DANGEROUS CROSSING: - International Campaign for Tibet

INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR TIBET
put are aided by a culture of impunity which ensures little state response to
threats, attacks and even murders of journalists. With such little state protection,
media houses and individual journalists are left vulnerable to external
pressures. Judging by the increase in negative news coverage on Tibet over
the past few years, China is making outreach to Nepali media an integral part
of its approach to consolidating its hold over Nepal vis-à-vis Tibet. However,
there is no blind compliance of Nepali media with China – some publications
entertain Chinese pressure when it suits their own interests, whereas others
strive to maintain an independent voice. What is clear is that this has become
a new frontier in negotiating representations of Tibet in Nepal’s social consciousness.
Nepali language newspapers tend to be more negative in their reporting on
Tibetan issues than their English language counterparts in Nepal. This works
to China’s advantage, as the Nepali language press is more widely read by
Nepalis and, thus, provokes fewer reactions from the ‘expat’ or diplomatic
readers of the English language press. Beyond this, the many Nepali language
publications connected to Nepali political parties are ready and able to be
influenced by China. Some Nepali media outlets have focused on China’s
suspicions that Nepal is being used as a base for “free Tibet activity.” Articles
often read more like conspiracy theories than new reporting. This includes
rumors published in the Nepali press that by visiting the Mustang region,
former U.S. Ambassador Nancy Powell was supporting “guerrilla resistance
against China” during a trip taken before her resignation in July 2009. U.S.
Ambassador Powell visited remote Mustang in northern Nepal, which borders
Tibet, in order to visit a cultural preservation project and to pursue her interest
in photography. But the visit was interpreted by some Nepali journalists
as an “inspection of the Chinese-Nepalese border” in preparation for the
“next Khampa rebellion.” 139 In a reference to the Khampa guerilla resistance
against China in the 1960s, supported in some measure by the U.S. Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA), Bishnu Sharma of the Dristi Weekly reported: “A
former army official who is well acquainted with the Khampa rebellion instigated
by the American detective wing CIA three and half decades ago said,
‘The activities [Nancy Powell’s visit, and the visits of other ambassadors from
Kathmandu] are directed at reviving the Khampa rebellion.’” 140 The Tibetan
resistance force operated out of Mustang from 1959-1974.
In an indication of the level of concern about this visit to a sensitive border
area, the Chinese Ambassador Quo Guohang visited Mustang himself in
June. A Nepali-language weekly magazine reported: “The Chinese ambassador
did not believe that the American Ambassador Nancy J. Powell reached
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