2012 US Election and 18 th PC. 18 th PC .
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Transcript of 2012 US Election and 18 th PC. 18 th PC .
18th PC http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/world/asia/jiang-zemin-ex-leader-of-china-asserts-sway-over-top-posts.html?_r=0
Media Politics: Monitors
China Digital Times http://chinadigitaltimes.net/
China Media Project http://cmp.hku.hk/
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Liu Xiaobo “God’s present to China” “The internet has made it easier to obtain
information, contact the outside world and submit articles to overseas media. It is like a super-engine that makes my writing spring out of a well. The internet is an information channel that the Chinese dictators cannot fully censor, allowing people to speak and communicate, and it offers a platform for spontaneous organisation.”
China Urges Europeans to Boycott Nobel Ceremony (NY Times 11/5/10) Nicholas Bequelin
“The police know these people are not going to cause the collapse of the Communist Party, but this is all about information control.”
Media expansion7
TV and radio Approx. 1,000 TV stations
Print 2,035 newpapers (2003) (Liebman, p. 17)
Internet 513 million internet users as of 2012
Rapid increase 42% increase 2008 over 2007
Largest # of users in world as of 2008 World’s largest internet market
Media: Pluralist or Corporatist?
8
How autonomous is traditional media? How autonomous is the Internet?
Internet idealists vs. Internet pessimists
Addressing the debates9
State control capacity Xiao Qiang on traditional and new media
argues that print and broadcast media are more constrained but that the internet is much less so.
“Rising public opinion through online forums and blogs…are remaking the public agenda.”
“Newfound freedoms have developed in spite of stringent government efforts to control the medium… seriously eroding the party-state censorship mechanism.”
Addressing the debate10
Commercialization Daniel Lynch (1999), Bruce Gilley (2004)
argue that media commercialization has allowed for the loosening of the CCP's control
Zhao Yuezhi (1998), Ashley Esarey (2005) argue that media commercialization has only changed the forms of control utilized by the CCP
Reporters Without Borders’ 2005 Worldwide Press Freedom Index places China at 159 out of 167 countries
358 TV stations and 2,119 newspapers
http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2006/imprisoned_06/imprisoned_06.html
Sun Zhigang case
Landmark eventnow
memorialized in the unofficial “Museum of
Peasant Labor” in Beijing.
“He died for us.”
Sun Zhigang case
Background Household
registration system (internal passport system)
Rural migrant workers require temporary resident permits to reside in cities
Apartheid like system Abused by employers
Sun Zhigang
Personal details 27-year college graduate in graphic
design from Wuhan who went to Guangzhou to work
Picked up by police upon entering Internet café because he didn’t have a temporary residence permit or ID with him
Called friend to bring his ID
15
Sun Zhigang
“Custody and Repatriation ( 收容遣送 ) Center In principle for homeless beggars
Authorized by State Council regulations Used to harass migrant workers
Extort fines Detain in squalid conditions
16
Sun Zhigang
Circumstances Sun beaten to death in detention center (March
2003) Likely for challenging detention
Media as (extra-legal) recourse Parents notified of death three days later Parents personally sought explanation from
government bureaus in Guangzhou—with no results Went to Nanfang Dushi Bao (Southern Metropolitan
Daily) when they couldn’t get answers Reported story (April 2003)
17
Sun Zhigang
Internet as (extra-legal) recourse Web sites picked up story Led to outrage on bulletin boards, in chat
rooms
Public discussion of “Custody and Repatriation System”
18
Sun Zhigang
Citizen petition to National People’s Congress on constitutionality three individuals with Ph.D. degrees in law
from Beijing University re-examine the constitutionality of the 1982
“Measures for the Custody of Repatriation of Vagrant Beggars in the Cities.” Administrative Punishment Law, Legislature Law
deprivation of a citizen’s freedom can be done only by laws passed by the National People’s Congress or its Standing Committee.
Not State Council or provincial regulations
19
Shourong Qiansong system abolished and replaced by milder Measures for Internment and Deportation of Urban Vagrants and Beggars—not for migrant workers
What is behind the abolition?
Media and internet!
C&R regulations abolished June 2003However, NO reference to constitutionality
Sun Zhigang
Subsequent results Those directly involved in Sun Zhigang’s
beating death were tried in criminal court and sentenced to death (sentence commuted to life in prison)
Editors of Southern Metropolis Daily ( 南方都市报) subsequently removed from their positions on trumped up corruption charges
22
Background: Symbolic commitment to press freedom, free expression24
PRC Constitution Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens Article 35
Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 19
Freedom to seek, receive, impart information and ideas China has signed but not ratified
What difference does this make—if any? Southern Weekend reference to int’l coventions p. 61
Corporatist Controls:Entities Involved in Internet Regulation25
• Central Propaganda Department • Department of Commerce • Department of Telecommunications • General Administration of Press and Publications • Ministry of Culture • Ministry of Information Industry • Ministry of Public Security • Public Security Bureau • State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television • State Council • State Council Information Agency • State Secrets Bureau
Corporatist and other controls
26
Corporatist controls on the media and internet Standard controls
Party membership Nomenklatura of the Central Propaganda
Department (replicated at lower levels) CCTV, People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency
Double-hatting Central Propaganda Department instructions Propaganda circulars (PCs), specific
instructions on how to handle sensitive topics or specific news stories for the media. Content must come directly from national media
organizations like Xinhua, People’s Daily, or CCTV
Corporatist and other controls
27
General Administration of Press and PublicationRegistration
Newspapers, Internet Service Providers Government sponsor—held responsible Provide identity papers for editorial and technical
staff Reporters
Examination and licensing by state
Corporatist and other controlsPolicing Special police unit Fines, shutdowns,
detentions, arrests*stiff fines for
violations* more than 60
Chinese serving prison sentences for Internet-based political crimes (HRW ’05)
28
A public security official examines the identity of a Chinese surfer at an internet café (Lagerkvist 2010)
Corporatist and other controls
29
Content Self monitoring
Must monitor content, prevent publication of prohibited material, remove and report any prohibited materials
Restricted content and likely targets Threatens the unity, sovereignty, geographical integrity
of the state Uighurs, Indep East Turkestan; Tibetans; Taiwanese
Reveals state secrets, threatens state security, or harms national interests state regulation
Propagates superstitution falungong
Harms racial unity Threatens social morality pornography
Corporatist and other controls
30
Limitations “state secrets”
Vague, ill-defined Allows government discretion, manipulation
1997 Penal Code Article 105: penalizing those subverting the political
power of the state Public Security Administration Punishment Law
Article 25: detention of citizens spreading rumors that disturb public order
Jinan flood (Summer 2007)
Corporatist and other controls General Administration of Press and
Publication government's main regulator of the press March 10, 2010
restrict media coverage of politically sensitive events limit uncontrolled news reporting on China's fast-growing
Internet.
new qualification exam for aspiring journalists test them on their knowledge of
Chinese Communist Party journalism" and Marxist views of news. Journalists who do not pass the exam will not be
allowed to apply for a job in the news industry.
Media commercialization: Incentives to push the boundaries or to self-censor? 32
Financial incentives Institutional
Circulation, advertising Individual journalist
Salary linked publications (must get past censors)
Regular re-licensing Relationship to censors
A Banner Too Far: Bao Tong on the 17th Party Congress (Oct ’07)
33
“Why is it that the crucial roles played by the media and the creative arts, that of exposing the dark side of our society, are now regarded as the epitome of treason, and are being choked off, one by one? Why has the publications inspection system which caused Marx such a headache been turned by Communist Party leaders into the art of maintaining power?
These and so many other similar questions are studiously avoided by the documents of the 17th Party Congress. They aren't raised, they aren't analyzed, and they aren't answered. The documents don't answer the question of how to turn this country into a genuine republic, not just in name only; neither do they address the question of how to ensure that ordinary citizens genuinely have the right to exercise state power.
He wrote this essay, broadcast by Radio Free Asia's Mandarin service, from his Beijing home, where he has lived under house arrest since his release from jail in the wake of the 1989 student movement:
Media coverage: freedom vs. control following the Wenchuan Earthquake Unprecedented “freedom” in early
media coverage Natural—not man-made disaster Sheer magnitude of the event
Initial break-down of standard controls Subsequent loosening Reassertion of control
Media coverage: freedom vs. control following the Wenchuan Earthquake
Media outlets under dual controls Chinese Communist Party—sets content
guidelines Politburo Propaganda Department
Chinese Government—controls licensing State Council General Administration of Press and Publication
Media coverage: freedom vs. control following the Wenchuan Earthquake Jobs on the line
Personal responsibility for failures in censorship Editors removed
Beijing News 2005 Papers closed
“Freezing Point” 2006
Only one instance in immediate earthquake aftermath
New Travel Weekly (Chongqing) Publication suspended Editor removed
Media coverage: freedom vs. control following the Wenchuan Earthquake
“Propaganda circulars” Specific instructions on how to handle sensitive
topics or specific news stories Content from New China News Agency (ex: train
derailment) May 12: “No media is allowed to send reporters
to the disaster zone.” Editors recalled reporters or did not dispatch
reporters Some reporters went as individuals no byline
Oriental Morning Post (Shanghai) 东方早报 Others led to “collective resistance” to prohibition
May 14: “Reporters going to the disaster zone must move about with rescue team.”
Media coverage: freedom vs. control
Reassertion of controls Party-state promoted
Celebration of Premier Wen Jiabao
People’s Daily front page 1 week later
Government authority in quake zone
Liberation Daily front page May 21, 2008
Get back to work Sensitive issues
suppressed Allegations of corruption
in school construction Violent protests against
local governments by parents of lost children
Media coverage: freedom vs. control following the Wenchuan Earthquake Role of the
Internet Unseemly that
the Olympic torch should continue in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake
Policy reversed
Nationalism in the media: Double-edged sword
Tremendous national spirit “Go China!” 加油中国 ! Ex: Donations
Money, blood, volunteer efforts
Anti-foreign sentiment MacDonald’s
Criticized for paltry donation to relief effort
Minister of Commerce Chen Deming
Defending foreign corporations in China
Note also internet criticisms of Chinese corporations
Attempts to Promote Trust in Government and Political Legitimacy through the Media
Trust in the central government
Distrust in local government
5 月 13 日 “我是温家宝爷爷,孩子们一定要挺住…”May 13 “ I’m Grandpa Wen Jiabao. Children [you] must
hold on…”
Xiamen PX Factory
PX Chemical Factory—relocated Citizens in Xiamen
Worried about air pollution, smokestacks, poisonous gas
Let’s collectively take a walk, maybe we will meet a mayor who listens.
Shanghai Maglev Extension Case Citizens protest maglev
extension January 6, 2008 Middle class homeowners
Texting: collectively taking a walk 集体散步
Blogging Video posted on internet
Subsequently banned by Internet police
Southern Metropolis Daily (newspaper) only Chinese media that
reported this incident
Shanghai Maglev Extension Case
Citizen blog post Mr. Zhou [a member of
Shanghai government's evaluation team] mentioned ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) and said that this organization has reported that this is harmless and that is harmless. This is really strange. We ordinary citizens can also read English. What we have seen in ICNRP documents details all kinds of harmful effects of electric and magnetic radiation. A lot of research, including biological research and volunteered human subjects research, all showed enormous risks in such an environment.
Shanghai Maglev Extension Case Southern Metropolis Daily
‘Two days ago, the plan for the western extended line of the Maglev project began to be publicized. In order to peacefully express themselves, residents along the line came to People’s Square and expressed their opinion about Maglev line passing through their own neighborhood using the method of “taking a walk” and “shopping.” Citizens say: this is one way to express opinions.’
Shanghai Maglev Extension Case Shanghai government’s
official media site: EastNet “There are people who
want Shanghai in chaos. Now, some foreigners are playing up the Maglev project, spreading some malicious rumors. Some domestic people also follow them to make a fuss. Goodhearted people must not to fall into their trap.”