The Rights Exposure Project

If the Chinese government spouts one line consistently it is that other states should not interfere in its internal affairs. However, this obviously is a case of ‘do as I say not as I do‘. For at least the second time this year the Chinese government has tried to stop the showing of visual art that it did not like the the look of.

Copyright Drik

Today was supposed to be the opening of the exhibition ‘Into Exhile – Tibet 1949 – 2009′ held at the Drik photo-agency gallery in Dhaka, Bangladesh. However, as I write the gallery gate has been padlocked by the police and the gallery surrounded. The reason? “Going against the state.” Wow, not only were the Bangladesh authorities bowing to the Chinese government’s wishes but it sounds like the accepted their reason word for word too! Well, the guys at Drik are a resourceful bunch so are currently displaying the exhibition on the streets and online. However, if you go to the Drik News site you may get this warning;

Ignore it is my advice, I did and my laptop world has not ended (yet!). I wonder if those Chinese hackers are up to their old tricks again (see below)?

Things started to smell fishy when Shaidul Alam, founder and director of Drik, received a phone call from the Chinese embassy in Dhaka suggesting that the exhibition was not in everyone’s best interest. There was even mention of assisting Drik in regards to connections in China if the photos were never shown. The representative from the embassy obviously did not do his homework on either Shaidul or Drik. Such a phone call is the meat and drink of these guys. It is certainly not the first time they have faced such attempts at censorship. Undeterred, they kindly invited the embassy staff to come to the opening, say what they wanted, and even have their own exhibition at the gallery. Oddly enough they declined.

Then the other phone calls started to come. From various quarters they all had the same message, that the exhibition should not go ahead. All this culminated in Special Branch rocking up at the Drik gallery not long before the opening and locking the place down.

Copyright Drik

The Chinese government’s increasing interference into other states is a worrying trend. Not satisfied with running their own complex censorship system they are attempting to make it transnational. These tactics work best on small countries such as Bangladesh, or Nepal where I am now, and smacks of bullying. So much for China the champion of the developing world. The Chinese government obviously thinks that it has jurisdiction over any content that relates to China where ever in the world it may be displayed. If pressure from the embassy does not work an unofficial cyber attack will be on its way. I guess it will not be long before the Chinese government lobbies to have ‘Green Dam Youth Escort‘ fitted on all PCs no matter where they are made.

The attempt to curtail freedom of expression in Bangladesh is not the first by the Chinese government this year. In July the Chinese authorities protested about the screening ‘10 Conditions of Love‘ a film about Rebiya Kadeer, leader of the World Uighur Congress. The film was part of the Melbourne Film Festival whose organisers refused to bow to pressure. Before the film was screened the festival website was hacked, though who was responsible is not known. The hackers displayed a Chinese flag and criticism of Rebiya on the website and were probably based in China. Here is the trailor to the film.

Once upon a time the Chinese government just protested about the Dalai Lama or Kadeer visiting countries. Now it appears that any representation (or at least not state sanctioned) of the issues of either Tibetans or Uighurs is unacceptable and must be stopped. For now many countries resist the pressure from Beijing and its embassies, but this may not always be the case. Even heads of state in the UK, US and Germany, although meeting with the Dalai Lama, are careful to couch the visit in the right terms so not to anger Beijing too much. Is it too much to imagine sponsors, media groups and photo agencies be targeted in order to limit the dissemination of photos and films on these important issues and others the Chinese government would rather you do not see?

So, what is in these photo exhibitions or films that is so incendiary? I haven’t seen the photos in the Drik exhibition, and only the trailor for the film about Kadeer so I can not say for sure. You may be tempted to assume that they are controversial having caused so much fuss. However, from my experience of watching the Chinese censors at work and the government’s suppression of freedom of expression in China itself I would bet that these are less risky than the photos my friend took on his holiday to Bangkok when he was 18! I imagine they do not incite racial hatred or any such thing. The Chinese government needs to learn a thing or two about the use of images and their power. A revolution these will not make. A world wide movement these will not spawn. The attempt to ban such exhibitions and screenings will get them more attention and make more people aware of the situation of Uighurs and Tibetans inside and outside of China. In addition, the act of trying to ban these things in other countries, countries where freedom of express is highly valued, will only make people more likely to believe you are a big bully suppressing your ethnic minorities. This is a lose-lose strategy, believe me.

Of course the Chinese government is not alone in trying to censor or ban the showing of photos or films. It is just rather more unashamedly public and unapologetic about it. I guess that ‘non-interference’ thing means not only can you not tell them what to do at home but they can tell you what to think in yours.

Lessons to be learnt – Governments (at least some) are still very afraid of photos and films. Even if they are over reacting the fact they exaggerate their power is a bonus to activists using them. Fear will work against them and for us. So, the old tactic of exposing and witnessing is not dead yet.

Secondly, we have to expect more of this from China and other governments in the future. And we have to resist it, just as the guys at Drik did today. We have the tools now that make it nearly impossible for images and video to be suppressed. But the principle must be vocally defended too. The Chinese government can also be embarrassed, so remember to make some noise when they come sniffing round a photo exhibition or film festival near you.

Read more on what happened in the build-up to the exhibition at Drik here on Shaidul’s blog and here at Global Voices for a round-up of comment.