Harvard Asia Quarterly Winter 2002 1 HAQ CONTENTS
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Harvard Asia Quarterly Winter 2002 1 HAQ CONTENTS HAQ Editorial Staff Editor in Chief Wai-Yin Alice Yu Media Freedom in Asia Harvard Law School Executive Editor Ilya Garger 4 Getting the Story in China Graduate School of Arts and Sciences American Reporters Since 1972 Managing Editor Jonathan Mirsky Cindy Zhou Tracing the history and experiences of American reporters in China, Jonathan Mirsky Graduate School of Arts and Sciences presents a picture of the challenges encountered by foreign journalists in China. He Production Editor combines first-hand accounts with an examination of how the government’s systematic Lisa Thomas Chung distortion of reality affects Chinese and Western journalists’ search for the truth. Harvard Graduate School of Design Web Editor Matthias Lind 15 NHK’s Censorship of Japanese Crimes Against Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Humanity Area Editors Lisa Yoneyama Sharri Clark, Central Asia In early 2001, a major Japanese television documentary intended to address Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Caroline Cooper, China the country’s war crimes was censored due to right wing pressure. Lisa Yoneyama, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences who participated in the program’s production as an in-studio commentator, Rebecca Culley, China provides both a personal and an analytical perspective on the documentary Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the implications of its censorship. Jongsoo Lee, Korea Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Emily Parker, Japan Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Rahul Sagar, South Asia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 20 The Survival of Burmese Journalism Sujata Barai, South Asia A. Lin Neumann Harvard Law School Combining interviews with Burmese journalists and personal observations Jin Pao, Southeast Asia Harvard Law School from his recent research in Burma, A. Lin Neumann describes the state of the press under one of the world’s most oppressive governments. A supplementary report Associate Editors describes the activities of the Burmese exile press in Thailand. Harvard Law School Melody Chu Ben Wilkins Wei Zhou 27 Chinese Media and the Information Revolution Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Sharon Chen Shanthi Kalathil Holly Gayley Shanthi Kalathil considers the impact of the Internet on the Chinese government’s Julianna Lee ability to maintain its monopoly on information. She identifies current trends and points Harvard Divinity School out that while the Internet is a growing part of many lives in China, people still rely on Seong Lee the print media for information while the government maintains a close watch on the Harvard Asia Quarterly Publishing Internet’s development. Board Virginia Harper-Ho Harvard Law School Victor Shih 31 The Media Tax Probe and the Media Reform Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Movement in South Korea Harvard Asia Quarterly Seung-Mock Yang Faculty Advisory Board In 2001, the Korean government subjected the country’s media to an unprecedented Professor W.P. Alford tax audit resulting in a furious debate about the government’s true motivations. Seung- Harvard Law School Professor Hue-Tam Ho Tai Mock Yang probes into these questions: Was this move intended to encourage Faculty of Arts and Sciences transparency and accountability in a media that is dominated by a few powerful players? Professor Ezra Vogel Or was it born of the government’s desire to muzzle media criticism? Faculty of Arts and Sciences Professor Shang-Jin Wei Kennedy School of Government Harvard Asia Quarterly 2 Winter 2002 Volume VI, No. 1 Winter 2002 HARVARD ASIA QUARTERLY is a publica- tion affiliated with the Harvard Asia Center. HAQ was established in 1997 by members of the Harvard Asia Law Society in conjunction with students from other graduate and profes- sional programs at Harvard University as an 37 Local Media and the Fight Against Corruption in interdisciplinary journal of Asian affairs. China LETTERS Sophie Beach HAQ welcomes readers’ letters and comments. HAQ reserves the right to decline to print or to The Chinese press is more diverse and active today than at any time in recent edit correspondence for length and format. history because of calls by the central government to investigate corruption and Letters should be addressed to the editor and abuses of power. Yet, reporters who take advantage of this invitation often find submitted to the address below, or sent to: [email protected]. themselves at the mercy of local officials. Sophie Beach argues that journalists are increasingly subject to threats and arrests with no legal recourse to protect their SUBMISSIONS rights. HAQ invites the submission of articles and es- says to be considered for publication. Sub- missions should address contemporary Asian issues. Submissions should be delivered in 41 Hong Kong Media in the Changing Political hard copy or in electronic form via email. All submitted materials become the property of Landscape HAQ. HAQ reserves the right to reject submis- Chris Yeung sions and to edit materials for length, format The handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997 has come and gone without significant and content. To receive HAQ Editorial Guide- lines, submissions schedules, or additional in- effects on the media in Hong Kong – or has it? Chris Yeung analyzes the media’s formation, please contact HAQ at the address ability to play its watchdog function in light of factors such as the antagonistic below, or visit our website at relationship between the government and the media, economic pressures and image www.haqonline.org. Electronic submissions or inquiries should be sent to the following email problems. address: [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS Annual subscriptions to HAQ are available at a rate of $28.00 (individual subscribers) and $35.00 (institutional subscribers) for four issues delivered in the United States and $45.00 for 47 Conflict in Aceh deliveries elsewhere. For more information, The Consequences of a Broken Social Contract please contact HAQ or your academic peri- Anthony L. Smith odical subscription service. Subscriptions are available online at our website: While demands for independence in Aceh, Indonesia are often believed to be driven www.haqonline.org by religious differences, Anthony L. Smith argues that the civil conflict is due to anger over human rights abuses committed by the government. Smith examines the independence movement in Aceh by tracing its history and looking at the roles Please address all correspondence to: played by the separatist group, Free Aceh Movement (GAM), and by the Indonesian Harvard Asia Quarterly military and security forces. c/o Harvard Asia Center 1737 Cambridge Street Cambridge, MA 02138 USA 56 Gyanendra’s Test Fax: (617) 495-9976 Nepal’s Monarchy in the Era of Democracy www.haqonline.org Holly Gayley email: [email protected] News of the massacre of Nepal’s royal family shocked the world in June 2001. Holly Gayley examines the history of the Hindu monarchy in Nepal to address the question of whether the new king will prove to be a true collaborator with Nepal’s Credits: eleven-year old democracy. Cover Design by Lisa Thomas Chung Photo credits: Lisa Thomas Chung (cover, p.42); ShanghART gallery website [Wang Youshen: Newspaper-Advertising, 1993; Xue 63 Revisiting Japan’s Internationalization Song: Media Freedom logo ] (p.5); A. Lin Neumann (p.21, 23, 25); www.indonesia- The JET Program after 14 Years tourism.com (p.48); Holly Gayley (p.57, 60). David McConnell Since its creation in 1987, the Japan Teaching and Exchange (JET) Program has No material appearing in this publication may be reproduced without the permission of the sent thousands of young native English-speakers to Japan to teach English and to publisher. The opinions expressed in this pub- internationalize the country’s education system. David McConnell weighs the lication are those of the contributors and are success of this program and considers its impact on Japanese education and society. not necessarily shared by the editors or pub- lishers. All statements of fact and opinion rep- resent the work of the author, who remains solely responsible for the content. All editorial rights reserved. Copyright © 2002 by the Presi- dent and Fellows of Harvard College. (ISSN 1522-4147). Harvard Asia Quarterly Winter 2002 3 GETTING THE STORY IN CHINA AMERICAN REPORTERS SINCE 1972 “The potential for stories [in China] was limitless; the ability to get them and write them was quite the opposite.” - Edward Farmer BY JONATHAN MIRSKY uring China’s Communist years, especially from 1980 to the present, American reporters who believe in Jonathan Mirsky is the former East Asia editor for the Times Dtheir right to seek information have operated within of London and a regular contributor to the New York Review a system which suspects and hinders their work. Beijing’s of Books. He is currently the I.F. Stone Fellow at the Graduate view of journalism is wholly different from that of even the School of Journalism, UC Berkeley. In 1990 he was named most suspicious Western democracy. In this period there were British Press International Reporter of the Year for his coverage of Tiananmen. He was a fellow at Harvard’s Shorenstein times of what the Chinese call “tightening and loosening”: Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy in 1999. intimidation of reporters, followed by relative relaxation, suc- ceeded by more harassment. In addition to the harassment, one of the endemic dilem- mas for American reporters in this atmosphere is official ly- ing. In 1979 an editor at the Chinese Communist Party’s lead- ing newspaper, the People’s Daily, told me: “Lies in our news- papers are like rat droppings in clear soup: they are both ob- vious and disgusting.” Such lying, which remains persistent, is a central prob- lem for American reporters in communist societies and no- where more so than in China.