Chinese state-sponsored propaganda in the International Herald Tribune

On the 60th anniversary of the forced surrender of Tibet's independence to China (23 May 2011), the International Herald Tribune (IHT) carried an eight-page Chinese state-sponsored advertising supplement, part of China’s propaganda to sell to the world the idea that Tibetans are flourishing under Chinese rule. The inclusion of this ‘advertorial’ supplement in the IHT lent the propaganda included in its pages a veil of authenticity.

Free Tibet is extremely concerned that because the supplement came with the IHT and is presented in newspaper format, IHT’s worldwide readership will have accepted its contents with the same trust as they accept the contents of the rest of the newspaper. The small print affirming that the insert was, in fact, an advertisement and did not involve IHT’s editorial department is unlikely to have been noticed by most readers.
Free Tibet questions IHT advertising policy that allows the inclusion of state-sponsored propaganda within its pages.

The ChinaWatch supplement misleads readers both by omitting key facts and not being balanced. While the advertorial trumpets the growing prosperity in Tibet, it hides the truth that Tibetans’ human rights are being violated on a daily basis. In particular ‘articles’ about education and religion in Tibet, and about nomadic resettlement, all grossly misrepresent the situation for the vast majority of Tibetans in Tibet.

TAKE ACTION

Please write to the International Herald Tribune

- Acknowledge the fact that IHT often carries news reports on the situation in Tibet as well as opinion pieces.
- Criticise the inclusion in its pages of Chinese state-sponsored propaganda in the guise of a sanctioned advertorial.
- Point out that to include such a publication is not only tantamount to endorsing the propaganda contained in it, but also throws into doubt the editorial integrity / impartiality of the IHT itself.
- Point out that while IHT states on the front page of the advertorial that the supplement did not involve the news and editorial departments of the IHT, this was written in small print and is easy to miss.
- Express your hope that in the future the paper’s financial needs will not mean that the IHT will accept similar advertorials.

Send your emails to Stephen Dunbar Johnson who is the publisher with the overall responsibilities for the paper's editorial and advertising content.

Email address: sdunbarjohnson@iht.com

Below you find a  closer look at the contents and critique of the Chinese state-sponsored advertisement

Religion
Some visitors to Tibet do report large numbers of devotees who seem free to practise their religion without restriction as the China Daily advertising supplement suggests. Temples, monasteries, nuns and monks, Buddhist rituals and festivals are all outward signs of an apparently thriving religion. What is hidden behind this facade is the complex system of administrative control and restrictions which make it virtually impossible for Tibetans to practise their religion in a meaningful way. What is hidden from view is the coercion, the culture of surveillance, the threats, the monks and nuns who are in prison for freely exercising their beliefs.

As the China Daily advertising supplement went to print on 23 May, Kirti monastery in Ngaba County remains under military and paramilitary control under a severe crackdown that began in March 2011. 355 monks have been forcibly removed, their well-being and whereabouts remain unknown. There is a programme of ‘patriotic re-education’ in force at the monastery as well as at monasteries throughout Ngaba County. Despite this chilling reality, the advertising supplement paints a rosy picture of supposed religious freedom in Tibet.

China Daily features Drepung monastery in Lhasa in its article about the flourishing Tibetan Buddhist celebrations. Ironically Drepung monastery was at the forefront of the peaceful protests in Lhasa, beginning in March 2008, which led to a crackdown by authorities; the monastery was subsequently closed down for five months.

In November 2007, 300 monks from Drepung monastery marched peacefully to protest the arrest of fellow Drepung monks who were detained for celebrating the Dalai Lama’s US Congressional Gold medal. The monks were stopped and some were detained. The next month hundreds of monks were taken from Drepung to Golmud in Qinghai Province, over 1,000km away where they were detained in secret for months in a military camp.

 Click here to see the religion section of the ChinaWatch supplement

Click here for more on religion in Tibet

Education
The threat to the survival of the Tibetan language is one of the most pressing and urgent concerns of Tibetans living under Chinese rule. Despite China’s constitution guaranteeing ‘the freedom of all nationalities to use and develop their own spoken and written languages’, the Chinese language dominates in Tibet.

Astonishingly the China Daily report claims that in Beijing Tibetan Middle School “activities are designed to strengthen students” ties to Tibetan customs by having to attend “one Tibet language class every week”.
In most schools in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibetan children only study in the Tibetan language for the first three years of primary school. From the fourth year the language of instruction changes to Chinese.
This education policy results in Tibet having the highest illiteracy rate in all China's regions: according to the 2009 United Nations Development Programme report, whilst in China literacy was 93% in 2007, in Tibet it was 44%, the lowest of all Chinese provinces. Many Tibetans end up not speaking their own language properly and drop out of school due to the difficulty in following classes in a foreign language - Chinese. As most secondary education and all higher education is taught exclusively in Chinese and entrance exams to universities are in Chinese, Tibetans are at disadvantage which later in life in turn perpetuates poverty among Tibetans.

In October 2010, large demonstrations broke out in Qinghai province in eastern Tibet with over 9,000 thousand students taking part. The protests were against education policies that call for Chinese to be the main language of instruction. The slogans and banners called for “Equality for languages” and announced "We want back freedom for Tibetan language”, demonstarating Tibetans’ deep unhappiness at the erosion of the use of their mother tongue in their education.

Click here to read the article on education in the ChinaWatch supplement

Click here for more on education in Tibet

Nomads
The Chinese government advertising supplement included in the International Herald Tribune claims that China is improving the lives of Tibetan nomads. The real situation of nomads who have been moved off their land by the government is captured in Channel 4’s Dispatches documentary ‘Undercover in Tibet’. The film shows a Tibetan investigating nomadic resettlements using a hidden camera. The footage on nomadic resettlement shows the utter despair of nomads.http://documentaryheaven.com/dispatches-undercover-in-tibet/ (relevant section begins at minute 16:50)

The Chinese government claims that they are resettling Tibetan nomads because the nomadic grazing practices are causing damage to the Tibetan plateau’s eco system. However independent research demonstrates that it is actually the Chinese administration’s land-use and resource extraction policies in Tibet that have accelerated the degradation of the plateau’s fragile ecosystem.

Resettled nomads become landless, without means of subsistence; they are untrained in modern skills and this leads to widespread unemployment and desperation.

Nomads do not give informed consent to resettlement as they are not consulted and in some cases those who have protested official policy have been arrested and sentenced to long jail terms. Many nomads realise the consequences of being resettled only once government support has run out and they are left without money, land, animals and modern skills.

Click here to learn more about nomadic resettlement in Tibet