COMMENT
What happens in China stays in China?
By Curtis S Chin
DENPASAR, INDONESIA - It is unclear whether China will be welcoming to media reports that don't quite fit the official storyline of its chairmanship this year of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. As part of its role, China will host a series of APEC meetings and supporting events throughout 2014.
US journalist Austin Ramzy was forced to leave China in January ostensibly for visa reasons, but perhaps this was more a pointed
signal to others who wish to report on issues such as corruption. There is also the continued imprisonment in China, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, of more than 30 local reporters, editors and bloggers.
It seems this year is shaping up to be a dangerous one for media in Asia. In early February, local journalist Suon Chan was killed in Cambodia after having reported on illegal fishing activities near his village. A veteran foreign journalist and author, Dave Walker, has gone missing in the same country. Meanwhile in the Philippines, justice has yet to be fully served in the more than 70 cases of murdered journalists since 1992, including that of my friend, radio commentator Jerry Ortega.
Even in Hong Kong and the United States, press freedoms weakened considerably this past year. In the United States, according to Reporters Without Borders, there was a profound erosion of press freedom as the Obama administration focused on cracking down on whistleblowers.
The United States and China though are still worlds apart in their treatment of media, but the latter's hosting of the annual APEC forum does give it an opportunity to show the region and the world how it has changed on more than economic fronts since APEC last came to China. That APEC meeting, in Shanghai in October 2001, was described as "the biggest international gathering on Chinese soil in modern history".
As China's economy matures and slows, it is time it moved towards stronger checks and balances that help make a stable, resilient economic system. This would include moves toward an independent judiciary and a freer, if not yet free, media. In bringing greater accountability and transparency, such moves would be to the long-term benefit of business, Chinese and otherwise, and to the Chinese people.
The APEC Secretariat in Singapore and diplomats and business leaders from the 21 member economies that comprise APEC can play an encouraging role. International bodies from the Asian Development Bank to the United Nations to the World Trade Organization are often hard-pressed to show results to their members and financial supporters. Here is one area where short-term impact can be clearly defined.
This also would be in line with the broader APEC goal of facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment among the Pacific Rim nations. An initial step would include urging China to welcome robust coverage of all senior officials meeting and related meetings of APEC. The first are taking place, from February 15-28, in Ningbo.
Just days before the APEC summit - or more formally the economic leaders meeting - opened in Shanghai in 2001, China lifted Internet blocks on a range of foreign news organizations, including Reuters, CNN and the BBC. Without any public announcement, Internet sites of news organizations that had been permanently blocked were suddenly accessible, according to Reuters, as some 3,000 foreign media were due at the meeting and China sought to convey a message of openness to the world.
Such a change may well come again this November, as APEC comes to Beijing for the summit. But well before then, China can show the world a more confident, more open side. At an Asia Society panel that I moderated recently on APEC 2014, an audience member posed a question about media access, including social media coverage of the proceedings in China.
The US senior official for APEC on the panel made clear that China, as host, makes all final decisions regarding media access. Indeed, that is understandable. But what happens in China, it seems, will increasingly stay in China, if some authorities have their way with media controls and censorship worsens. That though is neither the sign of a modern economy nor of a confident stakeholder in and contributor to a more peaceful and prosperous region.
White House spokesperson Jay Carney has said the US is "very disappointed" over the departure of American journalist Ramzy from China and remains concerned that several other members of the US media have waited months for official decisions on press credentials and visas. It is unclear though if China is listening.
China has much to showcase, and much of which to be proud. The nation has led the world in lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty, as freer, if not yet free, enterprise has replaced quotas and state mandates since the early reforms of the 1980s.
Clearly much work still needs to be done in improving the bureaucracy, enforcing fair regulatory regimes, reducing government intervention and ending corruption - the challenge of the "little bric". A freer media can help ensure this happens.
Keeping journalists locked out or locked in should no longer be business as usual anywhere in Asia, or the United States for that matter. Let's hope APEC can help make that happen in China, and that the media coverage out of Beijing is as robust as it can be, sharing the good, the bad and the ugly as the APEC process and China continue to develop and move forward.
Curtis S Chin, a former US Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank under Presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush (2007-2010), is managing director of advisory firm RiverPeak Group, LLC. Follow him on Twitter at @CurtisSChin.
(Copyright 2014 Curtis S Chin)
What happens in China stays in China?
By Curtis S Chin
DENPASAR, INDONESIA - It is unclear whether China will be welcoming to media reports that don't quite fit the official storyline of its chairmanship this year of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. As part of its role, China will host a series of APEC meetings and supporting events throughout 2014.
US journalist Austin Ramzy was forced to leave China in January ostensibly for visa reasons, but perhaps this was more a pointed
signal to others who wish to report on issues such as corruption. There is also the continued imprisonment in China, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, of more than 30 local reporters, editors and bloggers.
It seems this year is shaping up to be a dangerous one for media in Asia. In early February, local journalist Suon Chan was killed in Cambodia after having reported on illegal fishing activities near his village. A veteran foreign journalist and author, Dave Walker, has gone missing in the same country. Meanwhile in the Philippines, justice has yet to be fully served in the more than 70 cases of murdered journalists since 1992, including that of my friend, radio commentator Jerry Ortega.
Even in Hong Kong and the United States, press freedoms weakened considerably this past year. In the United States, according to Reporters Without Borders, there was a profound erosion of press freedom as the Obama administration focused on cracking down on whistleblowers.
The United States and China though are still worlds apart in their treatment of media, but the latter's hosting of the annual APEC forum does give it an opportunity to show the region and the world how it has changed on more than economic fronts since APEC last came to China. That APEC meeting, in Shanghai in October 2001, was described as "the biggest international gathering on Chinese soil in modern history".
As China's economy matures and slows, it is time it moved towards stronger checks and balances that help make a stable, resilient economic system. This would include moves toward an independent judiciary and a freer, if not yet free, media. In bringing greater accountability and transparency, such moves would be to the long-term benefit of business, Chinese and otherwise, and to the Chinese people.
The APEC Secretariat in Singapore and diplomats and business leaders from the 21 member economies that comprise APEC can play an encouraging role. International bodies from the Asian Development Bank to the United Nations to the World Trade Organization are often hard-pressed to show results to their members and financial supporters. Here is one area where short-term impact can be clearly defined.
This also would be in line with the broader APEC goal of facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment among the Pacific Rim nations. An initial step would include urging China to welcome robust coverage of all senior officials meeting and related meetings of APEC. The first are taking place, from February 15-28, in Ningbo.
Just days before the APEC summit - or more formally the economic leaders meeting - opened in Shanghai in 2001, China lifted Internet blocks on a range of foreign news organizations, including Reuters, CNN and the BBC. Without any public announcement, Internet sites of news organizations that had been permanently blocked were suddenly accessible, according to Reuters, as some 3,000 foreign media were due at the meeting and China sought to convey a message of openness to the world.
Such a change may well come again this November, as APEC comes to Beijing for the summit. But well before then, China can show the world a more confident, more open side. At an Asia Society panel that I moderated recently on APEC 2014, an audience member posed a question about media access, including social media coverage of the proceedings in China.
The US senior official for APEC on the panel made clear that China, as host, makes all final decisions regarding media access. Indeed, that is understandable. But what happens in China, it seems, will increasingly stay in China, if some authorities have their way with media controls and censorship worsens. That though is neither the sign of a modern economy nor of a confident stakeholder in and contributor to a more peaceful and prosperous region.
White House spokesperson Jay Carney has said the US is "very disappointed" over the departure of American journalist Ramzy from China and remains concerned that several other members of the US media have waited months for official decisions on press credentials and visas. It is unclear though if China is listening.
China has much to showcase, and much of which to be proud. The nation has led the world in lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty, as freer, if not yet free, enterprise has replaced quotas and state mandates since the early reforms of the 1980s.
Clearly much work still needs to be done in improving the bureaucracy, enforcing fair regulatory regimes, reducing government intervention and ending corruption - the challenge of the "little bric". A freer media can help ensure this happens.
Keeping journalists locked out or locked in should no longer be business as usual anywhere in Asia, or the United States for that matter. Let's hope APEC can help make that happen in China, and that the media coverage out of Beijing is as robust as it can be, sharing the good, the bad and the ugly as the APEC process and China continue to develop and move forward.
Curtis S Chin, a former US Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank under Presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush (2007-2010), is managing director of advisory firm RiverPeak Group, LLC. Follow him on Twitter at @CurtisSChin.
(Copyright 2014 Curtis S Chin)
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