Published by: World Tibet Network News, Monday, February 26, 1996

By: Gil Butler

Beijing, Feb. 22, (VOA)

intro: the world's most populous country, china, publishes 25-thousand newspapers and magazines, and broadcasts news to the world's largest domestic audience on 12- thousand radio and television stations. In one of a series of v-o-a reports on media freedom, gil butler in beijing tells us not one of china's news outlets is free to report or comment on sensitive political issues without guidance from the communist party.

Text: in the chinese system, the communist party guides the newspapers through regular meetings to give the party line on news events, the government administers them, and the journalism profession regulates behavior. In addition, what chinese officials call "news units" are expected to exercise self-restraint in the way they report.

Yu quanyu, the director of the journalism institute at the chinese academy of social sciences, expressed it this way: "journalists shoud be the eyes, ears, tongue and mouthpiece of the party and the people."

Many observers here divide the state of chinese press freedom into the period prior to june fourth, 1989 -- the date of the bloody suppression of the tiananmen square democracy movement -- and what has happened since then. Free lance journalist dai qing, who is unable to publish inside china, says since tiananmen square, political criticism is strictly controlled.

Tape: cut one -- dai qing

"from the beginning of the 1980's until 1989, we had a little bit of freedom in china. But something happened in tiananmen square and after june fourth, 1989; right now, the situation is most strictly controlled...Only in political news or to criticize."

Text: by contrast, says dai quing, the authorities are more relaxed about what she calls "soft news" -- news about sports, film stars, discussion of sexual topics and lifestyles.

China scholar orville schell makes the same point.

Tape: cut two - schell

"there are more areas that can be written about more freely than ever before. At the same time, there is a certain set of core areas that it is more difficult to write about in a free and open fashion... There is a smaller circumference of control, but within those circled wagons, there is ever more tighter control, certainly tighter than what we saw at the end of the 1980's."

Text: mr. Schell says the public dialogue on political questions is almost completely absent.

Tape: cut three - schell

"that is the heart and soul of any society's ability to talk to itself, to debate, to discuss and to inform itself and form some sort of consensus."

Text: yu quanyu, the chinese journalism official, was asked about the lack of press criticism after the tiananmen movement was crushed.

Tape: cut four - yu (chinese - fade under text)

text: he says the reason is very simple -- because the journalists from the western countries, including v-o-a, attack china. You attack china. Why should we scold ourselves? Especially these international broadcating stations -- b-b-c, v-o-a and the french international broadcasting station. If you reduce the volume (of criticism) against china, we will have more critical articles by ourselves.

Text: patrick tyler of the new york times says news coverage of china has been heavily weighted by the tiananmen demonstration and crackdown. He calls it, "an enormous event that has affected the political and social life and political relations of china and the outside world more than any other for the past 40 years."

Chinese authorities have recently begun exerting control over international financial news and the global information superhighway--the internet.

China recently announced that all foreign economic and financial news must go through xinhua, the government news agency. Some have seen it as simply a means for xinhua to make more money. Others worry that chinese officials might try to censor the incoming data.

Jim mcgregor of the beijing office of associated press-dow jones financial news says the new controls could be very bad for chinese businessmen.

Tape: cut five - mcgregor

"if china wants to keep up in the world in manufacturing, export or in trading in world financial markets, they have to have information and I don't know if the people that are building the economy and the people who are controlling propaganda are having meetings together because they seem to be headed in different directions."

Text: [opt] china also recently announced new limits on the kind of material that can be carried into china on internet links. Some have argued it would be impossible to censor such material, but access to the internet can be controlled and there are complaints that new applicants for internet access are being denied on the grounds the lines are not available.

[End opt]

mr. Mcgregor says chinese authorities seem to be getting incoming information into very narrow tubes so they, in his words, "at least know through what entry points things are coming in."

There are more than 250 foreign journalists based in china. Most of those who live in beijing are obliged to live in one of the diplomatic compounds scattered around the city. Guards posted at the gates to the compounds check the credentials of any chinese who want to enter. The new york times' patrick tyler says there is a purpose in that.

Tape: cut six -- tyler

"limiting contact between foreign correspondents and ordinary chinese is a major preoccupation of the system, or at least to control that contact, to have it choreographed in a way. That is because china and the communist party still consider news-gathering as a propaganda function and unless they are controlling the dissemination of news and shaping foreign images of china, they are not propagating properly."

Text: there are some bright spots in the generally dark picture of press freedom in china. Author geremy barme', who has compiled anthologies of chinese activist literature, says in the past year and a half a number of new literary journals have emerged.

Tape: cut seven - barme'

"you don't have direct criticism of the government as such; you didn't have that even -- except for a few weeks, and that was a very mild version of criticism even before 1989 -- and in recent months you have seen an opening up -- not an opening up directly of greater press freedom as such, but a covert use of what is possible in china -- a discussion of social issues and cultural issues in a way that denotes a type of liberalism that is different than the late 80's when people were encouraged by political figures to speak up."

Text: [opt] mr. Barme' says conservative government leaders control major publications in beijing but there is a whole range of other publications outside beijing's beltway--the third ring road. [End opt]

judi polumbaum of iowa state university also sees some press freedom emerging. She says while the government has tightened control in some areas, it has basically given up in others, recognizing that in the modern information age you can't monitor everything all the time. (Signed)