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OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #0605/01 0681124
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O 091124Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2769
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 000605 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/09/2034 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KIFR CH
SUBJECT: TIBET: CHINA RAMPS UP PROPAGANDA IN ADVANCE OF 
MARCH ANNIVERSARIES 
 
REF: A. OSC CPP20090302710005 
     ¶B. OSC CPP20090302172001 
     ¶C. BEIJING 483 
     ¶D. BEIJING 419 
     ¶E. CHENGDU 41 
     ¶F. CHENGDU 34 
     ¶G. NEW DELHI 369 
 
Classified By: Political Internal Unit Chief 
Dan Kritenbrink.  Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) In advance of the 50th anniversary of the 
March 10, 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Chinese 
Communist Party (CCP) is engaged in a propaganda 
campaign focused on "positive" aspects of its rule 
over Tibet, particularly its "emancipation" of 
serfs, as a device for diverting media attention 
away from the Dalai Lama during this sensitive 
period.  This propaganda effort has included the 
release of a March 2 "White Paper" on "Fifty Years 
of Democratic Reform in Tibet," and the CCP 
Propaganda Department has reportedly directed media 
outlets to write positive reports on the new "Serf 
Emancipation Day" holiday.  The Xinhua News Agency 
even fabricated quotes from a Western journalist 
supposedly supporting Chinese policies in Tibet, 
following the journalist's participation in an 
official tour of the TAR in February focused on the 
new "Serf Emancipation" holiday.  Tension between 
some central and local officials has reportedly 
erupted over restrictions on foreign journalists' 
access to Tibet, with some Beijing officials arguing 
that restricted access to Tibet has harmed China's 
international image, while TAR leaders do not favor 
any loosening of the rules.  Meanwhile, TAR 
officials continue to lay blame for any unrest among 
Tibetans at the feet of the Dalai Lama and his 
"agents."  End Summary. 
 
PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN FOCUSES ON THE "REAL" TIBET 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶2. (U) With the approach of the 50th anniversary of 
the March 10, 1959 failed uprising by Tibetans 
against Chinese rule and subsequent flight of the 
Dalai Lama to India, the Communist Party is engaged 
in a propaganda offensive aimed at legitimizing its 
rule of Tibet.  Elements of this propaganda campaign 
include: 
 
-- Guidance by the CCP Propaganda Department to all 
Chinese media outlets to report positively on the 
March 28 Serf Emancipation Day Holiday (see 
paragraph 5). 
 
-- Heavy coverage of Tibetan New Year (Losar in 
Tibetan) celebrations on February 25.  While 
celebration of Tibetan New Year in 2008 received 
only modest media attention, this year state 
television and radio outlets devoted extensive live 
coverage to the festivities.  In Beijing, China 
National Radio staged a live broadcast of 
celebrations by the capital's Tibetan community. 
(Note: China National Radio also announced March 1 
that it would expand its Tibetan-language 
programming from four to 18 hours per day.)  China 
Central Television's (CCTV) flagship evening 
newscast, Xinwen Lianbo, devoted nearly a third of 
its February 25 broadcast to scenes of Tibetans in 
Lhasa lighting fireworks and cooking traditional New 
Year dishes.  Simultaneously, official media 
published editorials denouncing calls by exile 
Tibetans to boycott Losar celebrations. 
 
-- A new exhibit on "Democratic Reforms in Tibet," 
which opened February 24 at Beijing's Cultural 
Palace of Nationalities.  According to press 
reports, the exhibit, which will run through April, 
includes recently "declassified" documents related 
to the March 14, 2008 riots.  One of these documents 
is an alleged "written confession" by Wangdui 
(Wandu), an ethnic Tibetan and former employee of an 
Australian public health NGO, who received a life 
sentence in October 2008 for "espionage." 
 
-- A front-page editorial in the March 2 edition of 
the Party's flagship newspaper, People's Daily (ref 
 
BEIJING 00000605  002 OF 003 
 
 
A), that denounces Western, especially American, use 
of the Tibet issue to "contain China."  Western 
politicians, the author says, believe that "to 
control Tibet is to control China." 
 
NEW WHITE PAPER: "50 YEARS OF DEMOCRATIC REFORM" 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶3. (C) Also on March 2, China's State Council 
Information Office (SCIO) issued a white paper on 
"Fifty Years of Democratic Reform in Tibet" (ref B). 
Propaganda officials attempted to drum up interest 
in the paper among Beijing-based foreign 
correspondents.  Wall Street Journal Beijing 
Correspondent Ian Johnson (protect), told PolOff on 
March 2 that he got a "frantic call" from Chinese 
SCIO officials early on March 2 summoning him to the 
SCIO office to receive "important news."  Johnson 
said he was disappointed to learn that the 
"important news" turned out to be an advance copy of 
the White Paper that was released later that 
afternoon.  Journalists for Reuters were similarly 
called in urgently by the SCIO to receive advance 
notice of the document. 
 
¶4. (U) The White Paper rehashes well-worn propaganda 
themes regarding Tibet's "society of feudal serfdom" 
that was supposedly eliminated by the "democratic 
reform" that took place after the failed 1959 
uprising.  In summarizing the white paper, China's 
media has focused on passages alleging that the 
Dalai Lama and his family members owned 6,000 serfs, 
as well as the document's claim that China's 
"liberation" of Tibetan serfs "is entirely 
comparable to the emancipation of slaves in the 
American civil war." 
 
FOCUS ON EMANCIPATION, NOT DALAI LAMA'S EXILE 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) The current PRC propaganda campaign on Tibet 
has been in the planning stages since the fall of 
2008, according to Zhou Qing'an (protect), a 
professor at Tsinghua University's Center for 
International Communication Studies.  Zhou told 
PolOff March 3 that, soon after the close of the 
Beijing Paralympics in September 2008, the CCP 
Propaganda Department called a meeting of central 
and TAR officials to discuss strategies for dealing 
with the upcoming sensitive Tibetan anniversaries in 
March.  TAR officials, according to Zhou, suggested 
the creation of the new "Serf Emancipation Day" 
holiday as a propaganda device to give the media 
"something to talk about" other than the first 
anniversary of the March 14, 2008 Lhasa riots and 
the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's flight into 
exile.  China's central leadership approved the plan 
in November 2008, Zhou said, and in January 2009 the 
TAR People's Congress formally "passed" the measure. 
 
¶6. (C) In February of this year, the Propaganda 
Department issued guidance that China's media should 
"pay attention" to Tibet and report on the "Serf 
Emancipation Day," Zhou said.  The Propaganda 
Department was urging all media to focus their Tibet 
coverage on the "positive" developments in Tibet 
over the last 50 years, especially economic 
development, and to shift the emphasis away from the 
Dalai Lama.  China's official propaganda continues 
to attack the Dalai Lama, Zhou observed, but 
recently this criticism has been largely restricted 
to his role in Tibet's pre-1959 "serf society."  As 
part of this "emphasize-the-positive" theme, China's 
media is now downplaying the Dalai Lama's alleged 
role as the "mastermind" behind last year's 
violence, Zhou said.  (Comment:  This shift in 
emphasis aside, high-level TAR officials attending 
the National People's Congress in Beijing continue 
to publicly blame the Dalai Lama for the violence of 
last year.  TAR People's Congress Chairman Legqog 
(Lieque) told journalists March 8 that the Dalai 
Lama's supporters "have intensified secessionist 
activities" and are "trying to collude with their 
agents in Tibet.") 
 
¶7. (C) Another contact separately confirmed that the 
Propaganda Department was indeed orchestrating "Serf 
Emancipation Day" coverage.  Cai Wei (protect), an 
editor at Sanlian Life Weekly (Sanlian Shenghou 
Zhoukan, a mass circulation lifestyle magazine), 
 
BEIJING 00000605  003 OF 003 
 
 
told PolOff March 6 that not only was the Propaganda 
Department directing "Serf Emancipation Day" 
coverage, but that in response to the Propaganda 
Department's guidance, Sanlian is working on a Tibet 
issue that will appear later in March, featuring 
interviews with former serfs.  Although he 
frequently travels to the TAR and is currently 
working on a novel about Tibet, Cai Wei told PolOff 
that he did not volunteer to help with Sanlian's 
Tibet coverage because he does not want to take part 
in "directed" (fangzhen xing) reporting.  Cai Wei 
lamented that even doing "positive" stories about 
Tibet is difficult because of the many restrictions 
and sensitivities surrounding the subject.  That is 
why, Cai said, he decided to write a novel rather 
than a non-fiction book about Tibet, because 
publishing a non-fiction work would be "impossible." 
 
JOURNALIST TAKEN TO MEET FORMER SERFS 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) Part of the "Serf Emancipation Day" 
propaganda campaign included a February 10-13 
foreign media tour of Tibet organized by the SCIO, 
the MFA and the TAR Government.  Reuters 
correspondent Emma Graham-Harrison (protect) told 
PolOff March 4 that organizers arranged for the 
journalists to meet with several former serfs.  In 
addition, Chinese officials packed the schedule with 
visits to tourist sites and other activities of 
little or no news value, resisting her attempts to 
conduct interviews outside the set program.  Chinese 
journalists shadowed the group and wrote glowing, 
though highly inaccurate, accounts of the tour. 
Xinhua News Agency even went so far as to publish a 
story on February 17 (which only appeared in Chinese 
and was ironically headlined, "The Power of Truth"), 
quoting Graham-Harrison as saying she "must" report 
more on social instability in Tibet in order to 
"satisfy the demands of (Reuters') clients....  But 
I am really more interested in Tibetan traditional 
culture, which the facts show has been very well 
preserved."  Graham-Harrison complained to PolOff 
that this and other quotes attributed to her and a 
Reuters cameraman were "completely fabricated." 
 
CENTER-LOCAL DISCORD OVER TIBET MEDIA POLICY? 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) Many officials in the CCP Propaganda 
Department and the State Council Information Office 
realize that highly stage-managed media tours are 
ineffective in generating more positive coverage of 
Tibet, Zhou Qing'an told PolOff.  Some officials in 
the central propaganda bureaucracy were arguing that 
China should relax restrictions on travel by foreign 
journalists to Tibet once the sensitive March 
anniversaries pass.  TAR officials, however, remain 
highly resistant to any liberalization, Zhou said. 
Graham-Harrison told PolOff she saw hints of this 
center-local dynamic on the February tour. 
Originally TAR officials refused to allow the 
journalists to visit any of the major monasteries 
near Lhasa.  After the journalists complained, TAR 
minders later added a visit to the Drepung Monastery 
to the itinerary, though Graham-Harrison said she 
believed SCIO officials had to lean hard on their 
TAR colleagues to make it happen.  She also relayed 
that one of her SCIO minders, in an unguarded 
moment, admitted that People's Armed Police units in 
Lhasa had been confined to their barracks during the 
journalists' tour.  Foreign journalists, the 
official acknowledged, are not fooled by such 
measures, which he indicated were the work of local 
TAR officials, not the SCIO. 
PICCUTA