chinoy.html

DATELINE: HONG KONG

There is unquestionably a risk of wild, inaccurate and irresponsible reporting. . .However, it is our job to try to convey both the facts and the feel of the situation, as honestly as we can, regardless of who we please or anger: CNN's Mike Chinoy.

Introduction: Mike Chinoy, CNN's bureau chief, began China watching in 1976. He provided much of the live global television coverage of the Tiananmen Square massacre; an event which provides the core of his new book, China Live. The following is an edited text of the speech, "China, CNN, Chinoy, Truth, Lies and Videotape" he delivered at a Freedom Forum luncheon at Hong Kong's Excelsior Hotel on 6.5.97.

News coverage by definition tends to be driven by events, by a need to simplify, and, in the case of television, by the fact that it is a medium that is good at conveying action and emotion, but less good at conveying complexity or ideas. Process is not usually associated with riveting television.

So my point here is simple: China is far more complex, multidimensional, and full of paradoxes than is widely acknowledged in discussion of China related issues in certain portions of the media, especially back at the head offices and home countries of some news organisations.

And I think it is in this context, shaped not so much by the substance of what we are reporting now, as by perceptions first moulded in 1989 and subsequently hardened in part by China's own behavior and in part because of the difficulty of conveying layers of complexity that make up China and Hong Kong today, that has contributed to the view so apparently widely shared abroad that July 1st marks, without any question of doubt, an automatic death sentence for Hong Kong.

Let me tell you briefly how we at CNN have tried to address the problems of covering a story of this complexity and magnitude, especially given the limitations of our medium. We have tried regularly to give extensive air time to all of the key players on all sides of the political fence. We carried Governor Patten's last policy address to the Legco live. We carried the nomination of Tung Chee-hwa live, as well as the first session of the Provisional Legislature. Earlier last year, we were able to do extended interviews with Lu Ping and the Chinese Foreign Minister. And this past winter and spring, we did long interviews with Mr. Tung and Governor Patten, and many of the major figures on the Hong Kong scene have made regular appearances on our air. we have also been running a monthly series on the history of Hong Kong, with what are, by TV standards, long stories, with many of the major figures of the past quarter century sharing their insights and recollections.

Bearing in mind the fact that images speak so loudly, our goal in the immediate run up to and during the handover, is to present as many sides of the story as we can. We expect to have a wide range of interesting people trooping through our studio in Central and filling our air. We intend to show all of the key events of that period...from hopefully the June 4th commemoration to the final session of Legco to the official handover ceremonies and the unofficial activities that coincide..live. We will do this in full awareness that it is important not to lose our perspective. If there are seven hundred demonstrators and seven thousand journalists, we will make sure that our viewers understand this fact.

But I do have to say that for those of us with the job of trying to report on Hong Kong, our efforts have not been made any easier, and the end product not made any more comprehensive, by a singular lack of co-operation on the part of both the pro-China figures and by Beijing itself. True, Tung Chee-hwa has spoken twice to CNN. But he and others of his inner circle remain reluctant to give any other extended interviews.

And when we do get a rare opportunity to ask questions, as I did with Mr. Tung last week, what comes out often seems less of an answer than simply a response..as when I asked him what evidence that the current balance between individual rights and social stability was out of whack and requiring change, he simple re-iterated that the balance had to be re-evaluated. That was precisely the kind of vague and unconvincing response that leaves room for the doubters to ask...just what is behind these moves? Is it just a minor adjustment, or is the hand of a repressive government in Beijing to blame?

Moreover, the top Chinese officials responsible for Hong Kong affairs seems to have a virtual policy of not talking to Hong Kong reporters. Since I arrived in Hong Kong last summer, CNN has repeatedly requested interviews with Xinhua Chief, Zhou Nan, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs office head, Lu Ping, and other involved with Hong Kong, so far, without success. Indeed last winter, As I was preparing a story for my Hong Kong history series on the negotiations that produced the Joint Declaration, not only were these people unavailable, but despite repeated appeals to both the Foreign Ministry and the Hong Kong Macau Affairs Office, the Chinese side was unable, or unwilling to produce even one person...diplomat, politician, scholar to discuss Hong Kong. The story that critics claim we are not telling is not, in fact, being told very well by those with the political responsibility to do so.

Alan Knight