Long-time readers of this blog know that I’m not a big fan of the government of the People’s Republic of China.  They have a consistent talent for doing the wrong thing.

But I have to give them major props today:

Security agencies in China are quizzing their Pakistani counterparts about possible links between the attack in Mumbai and terrorist organisations based in Pakistan, informed sources said.   Chinese agencies have already taken measures to seal off possible loopholes in the country’s borders with India, Pakistan and Afghanistan to ensure that no fugitives sneak in. Beijing is particularly worried that Pakistan based terrorists might seek refuge Xinjiang, the terrorism hit province bordering Pakistan.

“We are ready to cooperate with India and Pakistan to fight terrorists groups that are active in the region,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told TOI. “We face the danger of terrorists’ attacks from supporters of the East Turkmenistan movement. So, we are very concerned,” he said.

China, which is a close allay of Pakistan, is capable of persuading leaders in Islamabad to part with critical intelligence and even hand over terrorists to India. But Beijing might prefer to deal with Pakistani leaders on this score to safeguard itself from terrorism spilling across the border to its own territory.

Liu, the foreign ministry spokesman, said China was ready to join hands with India to track down terrorists groups that may have been involved in the attack in Mumbai on November 26.

Clearly the PRC is acting in its own interest here — it doesn’t want the chaos in Afghanistan and Pakistan (and lately, India) to bleed across its borders into Xinjiang, its predominantly Muslim province.   Nonetheless, it’s refreshing to see them do the right thing.

Last week, I speculated as to whether a potential war between India and Pakistan could eventually draw in China on Pakistan’s side, which could have only disastrous consequences.  Although that certainly remains a remote possibility, I am reassured to see the Chinese government pushing the Pakistanis to do the right thing.

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Yes, it was the Opening Ceremony, so our standards should start out pretty low.  The Chinese, of course, were not content with that.  So they put together a show to end all shows.  And almost everyone was blown away.

Except now, all those journalists running around Beijing keep discovering problems.  First it was the lip-syncing 8-year-old.  Then it was the computer-generated fireworks.  Then it was forcing the hostesses to audition naked; the go-go girls forced to rehearse until their faces almost froze in a smile; and the soldiers moving the giant scroll forced to wear diapers.  Now, it turns out all those annoyingly happy children in ethnic costumes — the ones I complained about during my blogging of NBC’s tape-delayed coverage, the ones who handed the Chinese flag off to goosestepping soldiers — also were fake:

[During the] opening ceremony. . .the children supposedly representing the country’s 56 ethnic groups were in fact all from the same one, the majority Han Chinese Race.

The children carried the national flag into the Bird’s Nest National Stadium, before handing it over to soldiers to raise at the most solemn moment of the ceremony.

They were dressed in costumes associated with the country’s ethnic minorities, including those from troubled areas such as Tibet and the muslim province of Xinjiang. Such displays of “national unity” are a compulsory part of any major state occasion.

But the children were all from the Han Chinese majority, which makes up more than 90 per cent of the population and is culturally and politically dominant, according to an official with the cultural troupe from which they were selected. . . .

This point was put to Wang Wei, executive vice-president of the Beijing organizing committee at a press conference today.  “I think you are being very meticulous,” he said. He said it was “traditional” to use dancers from other ethnic groups in this way.  “I would argue it is normal for dancers, performers, to be dressed in other races’ clothes,” he said. “I don’t know exactly where these performers are from.”

. . .The mother of one of the children involved. . .said [the children's performance] involved grueling days of rehearsal, from 3 pm sometimes until 2 am the next morning.

Meticulous?  As opposed to forcing children to rehearse for twelve hours after school?  I think the word you’re looking for is exploitative.  In most of the rest of the world, forcing kids to spend twelve hours doing anything would be called child labor.

Photo:  Andy in Beijing via Flickr, using a Creative Commons license.

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Via The Sydney Morning Herald, twenty-one rules for dating Hu Jintao’s daughter on Olympic coverage, issued by the CCP Propaganda Department:

1.  The telecast of sports events will be live [but] in case of emergencies, no print is allowed to report on it.

2.  From August 1, most of the previously accessible overseas websites will be unblocked. No coverage is allowed on this development. There’s also no need to use stories published overseas on this matter and [website] operators should not provide any superlinks on their pages.

3.  Be careful with religious and ethnic subjects.

4.  Don’t make fuss about foreign leaders at the opening ceremony, especially in relation to seat arrangements or their private lives.

5.  We have to put special emphasis on ethnic equality. Any perceived racist terms as “black athlete” or “white athlete” is not allowed. During the official telecast, we can refer to Taiwan as “Chinese Taipei”. In ordinary times, refer to Taiwanese athletes as “those from the precious island Taiwan…..” In case of any pro Taiwan-independence related incident inside the venue, you shall follow restrictions listed in item 1.

6.  For those ethnic Chinese coaches and athletes who come back to Beijing to compete on behalf of other countries, don’t play up their “patriotism” since that could backfire with their adopted countries.

7.  As for the Pro-Tibetan independence and East Turkistan movements, no coverage is allowed. There’s also no need to make fuss about our anti-terrorism efforts.

8.  All food saftey issues, such as cancer-causing mineral water, is off-limits.

9.  In regard to the three protest parks, no interviews and coverage is allowed.

10.  No fuss about the rehearsals on August 2,5. No negative comments about the opening ceremony.

11.  No mention of the Lai Changxing case.

12.  No mention of those who illegally enter China.

13.  On international matters, follow the official line. For instance, follow the official propaganda line on the North Korean nuclear issue; be objective when it comes to the Middle East issue and play it down as much as possible; no fuss about the Darfur question; No fuss about UN reform; be careful with Cuba. If any emergency occurs, please report to the foreign ministry.

14. If anything related to territorial dispute happens, make no fuss about it. Play down the Myanmar issue; play down the Takeshima island dispute.

15.  Regarding diplomatic ties between China and certain nations, don’t do interviews on your own and don’t use online stories. Instead, adopt Xinhua stories only. Particularly on the Doha round negotiation, US elections, China-Iran co-operation, China-Aussie co-operation, China-Zimbabwe co-operation, China-Paraguay co-operation.

16.  Be very careful with TV ratings, only use domestic body’s figures. Play it down when  rating goes down.

17.  In case of an emergency involving foreign tourists, please follow the official line. If there’s no official line, stay away from it.

18. Re possible subway accidents in the capital, please follow the official line.

19.  Be positive on security measures.

20. Be very careful with stock market coverage during the Games.

21.  Properly handle coverage of the Chinese sports delegation:

A.  Don’t criticise the selection process.

B.  Don’t overhype gold medals; don’t issue predictions on gold medal numbers; don’t make fuss about  cash rewards for athletes.

C.  Don’t make a fuss about isolated misconducts by athletes.

D.  Enforce the publicity of our anti-doping measures.

E.   Put emphasis on  government efforts to secure the retirement life of athletes.

F.   Keep a cool head on the Chinese performance. Be prepared for possible fluctuations in the medal race.

G.   Refrain from publishing opinion pieces at odds with the official propaganda line of the Chinese delegation.

I thought about putting this through the Diplospeak Translator, but it was just too much. The Chinese clearly haven’t learned the most important rule when it comes to propaganda:  don’t get caught issuing rules on propaganda.

A few observations:

• They’re clearly most nervous about protests related to Tibet and Xinjiang.
• They think that public interest, even in China, will wane as the Olympics progress.
• China-Paraguay cooperation?  Apparently this is a reference to the fact that incoming Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo has expressed a willingness to switch its diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China.  Who knew?
• I also hadn’t heard of the “cancer-causing mineral water” question.  I did a quick check of The Googles, and the only stories about it are the few that picked up The Herald’s publication of these rules. And we thought pollution was a problem.
• Speaking of which, it’s interesting that there’s no rule saying “don’t speak about the pollution,” unless the general prohibition against discussion of health issues applies.
• We now know why China’s media didn’t cover the controversy over the little girl lipsynching or the computer generated fireworks: “No negative comments about the opening ceremony.”
• The only specific case mentioned is Lai Changxing, a businessman now on the run after being charged with corruption.
• There’s no specific prohibition against talking about political dissidents, but of course the journalists aren’t stupid — they can read between the lines.
• Perhaps the most important sentence is “If there is no offical line, stay away from it.”  That encourages self-censorship to such a degree that it should cover all the issues not addressed by these rules.
• The one rule they forgot?  Don’t leak the rules.

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