Re: PR Meltdown: What went wrong for Beijing?

" MELTDOWN INCLUDES TIBET and THE EARTHQUAKE! "


Unwilling to withstand media criticism in the wake of the earthquake
crisis that called into question China's response to victims, the
quality of school construction, and even the possibility that the
"quake" was used to cover for mass executions of dissidents, the
Chinko-Commies have halted all media coverage and access by foreigners
to the quake site.

Minister-Master of All Media Pinchai Loef broadcast Monday morning a
message from Wen Jiabao, instructing all foreign media personnel to
immediately leave the earthquake region. A translated transcript from
the Mandarin follows in part.



"Prime Minister Wen asked me to convey to all citizens and visitors
that they are to immediately depart the area affected by the
earthquake. Due to urgent rescue and seach projects, we must not be
delayed in our efforts to conclude this terrible tragedy.

"We of the Party understand the sorrow and grieving that parents who
lost children are experiencing, but if you do not know the whereabouts
of your child by now, neither do we. Of utmost urgency now is our
determination to prepare for our Glorious Olympic Games. Nothing is
more vital to all Chinese than this monumental event, to show the
world that we are among the pre-eminent powers of the world. Numero-
Uno!

"Those workers who remain on-site to clean up and restotre the quake
area will do so as quickly as possible. Therefore, we cannot allow
parents, relatives, reporters, or other visitors to remain there. To
ease your minds, I assure you there is nothing more to be seen or
investigated relative to the earthquake. Our Great and Wondrous
President says that this incident is now officially over and we should
focus solely on the future. For your information, Tibet is still off-
limits as well.

Additionally, President Hu says all parents who lost a child in one of
the school collapses will receive in compensation the equivalent of
$4.75 U.S. to pay funeral costs and condom debts. This, I believe, is
very generous, and should satisfy everyone that the Party truly cares
about each and every one of our citizens and their deceased relatives.

So now, please return to your homes and jobs, and I look forward to
seeing everyone at the Games in August!"

--------------------------
"Return to Repression"

"China muzzles journalists who asked too many questions after the
recent earthquake"

Editorial
The Washington Post
Monday, June 23, 2008; A14



IN THE FIRST weeks after the Sichuan earthquake, China's Communist
authorities were widely credited with allowing relatively open media
coverage. Some observers even proclaimed a new era of press freedom.
The change was real enough, compared with the total blackout that
Beijing imposed after some past disasters, which were treated as state
secrets. But much of the early reporting benefited the regime, by
portraying senior officials such as Premier Wen Jiabao supervising
dramatic rescue efforts. International aid poured in, domestic support
for the government swelled and what had been a rising chorus of
international criticism of China's human rights record quieted.

Then came a predictable shift: Chinese and foreign journalists turned
from describing rescues to probing whether some of the more than
70,000 deaths from the earthquake could have been avoided. In
particular they began to focus on school collapses, which killed some
10,000 children. In a number of places schools crumbled while
surrounding buildings remained intact; allegations of shoddy
construction and poor or corrupt supervision by local authorities
began to surface. Angry parents began organizing demonstrations and
demanding accountability in towns such as Dujiangyan, where hundreds
of students died in a middle school.

That is where the new era abruptly ended. This month, the propaganda
ministry issued directives to state-run media banning reports on
school construction and protests by parents. School sites have been
sealed off, and attempts by parents to gather near them have been
broken up. A number of foreign journalists were briefly detained and
then ordered to leave Dujiangyan after they tried to report on one
attempted demonstration -- even though authorities in Beijing had said
the previous day that coverage in the earthquake area would not be
restricted. Authorities also arrested a well-known dissident Web
journalist, Huang Qi, who had been posting critical articles about the
earthquake response on his Web site. One of the articles was about
Zeng Hongling, an academic who was arrested after writing her own
critical reports.

The suppression of critical coverage and the harassment of foreign
journalists are the norms in China. What makes it remarkable now is
not only the brief relaxation of control that preceded it but the fact
that it comes just weeks before the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Authorities have pledged to allow open coverage of the Games. But
there will surely be events during those weeks that don't please the
regime and coverage that is critical. If the government's censors
don't quickly learn to restrain themselves, they will embarrass their
country in front of the world.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/22/AR2008062201586.html
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