on 4 January, State Council Information Office (SCIO) Vice-Minister Wang Guoqing said China was going through a phase of transition from "managing the media" to "serving the media". Enhancing government accountability and transparency was a priority, he said.

His remarks echoed those made earlier by Liu Jianchao, director of the Information Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, who said foreign journalists "would enjoy more and more freedom in China".

'Dull speeches'

Wang Guoqing said the SCIO was increasing the frequency of press conferences at which the media could grill ministers or their deputies on government policies and proposals. "Last year, 59 ministers and their deputies addressed 58 press conferences at the SCIO," the report noted.

He said the next step was to improve the reporting of the State Council's executive meetings, currently covered only by China's official news agency Xinhua and a few other media outlets.

The authorities are allowing foreign journalists more freedom, but at the same time the Chinese media are still being kept under strict surveillance Reporters Sans Frontieres

"This year we will see if it's possible to build a news release mechanism for the executive meetings so that the issues discussed could be disseminated in a more efficient way and through multiple channels," Mr Wang pledged.

He acknowledged that some officials still addressed the media "as if they were speaking to their subordinates, reading lengthy and dull speeches, and steering clear of vital points".

And he warned that while foreign reporters might not have difficulty reporting in Beijing, he was "not quite optimistic" about how the rules would be applied outside major cities.

Media analysts have expressed concerns that some local officials, set in their old ways, may ignore directives from the central authority on allowing greater access to the foreign media.

Editor sacked

Looking ahead to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Wang Guoqing said China would hold a series of news conferences on China's political and legal systems, economic and social development, media regulations, human rights, Olympic construction projects and environmental protection.

At least 30,000 foreign journalists are expected in China next year.

Chinese authorities retain tight control over the domestic media

"We'll work harder and issue more news releases to address the concerns of the overseas media before the Games," he promised. But he complained that some foreign media still carried "reports laden with political prejudice and lacking truth", which disparaged China internationally.

While the foreign media may have greater freedom to travel and report in China, the sacking of the editor of a popular Chinese publication at the end of last year shows that the grip of the central government on the domestic electronic and print media remains firm.

Huang Liangtian, the editor of the monthly magazine Baixing (Popular Masses) published by the Ministry of Agriculture, told foreign news agencies this week that he was sacked after reporting on corruption and making his publication too critical of the government.

The Paris-based watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) condemned Huang's sacking, saying it was part of a media purge that began last year in an attempt to stop growing criticism of officials belonging to the ruling Communist Party.

"The authorities are allowing foreign journalists more freedom, but at the same time the Chinese media are still being kept under strict surveillance by the (Communist Party's) Propaganda Department and by local authorities," RSF commented.

Open floodgates

The relaxed rules for the foreign media are due to expire in October 2008, but some Chinese dissidents believe it would be hard to reverse the trend of openness.

A liberal intellectual writer, Liu Xiaobo, told the French news agency AFP: "Once the floodgate is open, it is difficult to close. People would not accept that kind of restriction again."

Some of the bolder Chinese media are now saying the more liberal rules should be extended to them too.

And foreign journalists swarming over China producing investigative reports may also inspire the Chinese media to take more risks in their domestic reporting.

But a more likely scenario is that the central authorities will maintain their tight control over the domestic media, and that the curbs on access Chinese citizens have to foreign media will remain in place when the global spotlight is on Beijing in summer 2008.

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.