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INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
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UNCLAS BEIJING 002217 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/CM, EAP/PA, EAP/PD, C 
HQ PACOM FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR (J007) 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PROP KPAL PGOV OPRC CH
SUBJECT: MFA DISCUSSES XINJIANG PRESS ARRANGEMENTS AND ACCESS 
 
Summary 
 
¶1.  (SBU) BEGIN SUMMARY.  On July 29, PressOff met with Mr. Zhang 
Yong, Deputy Director of the Information Department of the People's 
Republic of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).  Zhang 
responded to questions about the logistics and philosophy behind the 
decision to pursue a markedly more open press strategy in Urumqi, 
Xinjiang, than the central government had following the March 14, 
2008, riots in Lhasa, Tibet.  Zhang attributed the current clampdown 
on reporting in other cities in Xinjiang to a problem of local 
governments not entirely understanding or complying with the October 
17, 2008, edicts which allowed greater foreign journalist freedom. 
Local regulations implemented to protect the safety of all 
foreigners - not just foreign journalists - also were compounding 
the access problem, he added.  Zhang spoke of the influence of the 
May 12, 2008, Sichuan earthquake, the Olympics and the media 
coverage from the Tibet riots as factors influencing the openness 
foreign journalist encountered in Urumqi.  He would only 
characterize future openness as occurring on a "case by case" basis 
and denied any new policy initiatives.   Zhang concluded by voicing 
his "disappointment" with American media reporting from Xinjiang. 
While praising hard news reporting as "generally balanced," he 
bemoaned the "confusing of the true facts" and the "fanning of 
hatred" undertaken by Western editorials.  Finally, Zhang also 
previewed some media preparations for the 60th anniversary of the 
P.R.C's founding. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) COMMENT:  The number of high-profile events over the past 
two years for which the Chinese government has managed foreign press 
coverage has led to a more sophisticated handling of foreign 
journalists.  While China's natural instinct is to limit information 
for damage control, the lesson of last year's Tibet riots was that 
limited access leads to one-sided coverage.  We see the MFA's 
efforts in Xinjiang as reflecting a new willingness to relax 
information controls to present the real story.  It remains to be 
seen whether this relative openness continues through the October 1 
celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the PRC's founding, for 
which security will reportedly be tight.  End comment. 
 
Press Center Logistics 
 
¶3. (SBU) On July 29, PressOff met with Mr. Zhang Yong, Deputy 
Director of the Information Department of the People's Republic of 
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to discuss the experience 
of foreign media in Xinjiang following the July 15, 2009 riots in 
Urumqi.  Zhang noted that "several" MFA Information Department staff 
were on the ground in Urumqi by July 6 to help man a press center 
set up by the local government.  The MFA Information Department 
staff's main purpose was to help the local government "understand" 
the situation and better "understand" how to work with foreign 
media, according to Zhang.  The press center, which Zhang and his 
notetaker referred to as "the Information Center" was under the 
control of a joint central, provincial and local government "task 
force." 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Information Center, which required all foreign media to 
register, had 243 journalists representing 119 media organizations 
registered at its peak.  The Task Force held several meetings a day 
and MFA, in conjunction with the State Council information Office, 
took the lead on all press issues.  Zhang characterized the activity 
of the local government as "cautious" in releasing information to 
foreign media, but allowing journalists "real access" in order to 
reflect facts.  The Task Force worked closely with the local 
Xinjiang government officials and, Zhang implied, forced them to see 
the "logic" of press-friendly gestures such as supplying foreign 
journalists with the only working Internet connection in Urumqi. 
 
How It Looked From the Other Side 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Separately, Western reporters from several media outlets 
told PressOff they were pleasantly surprised by the openness and 
genuinely helpful attitude from Chinese press officials that they 
encountered in Urumqi.  Reuters' Lucy Hornby characterized this as a 
"positive trend in reporting conditions in Xinjiang, vis-a-vis 
Tibet, including non-Tibetan Autonomous Region Tibetan areas."  She 
was also noted her surprise at the CDs and DVDs handed out by P.R.C. 
press officers in Urumqi depicting the graphic violence inflicted on 
Han citizens by Uighur rioters (which were then taken back on the 
grounds that "there weren't enough for every organization to have 
its own.")   New York Times reporter Ed Wong told PressOff that he 
and his assistant were met by MFA Information Department and State 
Council Information Office staff when they first got off their plane 
in Urumqi and were bused with other reporters to a central hotel 
where they had access to the Internet.  On the first morning after 
the riots, they were initially brought around Urumqi by bus to see 
the extent of the damage and conduct interviews with average 
citizens in groups.  But when a mob of angry Uighur women looking 
for their husbands materialized and the situation quickly 
degenerated, the guided tour came to an end and the press handlers 
"gave up herding everyone."  Wong described complete freedom to 
wander about and interview Urumqi citizens, which led to a piece 
about a Han family whose son had been killed in the riots. 
 
Is Xinjiang Open or Not? 
¶6. (SBU) When pressed on whether Xinjiang currently was or was not 
open to foreign media, and the situation in Kashgar, Xinjiang where 
foreign journalists have been followed, detained, and told to leave, 
Zhang became visibly uncomfortable and said that the MFA does not 
control the rulings of the local governments. 
¶7. (SBU) He explained that new regulations had been sent out to all 
provincial and local governments highlighting the October 17 edict 
on foreign reporter freedoms.  Any misinterpretations of the law 
would come from regional governments.  Xian, Guangzhou, Shanghai and 
other such big cities were doing a great job of responding to the 
new ruling but a few places were still "suspicious" or didn't fully 
understand or were "not used to" these new rules.  It takes time for 
each level of government to become accustomed to the main principles 
of new regulations, Zhang elaborated. 
¶8. (SBU) In Kashgar, Zhang said the local government had its own 
regulations and the right to close the region for "the safety of all 
foreigners," including foreign journalists, since their safety could 
not be guaranteed during these violent and tragic times.  His bottom 
line: Xinjiang is open for foreigners except in some local areas, 
out of a need to be "cautious" in protecting them.  Comment:  It 
appears the real bottom line is that Xinjiang is open where and when 
the government, whether local or central, says that it is.  End 
comment. 
Lessons Learned, But No New Policies 
 
¶9. (SBU) Zhang was initially a bit defensive about the idea that the 
Chinese government had any lessons to learn from prior events, 
claiming that the P.R.C was "always open to the media because we 
have nothing to hide."  But over the course of the conversation, 
Zhang did admitted that it was "partially correct" to say lessons 
had been learned not just from the coverage of the March 2008 riots 
in Lhasa, Tibet, but also from the positive results coming from the 
relative open coverage of the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the 
2008 Beijing Olympics. 
¶10. (SBU) Zhang described a "change in mindset" in the PRC 
government about press issues following the Lhasa riots.  "We are 
doing better now," he added, pointing to the new foreign journalist 
regulations passed on October 17, 2008, as "open" compared to those 
of the past and welcoming of foreign media.  (NOTE: The new law 
allows foreign reporters to travel freely within China - except in 
the TAR -- and interview anyone they choose, as long as they have 
the interviewees' permission. END NOTE) 
¶11. (SBU) Zhang asserted that "we're not changing to a new policy" 
for foreign coverage of sensitive events.  Instead, he insisted the 
P.R.C always wants to be transparent but "in different ways for 
different occasions."  The Chinese government had learned "a lot" in 
the last 15 months (since the March 2008 Tibet riots), "more than 
many countries could go through in 10 years."  These events gave the 
government a chance to accumulate experience and, he implied, would 
inform their future handling of subsequent events. 
¶12. (SBU) However, in the event of a hypothetical plane crash in a 
remote region, Zhang was "confident" that details would be given to 
foreign journalists and a similar set-up to Urumqi would take place 
with Internet accesses, distributed DVDs and specific measures taken 
to ensure accurate, detailed and timely dissemination of information 
to foreign journalists. 
 
"Balanced" Reporting But "Disappointing" Commentary 
¶13. (SBU) Zhang began what appeared to be prepared remarks by saying 
that the Chinese government "always wanted to tell the truth" and 
let reporters know what they were thinking.  However, Zhang Yong 
told PressOff that he had found American media reporting on the 
Xinjiang riots "disappointing" and, while American reporters may 
have been surprised by the Chinese government's openness, they still 
had a "biased mind-set." 
¶14. (SBU) Zhang acknowledged that hard news reporting in the U.S. 
media was "generally balanced" but newspaper opinion pieces were 
"most disappointing" and way off the mark.  Zhang noted three 
specific areas of disappointment: 1) U.S. media had "confused true 
facts" in Xinjiang; 2) the Western press is "fanning hatred" with 
its description of a Han-Uighur "war" and portraits of 
machete-wielding Uighurs; and 3) the U.S. media continues to ascribe 
the problems in Xinjiang to P.R.C. government policies, when the 
cause was clearly (to him) "a tragic plot caused by separatists 
overseas." 
¶15.  (SBU) This is why, Zhang opined, the Western media has problems 
reporting in China.  A recent op-ed in Global Times/Huanqiu Shibao 
by Ding Gang, a People's Daily editor, in which Ding vowed never to 
read the Wall Street Journal again due to its biased coverage, 
reflected "the true feelings of the Chinese people," Zhang 
concluded. 
Press Arrangements for the 60th Anniversary of the P.R.C. 
¶16.  (SBU) Zhang also gave a general preview of outreach to foreign 
media during the National Day celebrations surrounding the 60th 
anniversary of the P.R.C.'s founding on October 1, 2009.  It would 
be "much better than for the 50th anniversary" and much more press 
friendly for foreign reporters, Zhang enthused.  Press and public 
relations for the event would be even more open than the access 
enjoyed by foreign media in Urumqi.  There would be a press center 
and "more things," including Wi-Fi and access to events for foreign 
media, as well as books, postcards and other handouts (but not 
CDs/DVDs). Accommodations would be "more convenient and more 
comfortable" than 10 years ago. 
GOLDBERG