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FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7483
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 002009 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2018 
TAGS: PROP PREL PGOV KOLY KS AS CH
SUBJECT: PRC OFFICIALS URGED TO FIND A BETTER 
TIBET/OLYMPICS MEDIA STRATEGY 
 
BEIJING 00002009  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey Carlson. 
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) Chinese and foreign communications experts 
criticized the Chinese Government's handling of the 
negative publicity surrounding the Olympic torch relay 
at an off-the-record academic seminar attended by MFA 
and State Council Information Office officials (and 
PolOff) May 10.  Participants cited the 1988 Seoul 
Games as a positive example for China, because South 
Korea at the time was a target of international human 
rights criticism yet still managed to host a 
successful Games that bolstered the regime's 
legitimacy.  Two public relations experts said the 
Chinese Government remains too slow in responding to 
negative media stories and its desire to control the 
message prevents it from enlisting help from 
sympathetic groups overseas.  Foreign guests at the 
conference urged China to fulfill its Olympics bid 
commitments by allowing foreign reporters unfettered 
access to all regions, including Tibet.  State Council 
Information Office Press Department Director Guo 
Weimin said China wants to improve its transparency, 
but he lamented that "anti-China prejudice" among many 
Western journalists is too great to overcome. 
Comment:  Guo's sentiments are typical of the Chinese 
academics and officials who participated.  While 
acknowledging that relaxing controls on the foreign 
media could help boost China's image in the run-up to 
the Olympics, they worried that giving journalists 
freer reign would result in even more negative 
reporting.  (Note:  This seminar occurred two days 
before the devastating May 12 Wenchuan earthquake that 
was followed by unprecedented -- albeit not unfettered 
-- openness to foreign and domestic media coverage.) 
End Summary and Comment. 
 
¶2. (C) Chinese and foreign participants at a May 10 
seminar on "The Olympics, International Communications 
and Non-Traditional Security" urged China to adopt a 
more sophisticated and proactive strategy to counter 
negative publicity surrounding the Chinese response to 
unrest in Tibet and the Olympic torch relay.  The 
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Center for 
Regional Security Studies and Tsinghua University's 
International Center for Communication Studies co- 
sponsored the seminar.  In addition to discussion of 
public relations strategies China should consider, 
speakers also explored how the lessons of the 2000 
Sydney Olympics and the 1988 Seoul Olympics could 
apply to Beijing. 
 
Torch Demonstrations are a "Non-Traditional Threat" 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶3. (C) In one panel discussion, Wang Yizhou, Vice 
Director of CASS's Institute of World Economics and 
Politics, stated that anti-China demonstrations 
surrounding the torch relay are an example of a non- 
traditional security threat, involving non-state 
actors, driven by societal factors and not 
controllable by the military.  While a small number of 
torch relay demonstrators were conspirators seeking to 
embarrass China and disrupt the Olympic Games, Wang 
said, many were "good people" with misguided views on 
Tibet.  Changing the views of the "children and 
housewives" who participated in the London and Paris 
demonstrations represents an important challenge for 
China, he argued.  The Western media's 
"sensationalism" of the torch protests added to the 
demonstrators' effectiveness.  This "media bias" has 
proven very difficult to counter, because China "does 
not handle the international media well."  (As an 
aside, Wang urged an honest assessment within China 
about the Tibet unrest.  It is not true that only a 
small number of Tibetans engaged in violence; the 
unrest was widespread, he said.  China should reflect 
on its Tibet policy and the problems that exist in 
ethnic relations.) 
 
Lessons from Sydney 2000 and Seoul 1988 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) A second panel explored lessons China could 
draw from the Sydney 2000 and Seoul 1988 Olympics. 
 
BEIJING 00002009  002 OF 003 
 
 
Panelists noted that aborigine rights groups had 
threatened to demonstrate at the Sydney Games.  Ian 
McCartney, a security officer at the Australian 
Embassy who was involved in preparations for the 2000 
Olympics, stressed that the Olympics must be run as "a 
sporting event, not a security event," because too 
much security makes it impossible for people to enjoy 
the Games.  Australia, McCartney acknowledged, has the 
twin advantages of geographic isolation and internal 
political stability.  Nevertheless, prior to the 2000 
Olympics opening ceremony, Australia engaged in a 
comprehensive intelligence program to identify 
potential threats.  Also, to prevent major 
disruptions, Australia's parliament passed legislation 
giving police more power to disperse demonstrators. 
 
¶5. (C) Dong Xiangrong, a scholar at the CASS Institute 
of Asia-Pacific Studies, noted parallels between the 
2008 Beijing Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympics.  The 
Seoul Games were also conducted in a difficult 
international political climate.  At the time, South 
Korea did not have diplomatic relations with socialist 
countries, and many predicted that the Soviet bloc 
would boycott.  Dong said that while the Olympics did 
embolden South Korean student demonstrators who knew 
the Government could not use harsh methods against 
them for fear of endangering the Games, it is an 
oversimplification to say the event promoted political 
liberalization.  South Korean Embassy First Secretary 
Suh Doo Hyun agreed, saying the 1988 Games succeeded 
despite widespread international criticism of South 
Korea's human rights record.  The success of the Games 
boosted support for the regime and turned into a huge 
public relations boon, he said. 
 
China "Losing PR Battle to the Dalai Lama" 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (C) Next, two communications experts gave blunt 
assessments of the Chinese Government's public 
relations deficiencies.  Serge Dumont, Asia Pacific 
president of the Omnicom Group, said China has already 
fallen into a public relations crisis, as the Olympics 
have become a focus for international criticism. 
Dumont said China's decision to engage in talks with 
the Dalai Lama's representatives May 4 was a smart 
move, but China is still losing the public relations 
battle.  When Westerners see the Dalai Lama, they see 
a "nice man who speaks of love and peace."  The Dalai 
Lama also follows a key rule of public relations by 
staying positive and rarely criticizing others. 
Furthermore, Dumont continued, the Chinese Government 
does not trust outsiders to make its case.  Most of 
the time, the local Chinese ambassador is the only 
person explaining China's position to foreign 
audiences.  However, Chinese officials do not 
understand that Westerners typically view governments 
as among the least credible sources of information. 
China should rely more on sympathetic foreign NGOs, 
such as business groups, to help convince foreign 
audiences.  It needs to be a French person telling a 
French audience why it is important to maintain good 
relations with China, Dumont stressed. 
 
¶7. (C) Wu Xu, Assistant Professor of Communications at 
Arizona State University, told the group the Chinese 
Government is still too slow to react to public 
relations crises.  In addition, China has trouble 
distinguishing which media figures are truly 
influential.  For example, the Chinese Government has 
spent a great deal of energy denouncing CNN 
commentator Jack Cafferty, yet Cafferty only gets five 
minutes of air time per week.  Meanwhile, China 
largely ignores anti-China statements by Lou Dobbs, 
who has a daily show on CNN.  China also tends to deny 
visas to unfriendly journalists, which Wu argued is 
counterproductive. 
 
More Openness and Tolerance Needed 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) Donald Morrison, former editor-in-chief of the 
Asian edition of Time magazine and current visiting 
scholar at Tsinghua, urged China to put the recent 
negative press in perspective.  China should realize 
that Western media are not engaged in a "plot" to 
"keep China down."  Despite the recent pubic anger at 
foreign journalists, Morrison argued, most Beijing- 
 
BEIJING 00002009  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
based correspondents "really love China."  However, 
they find their work extremely difficult, and in the 
wake of the Tibet unrest many have received death 
threats.  Morrison argued that China should invite 
more Western editors and media executives to visit 
rather than focus its efforts on working-level 
journalists.  PolOff, who was also invited to speak, 
made the point that China should fulfill its Olympic 
commitments by allowing unfettered access for foreign 
reporters to all areas, including Tibet, and should 
treat inevitable Olympic protestors with tolerance. 
 
¶9. (C) Li Xiguang, Executive Dean of Tsinghua's School 
of Journalism and Communications, suggested that 
Beijing's Olympic organizers establish a designated 
protest area close to the Olympic village.  Tsinghua 
University Journalism Professor Zhou Qing'an noted 
that in past controversies surrounding the Olympics, 
negative publicity generally peaked three to six 
months before the opening ceremony.  Zhou said that 
one positive outcome of the uproar over Tibet and the 
torch relay is that China is developing a thicker 
skin, as its tolerance for negative news reporting 
increases. 
 
"Western Media Neither Friend Nor Foe" 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) Guo Weimin, director of the Press Department 
at the State Council Information Office, closed the 
conference by saying that China is moving toward 
greater openness but still "needs time."  Guo said he 
led a group of Western journalists to Lhasa in late 
March, but was chagrined to find that their subsequent 
reporting was just as "negative" as before the trip. 
The anti-China prejudice of some Western journalists, 
Guo theorized, may simply run too deep to change. 
Nevertheless, Guo said, China will continue to improve 
information flow and to become more open and 
transparent.  "Western media is not our friend," Guo 
said, "but it is also not our enemy." 
PICCUTA