与BBC驻北京总编最近的Email通信(ZT)

Dear paul,

Before I reply your email, I have to point it out that your journalist in Beijing made another mistake this time claim that the Chinese media did not mention the protest in London at all. I visited CCTV1, CCTV4 and CCTV9, all of them talk quite a lot of the protests and also there are vedio link you can watch. Here is the link on the frontpage http://www.cctv.com/default.shtml. If your journalist does not understand Chinese, try get a better one. How can a journalist know nothing of Chinese making a good report of that country?

To reply your email, first of all as a professional journalist, if you cannot get the information you should quote from other resources instead of making a fake one by yourself (your famous ambulance pic, by the way where did you get this pic if you cannot visit Tibet?) or made assumption and guesses in your various reports.

In 2000 (I am not really sure of the year, but around that time), there was a voilence between Muslim (mainly from Pakinstan and India) and white people in Bradford (a town near Leeds), I remember that time, the police also suggested that civilians and journalist should be better off the site for the safety reason. You did not get the first hand informaiton this time of Tibet only means as a journalist you are not sensitive on the live issues. Why journalists from Economist and CNN (well, the same reputation of cutting picture, a different story from BBC, you only use the fake pic, but CNN deliberate cut and maneuver the pic) got more objective report? If you need their report I can send you a copy, but I trust you as a professional journalist you should have one copy.

Please do not make me wrong: I do think Chinese authority is not wise to stop you visiting Tibet as long as you make objective report and it is safe for you. What will happend if your were killed by the riots? Will you say you were killed by the Chinese army or by the riots? Who knows? Actually this time it is many many Chinese and Westerners living outside of China are very angry with your biased report and comments. We got the vedio clips not from the Chinese authority, but from the westerners who were visiting China at that time. Chinese authority might be silly to think people living abroad will be brainwashed just like you think people living in China will be brainwashed as well. We as ordinary audience just would like to know the truth and objective report, which BBC always claims.

The reason I mentioned Tibet history is because BBC never mentioned the history of Tibet and China since the violence happended, as well as the relationship between Tibet and China in history. Without understanding the history, your reports will have no root and are due to be biased with a lot of your personal judgement. This is the reason I send you the two links and suggested you not only visiting the website made by the Tibetan-in-excile. Comparing with them, I trust more those written by the professional western historians.

BBC uses our TV licences making a lot of documentaries of history, why not make an objective one of Tibet. Why not invite professional historians of Tibet and China to tell the audience and discuss the current issue of Tibet? Channel 4 made one, well made by Tibetan-in-excile, you can imagine how "fair" it is. I saw too much of "Free Tibet" in Britain. How riduculous it is? Do you know how Tibet looked like before 1959? Do you know who the "Tibetan-in-excile" are? You never try to tell the audience that Dalai Lama used to be a Slavery master, and the Tibetan-in-excile are mainly either ex-landlords, ex-slave masters or their offsprings. This simply a truth! How do you know they would govern Tibet better than the current government? You have been in China I assue for quite long time. Chinese authority just stopped you visiting Tibet recently. Why not visit Tibet before March and talk with the local people? At least you can get different angle of opinions. Below is a Danish expert living in China who visited Tibet before. Of course this is just his personal experience, but at least tell something in different angle.

http://tigerloong.wordpress.com/2008/04/03/the-riots-in-lhasa-by-eirik-granqvist/

I watched yesterday's Torch Relay in London. Again, your journlists just like all having been trained tried their best to invoke the anti-chinese feeling, somehow hysterical to mislead the interviewees to condemn China. I believe none of these journalists has ever been to Tibet or China and know nothing of Tibet and China history. "Free Tibet", what ridiculous! Do you know Tibet has been a part of China since nearly 1000 years ago.... If your theory is right, why not let North Irland be independent? Even only a small part of people perfer independence. Why not ask American or Austrain give land back to Indianas and leave Indiana?

Just as I mentioned in my last email, I love both Britain and China, one country I was born, one country I was educated, the two great countries having so many common insterests to face the future challenge. This is the reason part of my job is to build bridge between these two countries: to bring more business opportunities to Britain and also to our Chinese fellows to open their minds. China is still trying her best to overcome her own weakness and to integrate with the international community. There is a long way to go even she had made great progress in the last 30 years. I asked my parents who are still living in China now (by the way they have visited Britain a couple of times): do you want live back to 30 years ago or today's China, they anwered "now" without a shadow of hesitation. There are still lot of problems in China like corruption, bureaucracy, sometimes even stupid, but at least they are learning and they get the people's support!

As a responsible media like BBC and responsible journalist like you, I personally think you have duty to introduce the true picture of China to British people. The incorrect and misleading report will due to cause misunderstanding and mistrust and in the end will harm both countries...
Have a good stay in China!
James

Subject: RE: Your response article
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2008 00:34:04 +0100
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

Dear James

With respect, there is nothing in my response article about Chinese or Tibetan history so I'm not quite sure how you could have been shocked.

I simply stated the fact that i am not allowed to go to Tibet to report what is or isn't going there. I am not allowed to go and see what is going on in the areas surrounding Tibet. I would like very much to get to know more about Tibet by going there which I'm am refused permission to do.

You live in Manchester. If something happened in Leeds and suddenly the Government put an armed road block across the M62 and banned all travel in Yorkshire and stopped all journalists from going inside wouldn't you question why?regards

Paul Paul DanaharBBC Asia Bureau Editor, Beijing
From:[mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Sat 4/5/2008 22:13
To: Paul Danahar
Subject: Your response article

Hi Paul,

After reading your response article "The Challenges of Reporting in China", I am shocked by your ignorance of Tibet and China history. I am a Chinese living in the UK for nearly 9 years. I have many friends here and I am very happy to see there are more and more British and Chinese people communicating and understanding each other day after day. However this time, I am absolutely disappointed with BBC's coverage of Tibet and your bias and misleading articles. Your misleading and biased report will definitely due to harm the two coutry's long term relationship.

You and your team as journalists living in China, you need to improve your knowledge of Tibet and China history so that you would be able to have an objective report of that country. Without a good knowledge of the country and the history, your report are due to be naive and sounds stupid. You can get a lot of information of Tibet from google, but I strongly suggest you to visit the site written by professional western historians not those written by the Tibet-in-excile. If you really do not have time to educate yourself, here is a couple of them. one is www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html, an American historian Michael Parenti's personal website.

Another one is http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft2199n7f4/ a good book if you really care about Tibet.

If you still do not have time to read them, following is some brief sentences from Michael Parenti.

In 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama fleed Tibet when the government started to completely abolish serfdom. The old time is often depicted by many Buddhists, western media and Dalai Lama himself as a "spiritually oriented kingdom" and "a society dedicated to peace and harmony". History suggests otherwise. Serfs were bound to their masters and were not allowed to depart without masters' consent. Although they had to provide free labors for their masters, they were "taxed for the birth of each child and for every death in the family". Some monasteries were grand serf lords owning tens of thousands of serfs. The poor people usually "contented" with their misery lifes because they were taught in their religion these were the punishments for their misbehaved prelifes.
 
I do strongly suggest you to educate yourself before you made any judgement. Otherwise any of your comments sounds like a joke and funny.

I look forward to hearing from you of your any learning progress of Tibet and China history.