A PR challenge for China

According to this report in the Financial Times, China is going shopping for a PR company to repair its image in the wake of the Tibet crisis.

That image, like it or not, appears to be in tatters.

A group of us were speaking yesterday with John Kamm, head of the Dui Hua Foundation. Kamm, a businessman-turned-human rights strategist, is a recipient of one of those MacArthur “genius” grants for his amazing work in what he likes to call the “extraction” business – getting political prisoners out of jail in China.

Kamm’s foundation, based in San Francisco, works a lot with European governments. He noted that he’s on his fifth round-the-world trip so far in the past year. So he’s got his finger pretty well on the pulse of liberal Western images of China.

“What gives me some hope is that I think there’s some recognition … on the part of Chinese officials that China’s image has taken a beating,” Kamm said. “It’s as bad as it’s been since Tiananmen.”

Kamm noted that Chinese officials could hardly feel more upbeat about domestic support. Most Han Chinese are united in anger at ethnic Tibetans over the uprisings, and frustration that foreigners dare criticize how it is handling the matter. But therein lies the huge gap between the domestic and international audiences.

And since China doesn’t live in a vacuum, and despite the isolationist voices that seem to be emerging (quite oddly, considering how China largely survives from an export economy), it’s got to deal with this gap.

Kamm suggested China could start by laying off the Dalai Lama bashing.

“If you counter a negative with a negative, you don’t help yourself,” he said. “If international public opinion is against you, it doesn’t help if you call the Dalai Lama a bunch of names.”

He suggested China take some steps like freeing the remaining 60 to 100 Chinese still in prison for crimes related to the Tiananmen pro-democracy uprising nearly two decades ago. Such a move would put June 4, 1989, completely in the past, he said. He also suggested China could get goodwill by buying helicopters to the international force in Sudan’s Darfur region. China could justify it to the nation by noting that its own troops are there, and they need helicopters.

Those are his ideas. I’m sure a PR agency will come up with its own ideas. It wouldn’t surprise me to see some startling move to right the ship in the coming few months.

A final note: For those who want to understand better the infuriating gap between Chinese and foreign views on Tibet, please read this translation on Roland Soong’s blog of a Chinese employee in a German company and his interaction with his co-workers. It’ll give you insight into the sensitivities at stake. 

Comments

[A B]

Ahhh Tim,

There is the problem of Chinese sensitivities.

At this moment, it is quite difficult for China to take the steps suggested above (no matter how much merit it might have), because issues of, um, face is involved.

In order for constructive steps to be taken, everyone, including the Dailai Lama and his propaganda machine, need to back off.

All the players need some space to maneuver.

Right now, I would say, the best opportunity is AFTER the Olympics, and not before.

Public Relations only work if you have substance behind the PR. At this point, it is premature.

The Central Government need to flood areas with ethnic Tibetans with honest researchers who can gain their trust, listen, and to compile a detailed study of the grievances of the ethnic Tibetans so that policies can be formulated to deal with legitimate grievances.

Only after such policies have begun implementation will there be a good PR story to tell.

In the mean time, shutting down the rhetoric would be a great help to lowering tensions.

[jeff]

WOW, majority Han Chinese are united. To be honest, this is the worst scenario the Chinese government would like to see. The ordinary Han Chinese are always second class as to those minority ethnic group. There are always cover-up by the government when a person from a minority group kill a Han people and get little punishment in the name of unity. If a Han people kill a minority people, the punishment are harsh also in the name of unity. This time the Chinese government did it again. They covered up the fact that Muslim mosques are attacked by the riot tibetan and the majority of the shops burned belong to Hui muslim. Let the Hui muslin deal with tibetan. Why should Han people bear the budern all the time? Hui muslim have the history of killing tibetans without mercy . Han people actually saved them from the brutal slavery system. So all said. The Chinese government cover all these up in order to achieve unity. sigh.

[A B]

Jeff,

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

Mahatma Gandhi

On that note, what legal or other obligations did Britain, and in particular, the former Viceroy, have to help India and Pakistan stop the violence that broke out after independence?

That is what the newly independent people, as expressed through their leaders, wanted.

Sometimes, the family elder, or Beijing, need to step in to put a stop to these quarrels.

[Paul Carr]

You write,

"That [China's] image, like it or not, appears to be in tatters."

Hmm, just like the USA's image appeared to be in tatters after the LA riots of 1992?

From wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LA_riots

According to Jim Crogan, writing about the 1992 LA riots in the LA weekly in 2002. 53 people in total died.:

"Gunfire killed 35, ****including eight people shot by law enforcement and two by National Guardsmen.**** Six died in arson fires. Attackers used sticks or boards to kill two others. Stabbings killed two. Six died in car accidents; two in hit-and-runs. One was strangled."

So, if the USA's security forces kill their own citizens, it's like, well, the USA, but when China does it, it's like ... crackdown and xenophobia et cetera. And, yeah, I have read reports of journalists writing about the Tibetan riots in recent weeks who just casually and without fact-checking drop these words into their reports.

Isn't a Government entitled to restore order? According to the wikipedia page I cite above,during and after the LA riots of 1992, the USA arrested 10,000 people. In the wikipedia article, it's couched in the passive tense in order to make it sound not so alarming. "About 10,000 people were arrested. ". 4,000 soldiers and marines were deployed to Los Angeles to restore order and suppress the riots and rioters. As well as 4,000 State Guard troops who moved into the city in Humvees.

I wonder, in relation to the LA riots, if the Press at the time were writing extensively about Government xenophobia and crackdown and human rights abuses as they appear to be doing in relation to the Tibetan riots.

[A B]

Paul,

The difference is that the US has historically appeared to be a more free place than China in the recent decades.

I am not suggesting that there is not a double standard --- undoubtedly there is --- but it is widely acknowledged that China has a way to go both in managing the substance of conflicts within China, as well as the perception of it within and outside of China.

I posted the LA riots example to show that even the world's leading imperial power is not free of civil unrest and disorder and many other social problems. Governance in the US is not necessarily better than in China.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that the best governed parts of China (looking at individual towns or counties) will handily beat the worst governed places in the USA.

I could have done a similar compare between the US response to Katrina / New Orleans victims with the winter storm that hit China over the New Year.

In both cases, the response of the governments involved left some things to be desired.

Can you believe how badly the US responded to the New Orleans disaster until you saw people trapped in a filthy stadium with little food and water, overloaded sanitary facilities, and no way to evacuate until days after the storm? I mean, this is a developed country....

No need to get too upset when you see the other people's blinders.

That is why foreign correspondents are so valuable --- they let us see ourselves through someone else's eyes.

Peace.

[nanheyangrouchuan]

"In fact, I would go so far as to say that the best governed parts of China (looking at individual towns or counties) will handily beat the worst governed places in the USA."

That is a bit of a stretch because those in charge of those worst run areas end up in federal prison as soon as the FBI gets wind of their behavior. The FBI has been on a vendetta against local bosses in the US since the Civil Rights movement when agents were routinely threatened and attacked by yocals who thought they were beyond the law.

China's biggest problem is that it has little if any positives in the human rights arena to counter all of the negatives and that has as much to do with the society as it does with whomever is ruling the country.

@ Paul:

How many of those deaths in LA can be attributed to the fact that the rioters were exchanging gunfire with the soldiers and not because they were shot while unarmed, beaten to death or died of "natural causes" while in prison?

BTW your blog is gay.

[Pffefer]

Tim,

Why should the Chinese worry about their image, their inferiority-complex-driven "sensitivity" (which is worthless) aside?

Can anybody tell me?

[Yakman]

I feel the pains of Chinese people when they see the Chinese in Tibet getting beaten or their property getting burned by Tibetans. The pain is real. The anguish is real. Reports say that 9 Chinese died and dozens of their shops got burnt. I feel for the Chinese. Now let's think of 1.2 millions Tibetans murdered by Chinese and 6ooo monasteries bombed. Let's think of countless Tibetan houses destroyed and properties robbed and shipped to China. I feel for Tibetans too. What goes around, comes around. Violence is never good. I feel for all who suffer.

[Y]

Yakman,

"Now let's think of 1.2 millions Tibetans murdered by Chinese and 6ooo monasteries bombed."

If that were the case, my heart goes tothem too. But do the math, what is the population right now in Tibet and and 50 years ago?

"Let's think of countless Tibetan houses destroyed and properties robbed and shipped to China."

Well, you will have to go there to see by yourslef what kind of properties in that region of China that are worthwhile for the chinese market economy. I know in Xinjiang, several oil fields have been found, though. Tibet?

[Y]

"He also suggested China could get goodwill by buying helicopters to the international force in Sudan’s Darfur region"

Absolutely bad idea. China gets the blame for Darfur simply because many proud western people cannot accept the fact that the chinese can now send about 20 peace-keeping personnel to Africa, right?

[Y]

What I know is that an ancient chinese sailor did landed on Africa once or two with loads of gifts to Africa people. Maybe this story is not very true.

[Y]

I almost start to expect Halloween to come.

[hehe]

Yakmam,

Why don't you write down 120 million Tibetans murdered by Chinese to make it look more dramatic?

[Y]

I hope people remember this date
and news story from BBC:

"Three dead in Indian 'Tibet' bomb"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7329040.stm

Are we enter a new era in human history? Tibet, Tibet, Tibet, read a twnety times until you accidently pronouce
in an incorrect way to something else.

[bemis]

Bye-the-way: Is "His Holiness" the DL a Buddhist, or perhaps an Animist (Bon) monk of some kind? I ask, because:
1. His Tibetan devotees believe this: "IF YOU ANGER YOUR GURU (& that means lesser monks than DL) YOU WILL SPEND EONS IN HELL".
2. Buddhist Scriptures teach nothing of this sort: We are taught self-cultivation.
3. Of course people, including our Tibetan siblings, can believe whatever they like. BUT, some such beliefs may explain some of the (misplaced, imo) Tibetan "devotion" to monks.

[bemis]

Addendum: ...some such beliefs may explain some of the (misplaced, imo) Tibetan "devotion" to monks. The monks represent (laughably, imo) a ticket to Paradise; or at least some future improvement over present serfdom. Does demonstrate the extent of Lama Bondage, does it not?

[Y]

Hey, it's my party!

I cannot help say this. To chinese people and Beijing citizens. It is world party hosted by the chinese people. Enjoy the sports, but in the mean time be alerted.

For sports fans and tourists from all over the world, treat them like guests and friends, and help them as much as you can.

For those social diseases whose only purpose of being there is to make a mess, to disrupt your ordinary life, to spoil your time enjoying the games, beat the hell out of them, regardless of what color they have for their skin, eyes, and hairs.

I believe for an event like this scale, the chinese police will be occupied by the task of anti-terrorists, too busy to deal with those unlawful acts, or be ordered to tolerate any out-of-the-line behavior. But if somebody's behavior does give a convenience to other groups of extremists, treat them as a terrorist too.

These social diseases whose whole life have been devoted to protests may have the "freedom" somewhere else, but should never be given such freedom in other people's backyard.

[Y]

These junk French "journalists":

In the morning, they reported that France has set pre-conditions for China to fullfill in order for the world sports fans to have a chance to see the face of their president in Beijing this August.

After lunch, another news came in, saying France dosn't want the conditions anymore.

For god's sake, the chinese leaders must have started to work to satisfy those conditions. Condition, or no condition? Do you French journalists understand French?

[A B]

Hmmmmm....let's just have the Chinese make a mental note of sanctions to be applied to France the next time riots break out in Paris, etc.

They have a real human rights problem in France.... don't they?

[A B]

In remembrance of Martin Luther King, here are photos of Washington, DC during the riots 40 years ago.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2008/04/05/GA2008040502246.html&type=Gallery&title=Rebuilding+D.C.s+Riot+Corridors

You will see US Soldiers in armed with rifles, bayonets, with gas masks on patrolling burning streets of America.

For the intrepid, you can find similar pictures of riots in Detroit, Newark, New Jersey, etc.

For those who want to look abroad, you will find similar scenes of riots in France, Britain, Germany, etc.

For a somewhat less clearly political social unrest, see "hooliganism" at football games almost everywhere in Europe.

For intentional disturbances at major political occasions look at the Republican National Convention in NYC in 2004, G7 meetings in Canada and elsewhere, etc.

What this shows is that civil unrest occasionally (every few years and certainly every few decades) happen in nations that regard themselves as the most free, orderly, and otherwise law abiding countries in the world.

China by no means have a monopoly on civil unrest.

Let's have a bit of sympathy and understanding for China.

[ASingh]

I took part in peaceful demonstrations in London, but not to disrupt it. Most others felt the same way.

China promised to improve Human Rights when the Olympic games were awared. However the events in the last few years demonstrate otherwise:

a) China has increased the crackdown on internal dissidents. For example the recent conviction by a Chinese court of long-time HIV/AIDS activist and rights defender Hu Jia.

b) Organ harvesting and related extrajudicial executions in Chinese labour camps. This is to supply transplants to foreign and wealthly Chinese clients as demonstrated in a BBC investigation. Infact executions at prisons were steeped up to meet excess demand in the nearby transplant hospital.

c) Ethic cleansing and cultural genocide of minorities, mainly Tibetans and Uyghurs in rural provinces in the west of China. This has taken place since the 1950s with the loss of 1.5m Tibetean lives.

d) Lack of general political freedom. The Communist party bosses have accumulated huge sums of money by using brute state power on the voiceless - land grabs, forced deportation are good example. These methods have also been used for developing the Olympic Village in Beijing.

e) International Relations: China exports its form of repression to other states. North Korea & Burma are immediate satellite states with gross human rights violations. Its role in Africa with support for Sudan despite its repression in Darfur and China's support for Zimababwe's Mugabe speak for themselves.

f) Curbs on journalists who are not free to report in China. The situation is worse for local reporters.

g) Lack of freedom of religion: Religion is still considered as poison by the communist party as it was in times of Chairman Mao. This has resulted to mass purges of Churches, Monastries and Mosque. Not to mention Falung Gong.

These are good reasons for the world to boycott the games, or at the minmum the opening ceremony.

Opponents of this view would say one should not mix sports and politics, while leading secure lives not the receiving end of Chinese repression. Yes they are right in ideal circumstances. However in this case, China has politicised the games by wanting to display to the world its 'harmonious' society. The repression leaves global citizens with no choice but to protest.

This is in no way a stance against the Chinese people, who are as much victims of the communist party propoganda. The recent whipping up of Han chauvinism towards his Holiness the Dalai Lama sounds right of a Communist playbook from the Cultural revolution.

I wish for all global citizens to rise up for Human Rights, common values and morals to stand up against Chinese communist repression.

[Pffefer]

"This is in no way a stance against the Chinese people, who are as much victims of the communist party propoganda."

Most Chinese would find this insulting, you are assuming the Chinese who live in China, people who gain and suffer from the communist reign don't know better. It's self-righteous people like you who don't know better.

And please, "Han chauvinism" has nothing to do with communism or cutural revolution. Some people have predicted that a democratic China might be more nationalistic.

Make sure India won't have any more communal riots that have thousands of Muslims killed first, Mr. Singh.

[rio]

"This is in no way a stance against the Chinese people, who are as much victims of the communist party propoganda. The recent whipping up of Han chauvinism towards his Holiness the Dalai Lama sounds right of a Communist playbook from the Cultural revolution"

The Chinese ppl know better about propaganda and the terrors of the cultural revolution than anyone else can. Indeed they've learned enough about propaganda to see if for what it is when westerners only know it by name.
They recognise it on CCTV and don't expect anything more, they recognised it in western media and was thoroughly disappointed.
All this biased reporting on Tibet has done is break the fantasy ppl in China have of the western media, and western democracy.
You accuse the Chinese gov. of fanning nationalism. You need to know that you do more than the CCP ever could by burning a Chinese flag, or attacking a Chinese handycapped athlete.

[Cindy Luk]

Rather than a PR challenge for China, all the HR activists who are splitting their sides should take serious notes.

The PRC has bad HR records, is this news to anyone? Now, Western media are just mouthpieces, HR are just cynical cheat shots trying to keep China Down. This is News indeed. With it went your credibility and power.