In a decision underscoring greater awareness of personal privacy and right of reputation protections in China, a court in Beijing’s Chaoyang District found against Huaxia Times newspaper last month. Without the consent of “Aids orphan” Xiao Li (name changed), the newspaper published a story in December last year about the death of the girl’s parents, who had Aids, along with her photograph and real name. On July 16 the court ordered Huaxia Times to issue a public apology to Xiao Li and pay 20 thousand yuan in damages.
Chinese media reports of Xiao Li’s court victory have still declined to mention the defendent, Huaxia Times, by name. But nearly two weeks after the verdict was passed down the case still sparks soul-searching among Chinese media.
Critics of the Huaxia Times report, which offered a detailed account of the death of Xiao Li’s parents from Aids, said the newspaper had thoughtlessly and painfully reopened the child’s past just as she was beginning to rebuild her life in the care of others. Guangdong’s Southern Weekend newspaper ran a detailed report of the case back in June. Xiao Li had received the help of a number of people, including well-know Aids crusader Gao Yaojie, in starting a new life, Southern Weekend reported. In late 2005, another of Xiao Li’s caretakers shared her story with a reporter from Huaxia Times on the condition they “must not print her picture or use her actual name”. The story appeared with Xiao Li’s picture and real name on page A16 on December 2 and within days was all over the Internet.
In an editorial yesterday, Beijing Youth Daily called the decision an “important caution” to media to uphold their social responsibility and move toward better regulation. The newspaper, published by Beijing’s city-level Communist Youth League, offers a muted appeal for Chinese media to learn from Western media standards, or more precisely, from the American notion of “political correctness”, which is not in fact an American news value as the editorial seems to suggest, or a “system” for ensuring journalistic fairness:

In an ideal and healthy media environment, all responsible media must be self-aware and have a strict sense of discipline, and must ensure this discipline becomes a reality through efficient mechanisms and tools. As to this sense of discipline and systems of guarantee, Chinese media professionals are probably most familiar with American sensitivities over ‘political correctness’. We do not subscribe to Western views of the media, and must vigilant critics of them. However, scrupulously abiding by ‘political correctness’ in the goal of preserving social stability and equality and respect for different [social] groups is something we should turn to for reference. Mature media, when coming across sensitive topics like the ‘Aids orphan’ story, should make respect for the various rights and interests of the subject its ‘cardinal rule’. It should have a series of measures in place to this end so that all possible errors are destroyed by strict procedures.
[Posted by David Bandurski, August 9, 2006, 4:17pm]

The chaos of China’s present media environment, where paranoid control and censorship work alongside commercialization and fierce competition, can make for delightful surprises. Despite the daily obstacle course of orders and bans, independent voices do emerge in the Chinese media. Editorials are one of the best places to look for these voices, and “The Era of Heartfelt Words” (热言时代), a collection of Southern Metropolis Daily editorials published last month by Nanfang Daily Press, brings together some of the most unique from a newspaper that is one of the undoubted innovators on China’s media landscape. The editorials, which span roughly two years up to late 2005, offer original snapshots of serious social issues as well as quirky but intelligent takes on such trivia as award lists for outstanding public servants.

One piece from July 12, 2004, “Why Can’t Lions Study from Tigers?” addressed the growing trend of local Chinese leaders going on educational missions to overseas countries to find out how things were done there:
It has become fashionable for Chinese cadres to “go abroad to take part in advanced studies”. In these times when our own systems are not healthy and corruption regularly occurs, the people have a right to express their doubts: is this not again just coming up with another word for corruption?
The writer refers to a newspaper article in which a Mr. Li Fang argued that study programs in the United States are ineffective because the situations in the two countries are so different (“like horses and asses trying to hold a conversation”). Mr. Li had mentioned a Party secretary from a city in Shandong who spent three months in New Haven, Connecticut, serving as a “special assistant” to the city’s mayor. When then Vice-president Al Gore visited New Haven, the Chinese official remarked that the mayor did not play host to him. In the officials words: “The mayor was selected by the people and was not appointed from above, so his responsibility was to those below him, not those above”.
Mr. Li, said the editorial writer, had argued that this “responsibility to those below, not to those above” was ill-suited to China’s national situation. It was like sending lions to live with tigers – what they studied was of no use back in their own habitats.
The editorial writer took issue with Mr. Li’s conclusions:
This kind of “responsibility to those above and not to those below” in traditional Chinese politics is the root of centuries of poverty and weakness in China … Actually, when the official from Shandong wrote upon coming back of what he had learned [during his time in the United States], it was simple, precious and a good start. He remarked many good things he had learned, for example that American mayors were loathe even to treat him to a meal costing a few dollars for fear misemploying public monies. If Chinese officials can realize little things like this writer is all in favor of sending all of our mayors over there for a stint. This writer believes all officials going abroad for training should do things this way, writing down their thoughts when they return and printing them in the newspaper. This way we can let the people decide whether there is value in having them go out or not.
The first two characters in the name of this collection, reyan, translate directly as “hot words”. None of the editorials in the collection are scalding, but there is an abundance of warmth, insight and irony. If only we could now have a version in English.
[Posted by David Bandurski, July 19, 11:35am]

Attempting to put an end to the mainland distribution of unauthorized domestic and foreign documentaries and other audiovisual works about China, China’s General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP) issued orders yesterday that all audiovisual works (DVDs, CDs, etc) dealing with the Cultural Revolution and other “major topics” (重大选题) must be registered before distribution on the mainland. A GAPP official in charge of audiovisual and web publishing said that in order to boost sales a number of audiovisual publishers had produced or imported works without first obtaining permission [Chinese coverage here].
The term “major topics” refers in Chinese to works about high-level leaders current or past — generally, from the standing committee of the CPC – or important historical events like the Cultural Revolution that are still political sore spots. Films such as Carma Hinton’s documentary on the Cultural Revolution, Morning Sun, have circulated without approval and found audiences in China, media insiders said.
[Posted by David Bandurski, July 13, 2006, 12:20pm]

According to a news report in today’s edition of Chongqing Commercial Daily, excerpted on Sina.com, police in the municipality of Chongqing have demanded all Internet users register before October 30 or face fines and denial of web access. Danwei.org has already summarized the story. The article’s lead paragraphs follow [Chinese here]:

Chongqing Commercial Daily
July 7, 2006
It must be completed by October 30, and those who do not carry it out will be fined 3,000 yuan and their computers shut down [Internet access denied] for six months.
Going online in your own home also now requires registration with the Public Security Bureau. The Chongqing Public Security Bureau’s notification on strengthening management of international Internet [user] records was approved yesterday by the city government’s legislative affairs office, taking effect on the day of announcement. Those who do not carry out [the regulations] will, for light violations, receive warning from the police, and in serious cases computers will be shut down [Internet access denied] for a period of six months.
The “Notification on Strengthening Management of International Internet [user] Records”, put out by the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau, demands all companies [work units] and individuals connected to the Internet must formally register, including personal users connected by dial-up or cable … According to an expert at the Ministry of Information Industry, in the past only those setting up personal websites needed to register but ordinary people connecting the Internet did not need to register.
“So is everyone who goes online a criminal?” asked one netizen responding on Sina.com. “Do they think that by [requiring] registration they can control criminal online behavior? … Those who made this policy should study those portions of the Constitution dealing with the people’s basic rights. So can you trample on people’s basic rights just to control criminal behavior?”
“Registration, hey that’s OK,” said another. “Who am I afraid of if I haven’t done anything wrong? It’s just like giving your ID when you check into a hotel. There’s nothing wrong with it. Those who are afraid are the ones going online in an unhealthy way. I’m in favor!”
[Posted by David Bandurski, June 7, 2006, 5:12pm]

Three days after a Chinese cabinet official stepped forward to clarify the text of the draft emergency management law, the media’s role in reporting on emergency situations remains a live topic in the newspaper pages. In a page two piece today Southern Metropolis Daily continued its editorial defense of the role of media in informing the public about emergency situations, using the July 4 earthquake in northern China as a news peg. The editorial argues that media reporting is not at odds with the government’s need to control emergency situations and that media and government offices should compete to get information out as fast as possible:
“Reports on emergency events still mean racing against the clock”
Southern Metropolis Daily, July 6, 2006
On July 4 at 11:56am, an earthquake measuring 5. 1 on the Richter Scale occurred in Wenan in northern Hebei Province and shook the area of Beijing and Tianjin. At 12:16pm, 20 minutes after the quake struck, Xinhua News Agency issued a newsflash saying this was a sudden natural disaster. The news quickly spread across major websites, placed right across the top banner. At the first opportunity, China Central Television’s News Halfhour broadcast news of the Wenan quake.
After the quake occurred the media followed with prompt reports, quieting public fears about the disaster. However, in spite of the fact Xinhua came out with news 20 minutes after the quake, some people in the affected area still had stern words for the media. This is because within those 20 minutes, news and rumors about the quake were already speeding across the web and short messaging networks. The Beijing Seismological Bureau said it received several hundred phone calls to its five hotline numbers asking for information within a short time. Seen in light of the technological developments of our time, 20 minutes was still a step too slow, particularly considering the fear under which people passed that time.
20 minutes is plenty of time for an earthquake to destroy our cities and homes. In the people’s eyes, faced with such a broad and profound natural disaster, it behooves the media to report and respond with greater sharpness. If you consider that media must check the accuracy of information and obtain approval [NOT CLEAR: from government or media superiors?] then 20 minutes is not such a long time. But whether we can issue timely news releases within this gap of time — that is something we really need to talk about. At the same time, how we will face the release of information for these emergency events is a question for our whole society.
We are now in a high-level information age. The number of information channels by which people can access and exchange information about society are already multiplying at a tremendous rate. This situation means one of the critical questions for the government in dealing with emergencies is how to compete for speed with the rumors that spread while people aren’t yet clear about the situation. It can be said then that in releasing information about emergencies there is no such thing as too detailed or too fast. With these ordinary demands of society, trying to completely go by the old protocol of first asking for instructions, then looking into the matter, then making decisions cannot possibly yield effective results.
We should admit the fact that when emergencies occur, as government offices seek to enhance their power to control the emergency situation and effectively deal with the crisis, the result is very often an impulse, in handling of information about the emergency, is to monopolize information as relevant offices are under a mandate for tight controls. On the question of basic benefits in a traditional society [like China], there in fact is no conflict of interest between governments that need to get everything under control in emergency situations and participation by professional media. It does no harm to the public interest for both sides to scrabble to get out information as quickly as possible. Quite the opposite, this is beneficial competition that allows the true situation to unfold before the public as quickly as possible. The experience of many modern countries in dealing with emergency situations shows that it’s impossible for the government to play every role in the drama all at once [take on control of everything]. After emergencies occur governments [in such countries] never seek to monopolize information. Rather, they seek to get information out faster and with more accuracy than the media with the goal of offsetting false information.
The media are the most delicate sensory organs of any society. In facing emergencies like earthquakes, the media is totally capable of feeling out the situation and responding quickly, releasing information to the public as soon as possible and mitigating the social implications of obstacles to information. In the recent Wenan Earthquake, the media showed the public what it is capable of through its professional efforts. In the fast-paced world of modern media, 20 minutes is just a start. A report on the Wenan quake coming after 20 minutes just passes muster. As a society we need to shorten this time, and the government must continually attach importance to and study that 20 minutes.
[Posted by David Bandurski, July 6, 2006, 6:12pm]

Responding to recent pressure from Chinese media and the online community over a draft emergency law some said would severely limit news media reporting on disasters, a Chinese cabinet official sought in a news briefing yesterday to cool the controversy by “clarifying” related portions of the draft emergency management law. [pdf_southern-metro-daily-coverage.pdf].
Fielding questions from reporters yesterday, Wang Yongqing (汪永清), vice director of the legal affairs office of the State Council, said the draft “does not impact the normal reporting of journalists during emergency events” and that it would not penalize media for violating regulations by local governments. The “regulations” in the draft, Wang said, pointed to national regulations and not ad hoc rules made by local leaders. The implication seemed to be that it would not be a problem for media to expose cover-ups by local governments, so long as there were not “serious” violations of national regulations.

The official’s statements were a sign of cautious progress over an issue that has worried Chinese media, and headlines today were bullish. “Media can report emergency situations as normal”, declared a page two headline in Beijing Youth Daily. Important questions remain, however. Not least of which how orders and bans from the Propaganda Department will be handled – these missives, which are generally delivered to editors by telephone, fall beyond the scope of law. And the central government’s intention is clearly to reign in what it perceives as potential enemies on both sides – a freewheeling press and entrenched local leaders.
An article in today’s edition of Hong Kong’s Ming Pao Daily shares the thoughts of former CMP fellows Lu Yuegang and Pu Zhiqiang on the draft law:
Concerning the Emergency Management Law (draft) being discussed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, veteran China Youth Daily reporter Lu Yuegang said portions were in conflict with China’s constitution, and that if these portions pass it will be a great shame for China’s press, “effectively putting a noose around its neck”.
This courageous reporter with a track record for brave reporting on the mainland said, “SARS, avian influenza, natural disasters, all of these were reported by the media, forcing local [governments] to pay attention to them. We’re nearing 30 years of opening and reform, and our leaders still want to use blind methods like this to rule the country. If this isn’t a great sadness for China, I don’t know what is.”
Beijing lawyer Pu Zhiqiang told our newspaper that not only do related portions [of the draft law] violate the constitution but also go against the public’s right to know and give government a pretext for legalizing control of the news … He said this was not an isolated incident but part of a comprehensive strategy of speech control on the part of the Propaganda Department …
[Posted by David Bandurski, July 4, 2006, 11:39am]

As the controversy over the media clause of the draft emergency law continues, a page six article in today’s Southern Metropolis Daily offers a rather ambiguous clarification, if you will, of the People’s Congress position on the draft law and media-related portions. The statement, from People’s Congress information office spokesperson Kan Ke (阚珂), seems to be a direct response to the wave of attention harrying the media clause, which would set fines for “news media making bold to report on the handling of emergency situations in violation of regulations or issuing false reports”. One of the most interesting and debatable presumptions in this statement is that the government can all at once ensure “unity” (统一) and “accuracy” (准确). [PHOTO: Authorities at the site of a gas explosion in April this year, www.qjqjt.gov.cn police website].
The final paragraph is full of apparent contradictions, particularly for anyone approaching this issue from the standpoint of liberal press theory. But this seems to be an unsurprising affirmation of CONTROL as the heart of Chinese media policy. The government, in other words, intends to monopolize information, releasing so-called “accurate” information as suits it needs. If one reads this with the presumption the government always knows best in matters of public interest, the announcement is at least internally consistent. But this, of course, is exactly the issue at contention — we want to monitor you on behalf of the public, the media opposition are saying. Anyhow, here is the Southern Metropolis Daily story:

The Director of the Information Office of the National People’s Congress, Kan Ke, said China’s government has always placed a high priority on increasing transparency in the work of dealing with sudden emergencies. By building a relevant system [he said, the government] sought unity, timeliness and accuracy of information dealing with emergency management.
[Article here reiterates the text of the media clause, the nature of the proposed fines, etcetera] …
Kan Ke said that the draft had made stipulations in this area [meaning about news media] in order to further improve the system of information release for emergency situations and increase transparency.
Stipulations about management of reporting in the draft emergency law [Kan Ke said] are the product of years of work and experience and are consistent with current practice. The goal [he said] was to provide service to journalists and make their work more convenient, protecting journalists’ normal rights and interests in reporting (采访权益) while perfecting management and making media more timely, accurate, their stories reporting the true nature of the situation in order to better deal with emergencies, safeguard social stability and the public interest.
[Posted by David Bandurski, June 30, 2006, 1:07pm]

As Chinese leaders continue to debate the draft emergency management law, media in south China, which have traditionally earned a reputation for relative outspokenness, are leading the push against the media-related clause. Here is an editorial appearing in yesterday’s New Express, a commercial newspaper in Guangzhou published by Yangcheng Evening News. The editorial intelligently discusses the media portion of the draft law against the stated goals of the law itself.
The editorial also addresses what has traditionally been an ideological blind-spot in Chinese coverage of natural disasters as well as accidents – their relationship to human error, or failures of leadership. Once again we have a direct reference to [Chinese] “watchdog journalism”, or yulun jiandu, as a necessary factor in monitoring the handling of emergencies:

One portion of the draft emergency law has drawn a great deal of attention. According to that portion “news media making bold to report on the handling of emergency situations in violation of regulations or issuing false reports” may be fined between 50 thousand yuan and 100 thousand yuan by the local government with the responsibility for “coordinated leadership” (统一领导) .
Looking at the draft law, it seems that not only the State Council but also provincial, city or county governments may take on the role of “coordinated leadership”, with the power to employ any number of “compulsory measures” – this would include monopolizing information, and during this monopoly news media must not “make bold” to depart from the will of the government.
In the case of draft laws, specific regulations and their possible ramifications must be considered thoroughly, so that the objective of the law itself is not compromised by the language. The [media] clause [of the draft] at the very least ensures the harm done by information interference and the propagation of rumors does not exceed the harm of the [emergency situation itself] …
However, in the first place, it does not consider that there is not way of verifying that the information in the hands of the government is the truest and most accurate under this imperative of news “monopoly”. If government information is incomplete or inaccurate, this could potentially lead to incorrect decision-making by governments (including both central and regional) and ultimately impact the handling of the emergency situation.
Secondly, [the clause] does not take into consideration the possibility that there are “man-made calamities” amidst “natural disasters”. If an emergency incident touches on interests of the local government (provincial, city, county), well then, in such a situation the so-called “report to superiors” we can expect from the local government will be a non-report or a false report. Interference of this kind is not without precedent, a good example being “collusion between coalmines and officials” (官煤勾结). In such situations this clause of the draft law would actually become a tool for corrupt local officials who want to cover up their dirty deeds – a highly effective legal sanction for [these governments] to set their own ground rules and avoid watchdog journalism (“supervision by public opinion”).
[Editor’s Note: We saw this sort of “interest” in operation with the recent Xining Coalmine Disaster in Shanxi Province. It took days for the story to appear in the provincial Party newspaper, Shanxi Daily. Why? We can speculate that scheduled leadership changeovers this year in this and other provinces made officials wary of bad press.]
Thirdly, [the draft law] has not clearly considered which theme of this [emergency law], the manifest or the latent one, has the most force [Editor’s Note: In other words, the stated goals of the law or the letter of the law, including the media clause]. Whose regulations should the news media respect? If media conduct watchdog journalism in violation of the “regulations” of some local government and reveal the truth, thereby ensuring the emergency incident goes only so far and doesn’t become more explosive – should they or should they not be punished with “fines”? It’s plain to see that if this clause were to indeed to become law, it could conceivably be used, abused and twisted during emergency events, working against the original spirit of the law itself.
As to the relationship between the principals and stipulations of law, the former governs the latter. If the stipulations of law violate that law’s very principles, they must either be changed or removed. If the stipulations of the draft law do harm to the very objective of the law, then reason suggests it will stand in self-contradiction. This demands urgent consideration. We must consider the ramifications of this law once it is formalized, and we must deal with these issues as the law is being made.
[Posted by David Bandurski, June 28, 2006, 12:53pm]

CMP noted yesterday that the draft emergency management law – and the media clause that drew a wave of foreign media attention – was just that, a draft. Already today there are signs in the Chinese press that some leaders are unhappy with aspects of the proposed law, the media clause included. A news article on page four of today’s The Beijing News addresses several points under contention as members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress debated the draft. The last portion of that story reads:
A number of standing committee members believe article 57 of the draft law, concerning “news media making bold to report on the handling of emergency situations in violation of regulations or issuing false reports” is insufficiently precise and should stipulate which government bodies are making these “regulations” and the nature of those “regulations”.
This means some committee members are expressing concerns similar to those voiced yesterday by Zhang Ping in his editorial in Southern Metropolis Daily, which ESWN has translated in full. For example, are the local “regulations” in question designed to orchestrate a cover-up of the emergency situation? Again, we’ll have to see how this story plays out, but unfortunately a number of Western media have already turned this into the conventional “media crackdown” story.
[Posted by David Bandurski, June 27, 2006, 10:30am]