Beijing Newspeak

Apologies for the long absence to anyone who is still bothering to check this page. (And to the person who arrived at this site while searching ask.com for “criticism of Xinhua”, fear not for this blog is not defunct and I’m sure I’ll be able to assist your research further at some point.)

I have been busy with being astounded by new and highly unfriendly China visa regulations in Hong Kong, doing very little in the Philippines (El Nido in Palawan - what a spectacular place), giving a portion of my Xinhua ”bonus” to the Casino Lisboa in Macau, visiting ghostly factory towns in Guangdong during the Spring Festival, making the odd propagandic “confession” to prove I’m really just a one-trick pony and devising new ways to replace Xinhua’s incredibly generous pay packet. My god, I’ve mentioned Xinhua three times (make that four) already - it really is a grubby obsession.

This is the first time I have lived in Beijing without working in the labouring heart of China’s propaganda outfit. It is a beautiful thing. However, I didn’t appreciate how just sitting at a desk surounded by government edicts, all the major news wires and a treasure trove of a database (former Xinhua comrades if you are reading and know how I can access it please do tell. Without it I am nothing …) enabled me to have such a wide knowledge of Chinese current affairs. Drooling over Google News just isn’t the same - and I don’t get paid for it.

It has happened only once but I actually found myself wishing I was back at Xinhua the other day when I read Richard Spencer’s post on “The strange case of the disappearing news story”, which told of inconsistencies within the Chinese media in its reporting of the “Olympic terror” story. Again, former comrades feel free to comment and enlighten while you bask in the warm glow of anonymity! My tender reminiscences disappeared, though, when I saw this sentence from a Xinhua ”two sessions” story:

“Andrew Kirillov, Beijing bureau chief of the Itar-Tass News Agency in Russia, appeared joyous when registering to cover China’s upcoming “two sessions ..”

The sad thing was that I correctly guessed which journalist had written it without needing to read any further.

Still, if I ever feel lonely, I can rest assured there will be always be a steady trickle of anecdotes leaking out of the Xinhua tower. Last month, Roland at ESWN flagged up a story released by Xinhua on February 21 about Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to the “AIDS village” of Wenlou, Henan, back on November 30. He pointed out that the old news had been re-released three months later in a laughable attempt to refute a story published in German by AFP on February 19, which said many of the villagers with whom Wen shook hands were amateur actors and actresses. (For more on this see Black and White Cat’s previous translation of a blog post from Hu Jia, the rights campaigner awaiting trial on charges of “inciting subversion of state power”.) Roland went on to say:

A proper piece of journalism would be for Xinhua to send a reporter immediately back to Wenlou village to identify the person shaking the hand of the Premier, check his background (amateur actor? or vegetable grower?) and interview him.

Well, apparently, a Xinhua journalist had already returned to the village a month earlier and confirmed what had been reported in November to be true. Who knows who the Xinhua journalist spoke to or if he had also been duped by local officials. However, every story involving Wen Jiabao has to be approved directly by the Premier’s office and the journalist was told by the secretary that he couldn’t write his new story, even if it did reflect favourably on the government. Much better to stick to the November visit he was told. Safer. There was much annoyance in Xinhua of course as no news agency, albeit a highly dodgy one, likes to report three-month-old news, particularly if there is new information. Clearly another case of govermental stubbornness making everyone look stupid.

ESWN then had a post saying AFP had apologised for the report and recalled it. It was written by a freelancer who hadn’t noted the source (Hu Jia’s blog perhaps?).  How I long to be able to transform my lanky foreign frame into a passable Henan native, allowing me to indulge in some undercover reporting in Wenlou. It’s just one of those infuriating mysteries that looks like it will never be solved.

Despite not being able to access the wire, I’m lucky enough to receive some Xinhua news on my mobile phone. A text I received from a former comrade the other day merely said: “Just polished one about a Chinese company building a block of flats in Free Press Square in Bucharest.”

That’s the kind of irony that would tickle blogging British Foreign Minister David Miliband. I was taken by the nature of Mr Miliband’s posts regarding his recent visit to China - the trip during which he was told the “cup of tea” joke by his opposite number Yang Jiechi. On the day of his departure from the UK’s fair shores, he was most sincere, writing under the heading “Look East, Young Man”:

“Today I head to China - specifically Hong Kong, Shanghai, Chongqing and Beijing. I am immensely looking forward to my visit, which I expect to be instructive, thought-provoking and inspiring in equal measure. I will follow up the Prime Minister’s highly successful visit to Beijing in January, and have the time to see how Chinese engagement with globalization is changing the face of the world’s largest country. My aims are simple: to try to understand the country better, to compare notes on the challenges of equality, security and sustainability in our two countries, and to forge relationships that foster Anglo-Chinese cooperation at an international level in the pursuit of shared goals.”

Five days later, he wrote a post that was very different in tone under the heading “China Travels”, which, bizarrely, was sent out via email by the British Embassy to all the registered Brits in Beijing, many of whom got over the ironies of Communist China a long time ago.

Irony of the day; Tuesday:

Long exegesis from representatives of the Communist Party about the lessons of the City of London’s big bang and the importance of deregulation.

Irony of the day: Wednesday:

Magnificent car to take us from the airport to the stunning Olympic site and the “water cube”, designed by Arup as a translucent energy efficient water sports centre - and the car was a Cadillac.

Wake up at the Wall:

The Great Wall has served over the centuries to try and keep the World out of China - so there is symbolism in meeting for dinner with the Chinese Foreign Minister at the “Commune Hotel” at the Wall. We are about to go for a walk on the Wall itself.

Oh dear, he’s got a lot of catching up to do with Kevin Rudd.