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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 000318 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2032 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KCUL SOCI CH
SUBJECT: FOREIGN JOURNALISTS TEST CHINA'S RELAXED MEDIA 
RULES WITH MIXED RESULTS 
 
REF: 06 BEIJING 24239 
 
Classified By: Politcal Section Internal Unit Chief Susan A. Thornton. 
 Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) Foreign journalists have had mixed results in 
testing China's newly relaxed travel and interview 
rules (reftel).  Several dissidents and controversial 
figures have given interviews to foreign media outlets 
with no official interference or repercussions, our 
contacts told us.  Nonetheless, officials prevented 
reporters from meeting with Shanghai-based lawyer 
Zheng Enchong shortly after the new year.  A key 
reckoning will come the next time a violent protest 
flares and grabs the attention of the international 
press, Chinese and foreign journalists said.  The 
relaxed restrictions have not translated into more 
openness for China's own journalists, who remain keen 
to avoid arousing the censors' sensitivities. 
Domestic media has presented predictably positive 
coverage of the policy's rollout, about which 
Propaganda authorities have issued no specific 
coverage guidelines, contacts told us.  End Summary. 
 
A Welcome Relaxation 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) The Foreign Ministry announced State Council 
order No. 477 on December 1 (reftel), specifying that 
foreign journalists will not need permission from 
provincial foreign affairs offices to conduct news 
gathering activities in China during the period 
surrounding the 2008 Beijing Olympics, from January 1, 
2007 to October 17, 2008.  Our foreign media contacts 
told us the previous regulations, adopted in the wake 
of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, had become largely 
irrelevant because reporters found ways around them 
and enforcement was inconsistent in any case. 
Nevertheless, reporters we spoke with were upbeat 
about the relaxation, remarking that local officials 
can no longer dust off the old rules and use them to 
justify detentions or harassment.  "This is a positive 
step," said Associated Press Beijing Bureau Chief 
Charles Hutzler. 
 
¶3.  (C) Hutzler and other reporters told us that the 
real question is whether the dissidents and 
controversial figures they interview will suffer 
official retribution because of their contacts with 
foreign media.  Contacts we spoke to said they are 
unaware of any negative repercussions to their 
interviewees and that some of the subjects themselves 
continue to talk to the press.  Activist Hu Jia, who 
is under house arrest, has been granting phone 
interviews since the new year.  On January 12 he told 
poloff he has spoken with several foreign outlets 
about the appeal decision upholding the original 
verdict in the highly sensitive Chen Guangcheng case 
(septel).  Li Jinsong, a rights lawyer, also told us 
he has spoken with the overseas press with no official 
fallout.  One positive result of the new rules is that 
"it has emboldened dissidents to speak more freely 
with us," said Benjamin Lim, a Reuters correspondent 
who interviewed former Zhao Ziyang aide Bao Tong, also 
under house arrest, on January 1. 
 
Key Test: Social Unrest 
----------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Lim added, however, that it is too early to 
judge how consistently the rules will be applied.  For 
example, he related that officials prevented Reuters 
reporters from meeting with Shanghai rights lawyer 
Zheng Enchong just after the new year.  Like Hu and 
Bao, Zheng is under house arrest and has the 
additional sentence of being "deprived of political 
rights" for one year, which raises questions about 
whether the Government will use such legal loopholes 
to limit sensitive contacts.  Another bellwether will 
be how officials react to foreign media attempts to 
cover a number of upcoming sensitive anniversaries, 
Lim said.  January 17 will mark two years sncethe 
death of Zhao Ziyang, he specified, adding that many 
in the foreign media corps intend to go to the former 
leader's house on that date to attempt to interview 
family members. 
 
¶5.  (C) At the same time, Chinese and foreign 
 
BEIJING 00000318  002 OF 002 
 
 
journalists we spoke with all agree that the acid test 
for the relaxation will be how local officials respond 
to foreign media interest (and presence) when an 
incident of unrest flares in their area.  "The 
problems we face are usually with security personnel 
who do not tend to care what the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs says," Hutzler of the AP said.  The MFA and 
the State Council Information Office can disseminate 
all the new rules they like, he added, but the 
question is, will the message get to the right people? 
(Note:  The State Council order was mum on the subject 
of covering social unrest and MFA spokesman Liu 
Jianchao was ambiguous on the subject at the December 
1 press conference, saying only that "local officials 
may restrict foreign reporters' news gathering in 
cases where there are disturbances of public order or 
emergencies."  End note.) 
 
No Relief for Chinese Journalists 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) The easing has had no appreciable effect for 
Chinese journalists, said Wang Feng (protect), an 
editor and writer at the influential bi-weekly Caijing 
Magazine.  As ever, media content that crosses 
censors' red lines can land journalists and editors in 
trouble.  He assessed that the relaxed rules are 
little more than a public relations tool designed to 
boost China's international image in the run-up to the 
Games in 2008.  At the same time, he speculated that 
the increased openness could benefit Chinese reporters 
by giving them some cover when traveling to areas of 
simmering unrest.  Security officials will be less 
likely to arrest or abuse local journalists in the 
presence of a CNN camera, Wang theorized.  Li Tao 
(protect), a professor at the Tsinghua University 
School of Journalism and Communications, separately 
made a similar point, although he added that most 
reporters he has spoken with believe the relaxation 
has "nothing to do with them."  Li said the Order is a 
good sign overall and reflects confidence on the part 
of Central authorities. 
 
¶7.  (C) Chinese media reporting on the State Council 
Order has been straightforward and upbeat.  The 
English-language China Daily newspaper and website, 
whose readership is primarily foreign, have 
predictably provided ample coverage.  Local newspapers 
and magazines have also run articles and the Xinhua 
News Service listed the relaxation as one of the "top 
10 media stories of 2006" in a roundup on January 10. 
The Sina.com news portal published an interesting 
article on the subject on January 1, recounting the 
"positive" experiences of Lim of Reuters in securing 
interviews.  The piece quoted a People's Daily 
reporter as saying that the influx of overseas press 
will pose a challenge because the different working 
styles of foreign and Chinese journalists "will make 
me feel more pressure." 
SEDNEY