1115.org

Yesterday, His Presidentiality finally aimed some comments at China on the subject of the ongoing crackdown against protests in Tibet. Here’s the brave and intrepid Terence Hunt — who is apparently paid some kind of regular monthly payment by AP for the practice of what all concerned are content to describe as journalism — reporting on the subject:

President Bush sharply confronted China’s President Hu Jintao on Wednesday about Beijing’s harsh crackdown in Tibet, joining an international chorus of alarm just months before the U.S. and the rest of the world parade to China for the Olympics.

In a telephone call with Hu, Bush “pushed very hard” about violence in Tibet, a necessity for restraint and a need for China to consult with representatives of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, the White House said.

After days of silence by Bush as other world leaders raised their voices, it marked a rare, direct protest from one president to another. As if to underscore how pointed Bush was, the White House said he used the call to “speak very clearly and frankly.”

That, of course, is one of the finer examples you will ever see of what is known as the Stenography School Of Journalism. The White House said it. So it must be true. Let’s inform and educate the public about how Dear Leader is fearlessly and courageously championing the cause of human rights. To save ourselves trouble, let’s do it in the White House’s own words, pausing just long enough to add AP’s rubber-stamp to what the ministry of propaganda chose to put out.

(A word of career advice to Terence Hunt: Ever thought of emigrating to China? Or just going to work for the Chinese government? A man of your temperament, with your skills, could do very well for himself there. Here’s how you do it: apply for permission to visit Tibet. Enclose a copy of this article, and permission is sure to be granted. Report on how normal everything is there except for the violence perpetrated by Buddhist monks: “13 innocent civilians killed by rioting monks!“). Sit back and wait for the inevitable job offer. Evidently they can use some help stage-managing the news these days.)

Hu’s response to Bush, by the way, was an unambiguous “F**k you”:

“No responsible government would sit by and watch when faced with this kind of violent crime, which gravely violated human rights, seriously disrupted social order and seriously endangered the safety of public life and property,” Hu told Bush, according to an account by the official Chinese news agency Xinhua.

The Times of India, for example, reported this story with the headline “China rejects Bush’s call to make peace with Dalai Lama“. The first two paragraphs read:

China has refused to give in to US President George W. Bush call to speak to the Dalai Lama to end the Tibet crisis.

On Wednesday, Bush told Chinese leader Hu Jintao that the bloody unrest was worrying. He also asked Hu to allow full access to diplomats and journalists in Tibet. But Hu restated Beijing’s position that the exiled spiritual leader was fomenting the unrest to sabotage the Games.

But Terence Hunt effortlessly managed to provide AP readers a fair and balanced perspective on Hu’s response to Bush:

Hadley said Bush pressed for a resumption of now-suspended consultations between China and representatives of the Dalai Lama, and that there was an encouraging response from Hu.

Hunt, of course, reported Hadley’s self-serving statement without comment. Isn’t there something wrong with this picture when Xinhua’s version of events is more reliable than AP’s (or the Bush administration’s)?

(And now here’s some business advice for AP: Ever consider outsourcing your reporting to India? For a fraction of what you pay Terence Hunt for stenography, you could actually get reporting.)

For the record, George Bush limped in very late with his Tibet comments, long after other world leaders had done so. The fact that he looked the other way, and kept his silence, for so long robs anything he said of any real meaning. The perfunctory call he made for China to exercise restraint and talk to the Dalai Lama falls very short of Terence Hunt’s “sharply confronted”.

The leadership on this issue has been taken not by the U.S. but by the U.K. The British prime minister raised the issue with the Chinese a full week ago:

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had telephoned his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao a week ago and pressed the latter to end the violence.

And the British government has continued to press the issue:

Britain has launched a fierce attack on China for its continuing “violation” of human rights over the bloodshed in Tibet.
[…]
“Violations of human rights continue in Tibet,” the (Foreign Office annual report) states.

“We continue to make clear our view that the best way to improve the situation in Tibet is through meaningful dialogue between the Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama and his representatives, without pre-conditions, to achieve a long-term peaceful solution.”

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that the worldwide concern about the situation in Tibet was “justified and proper”.
[…]
It is the second time in seven days that the Government has risked antagonising China.

During last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Gordon Brown said he would meet Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, when he came to London.

The Chinese government responded saying it was “seriously concerned” at his intentions.

Other world leaders have raised the possibility of boycotting the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics, or declared their attention to not attend:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy this week floated the possibility of boycotting the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony if China refused to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama on Tibet. Czech President Vaclav Klaus said on Wednesday that he would not attend the Games in Beijing.

Our George, in contrast, has made it clear that he’s going to be on hand for the opening ceremony:

But the White House has said Bush would be at the event, drawing a distinction between sports and politics.

All told, George’s performance boils down to: “Guys, I’m going to have to finally say something about this whole Tibet thing, but don’t take it too seriously, okay?”

For anyone to portray this as sharply confronting China and joining an international chorus of alarm is the worst kind of hackery.