Open censorship, media manipulation or quiet quashing of criticism.

On 08.08.08, and with the official opening of the Olympic Games today, I feel it is appropriate to write a post related to China, Asia and media activity.


This is not a political blog, and I do not want it to become one, but this is an unusual day, marked by a great and unique event, and so I will make an exception, as it relates to the power of the written word and how it is used to record facts.

“By continuing to persecute and punish those who speak out for human rights, the Chinese authorities have lost sight of the promises they made when they were granted the Games seven years ago,” said Roseann Rife, Asia-Pacific Deputy Director at Amnesty International.

“The Chinese authorities are tarnishing the legacy of the Games. They must release all imprisoned peaceful activists, allow foreign and national journalists to report freely and make further progress towards the elimination of the death penalty.”

Hari Kunzru, in The Guardian, wrote on May 29, "Beijing's human rights record does need to be challenged - but, given the strength of nationalist feeling, we have to be careful about how."

President Bush, it seems, didn't read the sensible and sensitive article. The US Leader come out and called China, on its Human Rights policies. He did it on the same day, as press reports stated that a US official had confirmed that should a military tribunal jury find a Guantanamo prisoner innocent, he/she would not be automatically released should the US government believe they remain a potential threat. (Did they see Minority Report?)

In the US, reports Amnesty International, A Mexican national who was not informed of his right to consular assistance after his arrest, was executed in Texas on Tuesday 5 August.

José Medellín was put to death in violation of the USA’s international legal obligations and despite worldwide appeals for the execution to be stopped, including one from the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.

The parable of who should throw the first stone, comes to mind. Or "people in glass houses..". And they shouldn't forget that people can see in and through them, even if the owners like to think otherwise.

In China, the activities of the press are openly monitored and manipulated by the State. Some may believe the intention of the US President is genuinely to call attention to China's Human Rights issues at this time : I am not one of them. The press attention it received quickly took away the focus on the Guantanamo statement. Bush has criticised the China state policy on unlawful imprisonment and the death penalty, yet the same policies exist in both countries, albeit on different scales.

On April 29, again quoting The Guardian carried the story that PEN had formally expressed concern to Tesco, over its response to journalists writing about its activities in Thailand.

"...our concern over the recent libel actions served by Tesco Lotus in Thailand against three critics of the store's policy in that country – Jit Siratranont, Kamol Kamoltrakul and Nongnart Harnwilai. We understand that Tesco Lotus has been faced with considerable criticism in Thailand, and that there may be some errors of fact in aspects of this coverage. However, the scale of Tesco Lotus's response seems grossly disproportionate"...they called on Tesco

"...to drop all actions in Thailand, and to impress your critics with the force of argument, not the threat of imprisonment."

Tesco has a public policy to "treat people as we like to be treated" - yet 'in private', in a country where the media attention on such a story is very different should the same thing have happened in the UK, it appears that they will treat the press and written criticism with a severity of action that we might expect from the Chinese State.

Open censorship, media manipulation, or quiet quashing of criticism. Which is the lesser of three evils?

I echo the plea of PEN, to all of these bodies, State, corporate or otherwise:

"... impress your critics with the force of argument, not the threat of imprisonment."