Spielberg, China and the pace of news

Last Modified: 18 Feb 2008
By: Lindsey Hilsum

Satellite communications, the internet, 24 hour TV - the pace of news is more rapid than ever before. Except in China.

Last Tuesday evening, New York time, Steven Spielberg announced that he had withdrawn as artistic advisor to the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony, because of China's support for the government of Sudan, which - he and other campaigners believe - is committing genocide in Darfur.

On Wednesday morning we rang Chinese officials for reaction.

The Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) said the earliest anyone might talk would be next week. Maybe they would issue a written statement later in the day. They didn't.

The Foreign Ministry said the Olympics weren't their area of concern.

It wasn't until the weekend that government propaganda chiefs apparently told newspapers that they could mention the subject.

It wasn't until Thursday afternoon that the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, in answer to a question at a regular briefing, commented on the campaign by Hollywood stars to pressure China over Darfur.

"It is understandable if they are not familiar with China's policy and for that we can enhance communication, " he said. "But if it is out of some political motives, we cannot accept it."

(China usually accuses those who criticise its policies of "ulterior motives" and being part of a "conspiracy", so this was a mild rebuke.)

It wasn't until the weekend that government propaganda chiefs apparently told newspapers that they could mention the subject, so after days of silence we got a slew of "opinions", all echoing the government line.

"Mr Spielberg knows nothing about China's endeavor to solve the Darfur issue...He is unqualified to blame the Chinese government," read a commentary published in Saturday's Guangming Daily.

By then the rest of the world had moved onto Kosovo's declaration of independence and previewing Monday's elections in Pakistan.

What the bloggers say

'I have stayed in Sudan for a long time. In fact, the Sudanese are not that friendly towards Chinese, writes Nothing Is Enough.

'They think that we are stealing their oil. However, we can't simply withdraw from the country, because we have invested a lot to achieve this much. The US would love to see us withdraw. We shouldn't care about being blamed.'

Read more reaction from the Chinese blogosphere here.

Most governments these days feel the need to get their point across before the end of a 24 hour news cycle, but China is still unused to the demands of the international media.

In China, where the state runs all TV and radio and controls the press, officials can speak whenever they want and it will be dutifully reported.

Bureaucrats are never going to comment unless they're absolutely sure that what they say is sanctioned from above - hence the delay in saying anything at all.

As the Olympics approach, China will become a focus for more pressure on issues from Burma to Tibet.

BOCOG has employed a western public relations company Hill and Knowlton, so maybe they'll persuade their Chinese counterparts that they need to say something.

I doubt, however, that the PR people will have in-depth knowledge of either Chinese foreign policy or what's going on in Darfur, so all we can expect is bland statements about the Olympic spirit and avoiding politics.

Maybe sometime before August some Chinese official will bravely say, on camera, "We think sports and politics shouldn't mix," on the day we ask him, instead of a week later.