Bloomberg Buys China’s Lies?

Wing-Gar Cheng, a Beijing-based reporter for Bloomberg News, filed an article similar to the BBC one we just discussed, but with noticeably more credence given to the Chinese government’s claims. In fact, at times the article reads like a story from China’s state-owned Xinhua News Agency: full of unsubstantiated figures, unbalanced praise for Chinese policies in Tibet, and gratuitous revisions of Tibet’s history. Sadly, one would expect much better from Bloomberg.

July 28 (Bloomberg) — China’s Tibet Autonomous Region vowed to place the protection of its glaciers, wetlands and grasslands ahead of the development of industries such as tourism and manufacturing in its economic planning.

“China’s Tibet” is a standard phrase in Chinese propaganda. It is meant to reinforce China’s claim to Tibet. It only ends up making the Chinese government look silly and insecure. They don’t have to say “China’s Shanghai,” do they?

Tibet will reject investment from industries such as mining, should they result in the erosion of land or pollution of natural reserves, Huang Yutian, head of the Lhasa economic and development zone, told reporters yesterday in the Tibetan capital.

Comrade Huang is yet another Chinese official running Tibet. (Why do there seem to be so many Chinese in positions of power in the “Tibet Autonomous Region”?) It is especially troubling how the article simply reports on what various Chinese officials claim, without including any investigation, any critical analysis, or any differing viewpoints on how unlikely it is that these promises will materialize. Instead, the article reports these statements as fact. Exactly like a Xinhua article.

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BBC Quotes SFT on Tibet Mines

The BBC just ran an article on mining in Tibet, reporting that Chinese officials claim “they will not approve mining operations in Tibet that could damage the environment.” An official in Tibet named Zhang Tianhua said, possibly with a straight face, “When there is a conflict between protecting the environment and economic development, protection will come first.”

Should we believe Mr. Zhang (by his name, clearly yet another Chinese official running Tibet)?

Mr. Zhang’s promise is contrary to policies anywhere in China, where economic gain is promoted above ecological or public health concerns. His promise is even less believable in Tibet, where the Chinese-controlled government is even less accountable to popular sentiment than in China.

In some parts of China, citizens have used the internet and print media to push for environmental protection. In Tibet, China is so obsessed with fighting “separatism” that any criticism or popular organization immediately falls under deep suspicion. Tibetans have learned that they have to keep their heads down. Is this really a situation where one would expect a government to protect the environment rather than help politically-connected and bribe-paying mining companies?

As the BBC continues,

But with mining already described as a “pillar industry”, it is unclear how a protection policy would work. Tibet has abundant mineral deposits, including copper, iron, lead and zinc.

Earlier this year, Chinese geologists announced that they had discovered 16 major mineral deposits along the railway line that connects Lhasa, the region’s capital, with the rest of China.

Parts of northern Tibet, again near the railway line, could also contain vast oil and gas reserves, the geologists added in a report carried by state-run Xinhua News Agency.

[...]

Pollution, however, is not the only concern. Critics also say Tibetans benefit least from mining in the region.

“Under Chinese rule, Tibetans have no voice to determine the use of their own natural resources,” according to a statement from rights group Students for a Free Tibet.

SFT is calling on mining companies to cease operations and exploration in Tibet until the Tibetan people can freely determine the use of their own resources — particularly non-renewable resources. For more information about this campaign and the ways that SFT is pressuring foreign mining companies, please visit http://stopminingtibet.com/.

Beijing’s Toxic Air

James Fallows of The Atlantic has a post up about Beijing’s air quality and the Olympics that is making the rounds in the blogosphere.  It has some scary photos of the near-toxic levels of air pollution that the citizens of Beijing have to contend with. 

Mr. Fallows asks: “To the obvious question — how could you possibly have a major athletic competition in conditions like these??”  Chinese officials have promised to clean up the air in the coming year so althetes won’t risk destroying their lungs (apparently it’s not so bad if this happens to ordinary Chinese).  There are limits to what even the most draconian methods can accomplish in a situation like this, so we shall see how successful they are. 

If we were athletes preparing for the Beijing Olympics, we would be very concerned… and upset at the International Olympics Committee (IOC) for making us compete in such conditions.

See: http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/07/now_377_days_to_the_olympics.php 

BBC Photos on Tibet

Last week’s “Day in Pictures” series from the BBC ran some interesting photos related to Tibet, so here is the collection:

On July 27, the BBC carried this photo of His Holiness the Dalai Lama teaching in Germany:

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On July 23, the BBC carried this photo of Tibetan monks in India protesting in solidarity with the 14 Tibetans on hunger strike in New Delhi:

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And on July 25, the BBC carried this photo of “Chinese men and women, dressed in the typical costumes of the country’s ethnic minorities, listen to a pep talk ahead of the 2008 Olympics”:

The July 25 photo in particular begs for commentary: China will be using the Olympics as a propaganda tool to portray “minorities” as prosperous and happy. In upcoming Olympics-related events, look for more scenes with Chinese dressing in faux “minority” clothes, prancing around in exaggerated “ethnic” dances, oblivious to their neocolonial objectification of non-Chinese peoples. Certainly in the case of Tibet, this is a calculated move by the Chinese government to lay claim to Tibetan culture in an attempt to convince the world that Tibetans are Chinese.

Testing China’s Olympic Promises

Tibetan journalists living in exile are testing the Chinese government’s promises of greater press freedoms leading up to the Beijing 2008 Olympics. In a letter to the Chinese ambassador in New Delhi, the journalists asked for “permission to go to China alongside media journalists from around the world during the 2008 Olympics Games.”

The Chinese government is trying to portray itself as open, confident, and with nothing to hide. When China bid for the 2008 Games, its organizing committee (backed by the government and Communist Party) promised that international journalists would have “complete freedom to report when they came to China.” So based on this, it would seem that the Tibetan journalists should start packing their bags for Beijing. Right?

…Not quite. Reporters Without Borders has issued a damning report detailing China’s failure to live up to its promises. Chinese security forces also detained reporters Tim Johnson (of McClatchy newspapers) and Harald Maass (of the Frankfurter Rundschau) for reporting in Tibet, since Beijing’s promises of press freedom doesn’t apply to Tibet (reporters must still get a special permit to go to Tibet, more difficult to obtain than the permit for tourists, meaning that China retains a veto over press in Tibet despite whatever else it says). It seems extremely unlikely that China will decide to let in the Tibetan journalists, let alone let them report freely as promised. We would love for China to prove us wrong.

So should we expect that the ostensibly new and more open China will let in the Tibetan journalists to report on the Olympics? Or will Chinese leaders act like insecure dictators with something to hide? Will they deny the journalists visas or even simply refuse to respond? Stay tuned.