Bukan Sekedar Berkunjung

Namanya Muzammil. Sekarang dia mahasiswa National University of Singapore. Bersama 30an temannya dari berbagai negara di Asia Tenggara datang ke Jakarta untuk menghadiri pertemuan Perkumpulan Pemuda Pelajar Islam se-Asia Tenggara.

Ketika diajak mengunjungi masjd Istiqlal Muzammil begitu takjub melihat kemegahan masjid terbesar di Asia Tenggara itu. Terlebih ketika diberitahu kapasitas masjid Istiqlal yang bisa menampung lebih dari ratusan ribu jamaah muslim. Menurut Muzammil daya tampung masjid Istiqlal jauh lebih besar dibanding jumlah keseluruhan muslim Singapura. Tetapi ketika diajak berjalan di sekitaran taman Monas dan kawasan Taman Ismail Marzuki, Muzammil mengerutkan dahinya. Terbaca rasa jijik, aneh dan takut dari wajahnya.

Di kawasan taman Monas Muzammil begitu aneh waktu melihat kereta listrik Jakarta-Bogor yang melintas diatas taman Monas. Begitu banyak penumpang yang berdiri di pintu kereta listrik yang terbuka tanpa pengamanan. Menunjukan tidak adanya safety dalam dunia transportasi di Jakarta.

Sementara itu di kawasan Taman Ismail Marzuki, Muzammil merasa rikuh dan jijik dengan lingkungan sekitar. Bagi Muzammil Jakarta itu kota yang kotor dan amburadul. Bila di Singapura membuang sampah sembarangan merupakan sesuatu yang dilarang dan akan mendapat hukuman sampai seribu dollar Singapura, di Jakarta semua tempat sepertinya merupakan tempat sampah.

Lain lagi kesan yang didapat oleh Fadh teman Muzammil dari Malaysia. Mahasiswi jurusan ilmu hukum dari International Islamic University Malaysia itu merasa aneh mengapa masjid Istiqlal bisa bersebrangan dengan gereja kathedral. Terlebih ketika rombongan diajak berkunjung ke Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. Fadh keheranan melihat masjid, gereja, pura, vihara terletak berdampingan.

Sekali waktu Fadh menyatakan kenapa ada susunan seperti itu. Bagi Fadh susunan rumah ibadah seperti itu rawan menimbulkan persengketaan antar umat beragama. Kami hanya tersenyum mendengar pendapat itu. Kami menjelaskan bila struktur rumah ibadah yang berdampingan justru menjadi obsesi para pendiri republik ini. Susunan rumah ibadah yang berdampingan itu menjadi tanda terciptanya kerukunan umat beragama yang ada di Indonesia. Faktanya Indonesia dikenal sebagai negara yang memiliki kerukunan dan toleransi kehidupan umat beragama yang sangat tinggi.

Sementara itu bagi Fendy mengunjungi Indonesia seperti mengunjungi tanah leluhur saja. Fendy meskipun dia warga negara Malaysia, tetapi sebetulnya leluhur dia berasal dari Indonesia. Kebanggaan terlihat dimukanya ketika menaiki anjungan Provinsi Jawa Tengah di Taman Mini Indonesia Indah.

Kunjungan Muzammil, Fadh, Fendy serta teman-teman lainnya ke Indonesia hanya berbilang hari dan sebagian kecil Jakarta saja. Belum menjelajah Indonesia secara keseluruhan yang terbentang luas dari Sabang sampai Merauke. Tetapi kunjungan itu melahirkan efek psychlogis tersendiri bagi mereka. Dihadapan mereka ajah Indonesia seketika berubah dari kesimpulan sebelumnya.

Disadari atau tidak melalui kunjungan itu mulai terkuak hal-hal yang selama ini sekedar pengetahuan dari media dan orang lain. Informasi yang tentunya belum bisa menggambarkan fakta yang sesungguhnya. Hal yang terpenting lainnya dari kunjungan itu adalah, adanya tuntutan untuk selalu bersikap terbuka, open minded, dalam melihat setiap hal. Ketika hal terakhir ini terjadi, tentunya kita dipaksa untuk terus belajar tanpa kenal waktu. Inilah hal yang terpenting yang selalu terlupakan dari setiap aktivitas mengunjungi wilayah lain.

Perubahan melalui kunjungan.

Pada dasarnya aktivitas berkunjung tidak hanya melepaskan dahaga haus informasi akan keadaan sebuah wilayah. Bila aktivitas berkunjung dihayati secara mendalam dan benar, maka kunjungan tidak hanya melepaskan rasa ingin tahu, tetapi lebih dari itu berkunjung juga akan memenuhi dahaga mental psychologis manusia yang selalu merindukan perubahan dan kebaharuan. Sejarah peradaban manusia sebagai contohnya; dalam perkembangannya tidak akan pernah bisa dilepaskan aktivitas kunjungan yang dilakukan oleh sekelompok kecil masyarakat.

Masyarakat Amerika sebagai contoh. Mereka tidak akan pernah melupakan nama Christopher Columbus. Berbenderakan Castilian Spanyol Columbus, Seorang penjelajah dan pedagang yang menyeberangi Samudera Atlantik dan menemukan Benua Amerika pada 12 Oktober 1492. Setelah kunjungan inilah kemudian tanah amerika menjadi tempat hunian baru bagi warga eropa, sampai sekarang, dan menyingkirkan penduduk asli nya, yaitu Indian. Kemudian hari kita menyaksikan Amerika Serikat menjadi negara besar dominan di bumi ini. Hal ini berawal dari kunjugan seorang Christopher Colombus.

Begitu juga dengan negara-negara lain seperti Indonesia, Malaysia dan Singapore. Deliar Noer misalnya, rektor IKIP Jakarta yang merupakan doktor ilmu politik pertama Indonesia, menyebutkan dalam bukunya The rise and development of the modernist Muslim movement in Indonesia during the Dutch colonial period 1900-1942 (1963) bahwa para pejuang muslim Indonesia yang menguasahakan terbentuknya Indonesia yang modern tidak akan pernah melupakan jasa para kyai yang melaksanakan haji ke tanah suci mekkah.

Dalam kunjungan, orang Islam biasanya menyebutnya dengan ziarah, mereka ke tanah suci itulah cakrawala mereka bertambah. Interaksi dengan komunitas masyarakat muslim di belahan dunia lain dibina. Hasilnya adalah usaha merubah Indonesia dalam bentuk gerakan yang sifatnya koordinatif secara internasional.

Hal seperti ini tidak lupa juga diterapkan oleh negeri jiran kita Malaysia. Usaha mereka mengirimkan pelajar-pelajar nya ke luar negeri, seperti Indonesia dan negara-negara di Eropa, pada dasarnya bukan sekedar mengakui adanya keunggulan lebih dari aspek keilmuan dari negara-negara tersebut. Tetapi lebih dari itu, pengiriman pelajar ke luar negeri tersebut juga dimaksudkan supaya pelajar-pelajar mereka menjadi pribadi yang open minded, belajar secara tekstual dan kultural pada bangsa lain hingga kemudian sanggup menjadi pelopor kemajuan masyarakat di negerinya.

Dalam bentuk yang sedikit berbeda adalah apa yang dilakukan oleh bangsa Jerman. Bagi masyarakat Jerman, sebuah kunjungan bukan berarti dilakukan pada negeri yang berbeda pada waktu yang sama, tetapi sebuah kunjungan juga mesti dilakukan di negeri yang sama dalam ”dimensi waktu” yang berbeda. Untuk memfasilitasi hal ini maka negara Jerman merupakan diantara negara yang sangat perhatian dalam melestarikan peninggalan budaya masa lalunya. Museum serta gedung-gedung kuno dilestarikan sedemikian rupa hingga menjadi daya tarik bagi masyarakat banyak. Tidak perduli apakah museum dan gedung itu melupakan dokumentasi sejarah kelam bangsa Jerman, seperti tragedi pembantaian Nazi terhadap bangsa Yahudi. Harapannya melalui dokumentasi sejarah masa lalu ini adalah ; menjadi tempat kunjungan bagi dunia dan menjadi bahan pengingatan sehingga sejarah kelam tidak terulang dan terinspirasi dalam membangun sejarah kehidupan masa depan manusia yang jauh lebih baik.

Kunjungilah Indonesia!

Era tekhnologi informasi pada saat sekarang ini tentunya telah memudakan aktivitas yang membutuhkan mobilitas manusia. Berkunjung ke negara lain, melalui tekhnologi informasi, bisa dilakukan sambil duduk di depan meja komputer. Atau sambil duduk manis di sofa sambil menghadap TV. Sebelum tekhnologi informasi berkembang dahsyat seperti sekarang, mengunjungi negara lain pun bisa kita lakukan dengan berkunjung ke perpustakaan atau membaca buku koleksi pribadi di rumah.

Tetapi tentunya ada sesuatu yang tertinggal dari aktivitas mengunjungi daerah lain melalui buku, televisi atau internet. Kunjungan melalui buku dan internet hanya memenuhi dahaga intelektual dan rasa ingin tahu semata, tidak lebih dari itu. Menjelajah negara lain melalui media tentunya tidak bisa memenuhi dahaga psychologis yang ada pada setiap manusia. Seperti seorang pemuda yang menyatakan cinta. Menyatakan cinta bisa melalui email, tetapi tentunya akan bernuansa, berwarna dan memenuhi dahaga psychologis manusia bila itu dinyatakan langsung face to face

Visit Indonesia Year 2008 memakai logo siluet burung garuda, dengan pengolahan yang modern, 5 garis berbeda warna. Jenis huruf dan logo mengambil dari elemen otentik Indonesia yang disempurkan dengan sentuhan modern.

Melalui logo ini Visit Indonesia Year menawarkan dinamika Indonesia yang sedang berkembang, kebudayaan lokal yang bermakna dan dinamis serta keanekaragaman Indonesia yang bersatu padu. semuanya hidup di era yang modern ini.

Melalui ini Visit Indonesia Year 2008 tentunya bukan hanya menawarkan keindahan dan keelokan alam Indonesia. Tetapi lebih dari itu, Visit Indonesia Year 2008 juga menawarkan dimensi kebudayaan kehidupan masyarakat Indonesia yang sekian lama berurat akar. Kehidupan, seperti juga budaya timur lainnya, yang selama ini selalu diremehkan dan dianggap tidak ada, tetapi terbukti menjadi sebuah kearifan yang dibutuhkan masyarakat modern. Kearifan timur.

Visit Indonesia Year 2008 adalah usaha memperlihatkan keelokan dan keindahan alam Indonesia, berbarengan dengan sikap dan prilaku bangsa Indonesia yang akan menjadi pelajaran berharga bagi bangsa lain dan ingatan terhadap bangsa sendiri. Sehingga yang mesti ditata pada akhirnya bukan saja situs-situs pariwisata, tetapi juga sikap seluruh masyarakat Indonesia sendiri. Tidak perlu repot-repot berhias diri berlebih-lebihan. Cukup menunjukan kehidupan masyarakat Indonesia yang yang dikenal santun dan beradab. Karena disitulah sesungguhnya keunggulan kita.

Visit Indonesia Year 2008 bukan sekedar mengundang masyarakat internasional ke Indonesia dan mengeruk keuntungan finansial dari mereka. VIY 2008 juga berarti mengundang masyarakat luar ke Indonesia untuk kemudian bertukar pikiran, mengambil kearifan yang dimiliki oleh masing-masing untuk memajukan negeri masing-masing.

Mari berkunjung ke Indonesia!.. Nikmati alamnya !.. Hayati budaya nya !...

Mari berkunjung ke Indoensia !.. dan mari kita berkomunikasi!...

READ MORE - Bukan Sekedar Berkunjung

Biarkan Suharto jadi Sosok Historis

Saat tulisan ini dibuat, kondisi kesehatan Suharto, presiden terlama Indonesia, masih kritis. Banyak isyu muncul kembali mengiringi sakitnya Soeharto. Mulai dari persiapan pemakaman di kompleks pemakaman Soeharto, Karang Anyar Jawa Tengah, kemunculan para pejabat orde baru yang menyambangi dan memberi dukungan moral terhadap keluarga Soeharto, harapan pemberian maaf terhadap Soeharto meskipun tidak pernah ada kejelasan kapan Soeharto meminta maaf serta beberapa gelintir orang yang mencoba memanfaatkan situasi ini untuk mendapatkan popularitas melalui statemen konyol dan kunjungan semu. Yang tidak pernah lepas tentunya masalah status hukum Soeharto. Dakwaan atas pelanggaran HAM serta korupsi selama berkuasa.

Para pendukung Soeharto bersikeras, atas nama kemanusiaan, untuk memaafkan Soeharto merujuk kepada kondisi kesehatan dan jasa-jasa yang sudah diberikannya terhadap Indonesia. Bahkan lebih sadis lagi Ismail Saleh, mantan Mentri Kehakiman era Soeharto, menggunakan kata "biadab" untuk mengingatkan orang-orang yang bersikeras menuntut pengadilan atas Soeharto.

Sementara itu di pihak lain para penuntut Soeharto tetap bersikeras untuk menuntaskan kasus hukum Soeharto. Mahasiswa dan para korban pelanggaran HAM mantan Presiden Soeharto bersikukuh bahwa Soeharto harus tetap diadili. Mereka berdoa atas kesembuhan Soeharto supaya bisa menjalani proses peradilan. Gus Dur, salah satu rival politik Soeharto, seperti biasa berkomentar cerdas dengan bungkusan lelucon. Bagi Gus Dur penegakan hukum adalah segala-galanya. Bila Soeharto tidak bisa ke meja hijau karena sakit, bukankah meja hijau bisa dibawa ke Rumah Sakit?pendapat yang ringan, menyentil, tajam dan cerdas.

Historis dan Mitos

Diantara problem masyarakat Indonesia adalah kejujuran dalam melihat sejarah. Harapan tinggi terhadap kesempurnaan, baik kejadian maupun personal, sering melahirkan pandangan-pandangan yang tidak realistis dan jujur. Ketika harapan akan kesempurnaan ini tidak disikapi secara cerdas dan dewasa oleh para elite serta tokoh masyarakat, kondisinya menjadi lebih kompleks. Tidak hanya masyarakat yang terjebak oleh ketidakjujuran, para elite pun kemudian terjebak untuk melakukan tindakan manipulatif yang tidak urung berdampak negatif bagi dirinya sendiri.

Cerita tentang pahlawan adalah sebuah contoh. Pahlawan sering dilihat sebagai sosok yang berkemampuan diatas rata-rata secara rasional dan irrasional. Dalam pandangan masyarakat kita tidak mungkin seorang hero berkemampuan sama dengan masyarakat umumnya. Seorang pahlawan mesti mempunyai kemampuan lebih dibanding masyarakat umum. Karena dengan kelebihan-kelebihan inilah kemudian dia bisa menjalankan fungsi dan perannya di tengah masyarakat.

Titik ekstrem nya terjadi ketika pahlawan dipandang sebagai sosok yang sangat mitos. Pahlawan adalah sosok yang sangat lengkap baik secara lahir dan bathin. Dia dianggap tidak akan melakukan kesalahan yang dilakukan oleh manusia secara umumnya sehingga melupakan hukum dasar manusia itu sendiri.

Pahlawan juga manusia. Makhluk dimana didalam dirinya diciptakan segala potensi baik dan buruk dalam menjalani hidup. Potensi ini setiap waktu senantiasa bertarung untuk menentukan siapa yang berkuasa pada satu kurun waktu. Suatu saat bisa jadi kebaikan menjadi pemenang, tetapi itu tidak akan pernah menjamin kebaikan selalu menaungi dirinya. Seperti kata Paulo Coelho, kebaikan dan keburukan bagi manusia adalah masalah potensi belaka. Tidak ada manusia yang steril dari unsur kebaikan dan keburukan. Semuanya hanya masalah managerial belaka.

Soeharto, seperti juga hero lainnya yang pernah lahir di negeri ini, adalah manusia biasa. Memiliki potensi baik dan buruk dalam dirinya. Kebaikan yang dilakukan Soeharto merupakan manifestasi kemanusiaannya. Sebagaimana kebaikannya, kejahatan Soeharto tidak akan pernah menjadikannya binatang. Terkecuali bila kejahatan itu dilakukan diluar batas kemanusiaannya. Memposisikan Soeharto, sebagaimana juga tokoh masyarakat lainnya, sebagai manusia adalah sesuatu yang terlupakan.

Soeharto adalah sosok historis. Manusia biasa, seperti juga masyarakat umumnya, yang berhadapan dengan segala pernik kehidupannya. Soeharto bukan sosok mitos tentang seorang yang tanpa cela dan hebat super sempurna. Memandang Soeharto sebagai sosok mitos hanya akan melahirkan kepura-puraan dan ketidak jujuran dalam melihat realitas.

Memaafkan segala bentuk kejahatan adalah sebuah keharusan karena tidak ada manusia yang tidak melakukan kesalahan selama hidupnya. Memaafkan berarti mengakui segala dimensi positif dari semua manusia, dibalik semua alpa yang telah dilakukan. Memaafkan adalah kejujuran dan ketulusan dalam memandang setiap perilaku manusia.

Menghukum bukanlah semata menyalahkan. Hukuman adalah pengingatan kepada setiap orang akan perlunya berhati-hati terhadap segala potensi negatif yang ada dalam diri. Menghukum Soeharto bukanlah tindakan minus kemanusiaan. Karena bila pandangan terakhir ini dipakai, maka kita telah melakukan ketidakadilan. Melupakan nilai kemanusiaan terhadap seluruh korban pelaku kejahatan.

Memaafkan bagi bangsa Indonesia sudah menjadi ajaran hidupnya. Masyarakat sudah memikirkan untuk memberi maaf meskipun Soeharto dan keluarganya tidak pernah mengeluarkan permohonan maaf. Bangsa Indonesia bukanlah pendendam, karena pendendam tidak akan pernah mengeluarkan maaf, terlebih tanpa ada permohonan maaf. Tuntutan hukuman adalah tuntutan adanya keadilan di tengah kehidupan masyarakat.

Menghukum Soeharto tidak akan pernah membuat jasa Soeharto luntur. Soeharto tetaplah manusia dengan atau tanpa hukuman. Soeharto tetaplah seorang hero yang tidak akan pernah dilupakan segala kiprah dan jasanya dalam sejarah perjalanan Indonesia. Memaafkan dan menghukum Soeharto tidak akan pernah menegasikan segala kebesaran Soeharto.

Sebagaimana yang diperlihatkan oleh bangsa Jerman, yang tetap mendokumentasikan secara baik jejak-jejak kekejaman bangsa Jerman terhadap yahudi, kejahatan yang dilakukan tidak pernah membuat bangsa arya sebagai bangsa jahanam. Sampai sekarang Jerman masih tetap dianggap bangsa yang terhormat. Unggul secara mental dan intelektual sehingga menjadi rujukan banyak bangsa dalam membangun negerinya.

Soeharto tidak boleh dikerdilkan, sebagaimana dia juga tidak boleh dikultuskan. Biarlah Soeharto menjadi sosok historis dalam sejarah kehidupan kita. Kebesaran Soeharto tidak akan pernah berkurang meskipun ditempeli status hukum negatif. Yang akan mengurangi kebesaran Soeharto adalah ketidakjujuran dalam menempatkan dirinya.

Memaafkan dan menghukum Soeharto adalah sebuah keharusan.

READ MORE - Biarkan Suharto jadi Sosok Historis

Dosa - Dosa Sosial yang Teramat Besar

Dosa-dosa Sosial yang teramat besar. Al Kabair (dosa besar) kata orang Arab. Dikutip dari ucapan Mohandas K Gandhi.

1. Politik tanpa prinsip
2. Kekayaan tanpa kerja keras
3. Perniagaan tanpa moralitas
4. Kesenangan tanpa nurani
5. Pendidikan tanpa karakther
6. Sains tanpa humanitas
7. Peribadatan tanpa pengorbanan

Apa yang tidak ada di Indonesia?

READ MORE - Dosa - Dosa Sosial yang Teramat Besar

Pantas aja...

Gelar mereka emang doktor, tapi kelakuan tidak lebih dari mandor. Lebih pantas disebut koruptor ketimbang doktor. Terlatih menjadi eksekutor dari setiap kesusahan banyak orang. Kalau saja Tuhan mensyaratkan adanya tumbal untuk kemajuan negeri ini, maka mereka lah orang-orang yang sangat pantas di korbankan.

READ MORE - Pantas aja...

Cultural Politics and Audiovisual Media within China 1

University of Leeds

Institute of Communications Studies

Shall We Get Started?

A Policy Approach to Ethno-Cultural Diversity, Cultural Politics and Audiovisual Media within China

By

Chen Li (200197981)

MA in Communications Studies

Supervised by: Dr. Katharine Sarikakis

1 September 2006

A dissertation submitted to the University of Leeds in accordance with the requirements of the degree of MA in Communications Studies in the Institute of Communications Studies.

CONTENTS

1 THE INTERNATIONAL AND THE NATIONAL

International legislation of cultural diversity

Emergence of ethno-cultural diversity for China

The Chinese approach to the inclusive and ethno-cultural society

Constructing the nationhood

2 SURVIAL OR NOT? TRADITIONAL ETHNO-CULTURES MATTER

Is there any ‘cultural genocide’ in Tibet?

Overview of ethno-cultural policy in China

Discourse of policy-shifts in the post-Mao era

Dual-role of audiovisual media in the discourse of ethno-cultural diversity

3 ETHNO-CULTURAL REPRESENTATION STRATEGIES

THROUGH MAINSTREAM MEDIA AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Seeking representation strategies: Vibrating between the realistic and idealistic

Representing ‘positive stereotypes’ of ethno-cultural diversity

Vehicles of Identities

‘Exotic Images’

4 MAPPING MINORITY LINGUISTIC BROADCASTING SERVICES

‘Xinjiang-Tibet’ project: the product of ‘western regional development’ policy

The ‘diversity’ of ethnic minorities’ linguistic satellite media

The rise and fall of CCTV Western Region Channel:

In search of a specialised multicultural channel

Conclusions

References

Acknowledgement

This dissertation could not have been finished without the generous help and support of many people.

First and foremost, I’d like to thank my dissertation supervisor Dr. Katharine Sarikakis, who is always there to provide me invaluable suggestions to clarify my thoughts. Her book Media, Policy and Globalisation (2006) teaches me how to critically examine the role of media policy in different contexts in a logical way.

I’m also grateful to Emeritus Prof. Colin Mackerras at Griffith University, Australia, who is a leading specialist on Chinese ethnic minorities. Thanks to his generous help, his insightful journal can be found by me within the UK.

I am indebted to my friends both at home and at Leeds. Few words of courage or even an eye contact has made me cheer up when coming across difficulties. Special thanks to Wang Xian, producer from China Central Television 9, who gave me useful advice and helped in my data collections and Dr. Yu Li at Ohio State University for her insightful advice and providing related journals.

A profound debt of gratitude is owed to my parents, Jianguo Li and Huafen Chen, who make my dream of studying at UK become true. Their endless love, supports and encourages make me gown up.

INTRODUCTION

The international legalisation of cultural diversity was realised through UNESCO’s Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions on 20 October 2005. Leaving aside the non-stop debates about cultural trade protection or cultural exception, the essence of cultural diversity as the ‘full realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms’ was emphasised (UNESCO, 2005).

Bhikhu Parekh (2006: 336) advocates the perspective of multiculturalism to approach cultural diversity, given that more and more resistance against ‘homogenising or assimilationist thrust’ and demands for ‘political recognition’ are from diverse groups, such as indigenous groups, ethnic minorities, new and old immigrants and so forth. In this process, ‘cultural heritage’ of different groups and societies should be preserved and promoted through various expressions, as a ‘guarantee of the survival of humanity’. Further, the discourse of ‘within societies’ cannot be marginalised, as more attentions have been paid on the international arena, as in the case of ‘social cohesion’ and multicultural society (UNESCO, 2004). That’s why ‘ethno-cultural diversity’, one form of culture diversity, has been chosen has the focus of this dissertation.

As reaffirmed by 2005 UNESCO Convention, cultural expressions can be enabled to ‘flourish within societies’ on the basis of ‘freedom of thought, expression and information, as well as diversity of media’ (UNESCO, 2005). Obviously the role of media, both as one expression and as a technology, can greatly promote the diversity of cultural expressions. Attempts trying to combine media with ethnic groups are striking. On the basis of the multicultural society[1] in UK or Canada mainly characterised by ‘historical and contemporary flows of people and the operations of power’ (Cottle, 2000: 215), western academic studies like Wober and Gunter (1988), Cottle (2000), Georgiou (2002) categorise three issues as fundamental studies of ethnic minority and media: 1) whether ethnic minorities have been negatively stereotyped, over-represented, under-represented or even invisiblised, which are also the central themes of Canadian TV and UK’s Cultural Diversity Network[2]; for them, content analysis is typically employed to explore the representations in News programmes or TV Dramas; 2) Structural Analysis of Minority Language Radio and Television Stations; 3) specifically, studies of diasporas, as one sub-categories of minority groups, with their representations and media in the discourse of globalisation.

Based on this, this dissertation will employ a policy approach to the ethno-cultural issues, cultural politics and related audiovisual media within China, trying to explore and identify what factors have shaped its related policy initiatives. Given the complex Chinese context (like different definitions of ethnic groups, authoritarian regime, media’s role as mouthpiece, etc.), it seems sensible for us to explore more on the relationships between the majority Han and ethnic minorities as a way of examining whether social cohesion exists or not. From the assimilation strategy in Cultural Revolution to economic-development-dominated current agenda, from anti-splitting and religious-sensitive censorship to selective identities and exoticisation of representation, it inevitably gives us a picture of how far China has been away from the ethno-cultural diversity that is based on freedom of expression and human rights. Additionally, can those apparently prosperous ethnic minority linguistic services express their own voices? It will also draw on examples, both regionally and nationally, to map the ethnic minority linguistic service in China, thus exploring how the accommodations have been made between ideological-constructing and commercialisation-fuelled competitions.

In Chapter 1, I will firstly start from the international legislation and conceptualisation of cultural diversity, analyse the two implications (as emphasised by 2001 Declaration), as well as China’s standpoint as a nation-station towards the Convention in the international stage. Further, French-initiated Diversity strategy was initially utilised to address concerns caused by cultural deficits through ‘identifying uncontrolled global trade in culture as a threat to cultural diversity’ (Beale, 2002: 85) and as a continuing way of ‘cultural exception’ to protect cultural industries. But the meaning of diversity is far more than that. I will adopt Parekh’s (2004) division of common forms of cultural diversity in modern life, then focusing on communal diversity (or ethno-cultural diversity in China’s case) to examine its significant role in the multicultural society. The second part for Chapter 1 will be located into the Chinese ethnic minorities within its own society, tracing how the notion of Chinese nation has been conceptualised, negotiated and interpreted by Chinese as an ‘inclusive’ one with ethno-cultural diversities in the historical discourse.

Chapter 2 will start from debates around Dalai Lama’s assertion of Chinese government’s ‘cultural genocide’ in Tibet, as a way of examining the current ethno-cultural policy system of the Chinese government. Then, I will extend my discussion to a more range of ethnic minorities to explore the extent to which the Chinese government have done to preserve and promote (or damage) the diversity of ethno-cultural expressions as well as ethno-cultural identities. In this process, I will combine analysis from the UNESCO’s joint-projects and comments, Chinese government’s white paper documents, western academics’ critiques as well as human rights monitoring organisations’ accusations, tracing more arguments between national unity concerns and their ethno-cultural identities. Lastly, I will examine the role of audiovisual media and how it dual-functions, namely, how it works as one mean of cultural expression and how it serve as one technology to convey more other cultural expressions like folks and customs, artistic creation and so forth.

Besides the cultural diversity in employments of broadcasting system (that’s where the concept originates), it is the representation that associates the ethnic minorities with the audiovisual media most and attracts most western academics attention. However, as the focus of this dissertation is on the policy and related implications, it might seem sensible for me not to conduct a content analysis to analyse the representation from news programmes, films or TV dramas. Instead, I will start my research premised on findings of anthropologists as well as media researchers who are interested in the ethnic minorities’ representations in the mainstream media, and then associate those characteristics with policies to seek representation strategies, shifts and implications. It will be the focus of Chapter 3.

Chapter 4 will start from the emphasis of linguistic diversity as the fundamental to cultural diversity, map and summarise statistically about the ethnic-minority linguistic radios, satellites, both regionally and nationally, and, lastly, analyse the demise of China Central Television Western Regional Channel. In this way, I will try to find out what factors have contributed to this seemingly prosperous media terrain, then analysing the relationship between purpose of anti-splitting, commercialisation-fuelled factor and the expression of ethnic minorities. Ultimately, I will call for a national channel specialising on ethno-cultural diversity.

In sum, this dissertation does not serve as a report on telling how successful the ethno-diversity has been depicted by the Chinese government in various cultural expressions. Rather, it critically reviews, in the realm of policies, strategies, and laws, the ethno-cultural landscape within China, by examining the role of ethnic minorities’ groups in the notion of ‘Chinese nation’, the extent to which the political agenda have influenced the ethno-cultural policy, the representation strategies adopted by the government-tightly-controlled media, and the ethno-linguistic infrastructure nationwide. Hence, it will come back to the claim made by the 2005 Convention on how important the role of human rights and freedom of expression, calling for a framework towards a democratic media system that empowered ethnic minorities freedom of expression. Only through this way can ethnic minorities represent themselves better in their own produced programmes or linguistic channels, thus achieving a true ethno-cultural diversity.

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[1] It is insightful to refer to B. Parekh (2006) that ‘multicultural refers to the fact of cultural diversity’, while ‘muliticulturalism refers to a normative response to that fact’.

[2] Cultural Diversity Network is ‘a network of UK Broadcasters promoting cultural diversity both on and off-screen’. See more CDN website: http://www.cdnetwork.org.uk/

READ MORE - Cultural Politics and Audiovisual Media within China 1

Cultural Politics and Audiovisual Media within China 2

1. THE INTERNATIONAL AND THE NATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL LEGISLATION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY

The 2001 UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity[1] and the 2005 UNESCO’s Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions[2] (passed by 185-2, with 4 abs), initially proposed by Canada-led International Network on Cultural Policy (INCP)[3], has promoted the idea of cultural diversity, sometimes referred to as ‘the right of culture’, as a principle of world communication[4] (Madger, 2006: 169-173). Article 4 reads:

‘Cultural diversity’ refers to the manifold ways in which the cultures of groups and societies find expression. These expressions are passed on within and among groups and societies. Cultural diversity is made manifest not only through the varied ways in which the cultural heritage of humanity is expressed, augmented and transmitted through the variety of cultural expressions, but also through diverse modes of artistic creation, production, dissemination, distribution and enjoyment, whatever the means and technologies used.

(UNESCO, 2005)

It is explicitly claimed by UNESCO, especially through its 2001 Declaration, that the theory of the inevitable clash of cultures and civilisations proposed by Samuel Huntington (1996) was rejected. Rather, intercultural dialogue, ‘in the wake of the events of 11 September 2001’ (UNESCO, 2001), was actively proposed on the basis of biodiversity as well as humanity so as to avoid ethnical and cultural conflicts or wars. In other words, the link between diversity and humanity (or pluralism and humanism), is premised on the recognition of cultural diversity ‘for the full realisation of human rights and fundamental rights’, thus providing a framework for respect and tolerance, in a more sense of multiculturalism to ‘celebrate difference’ (Barker, 2003: 414). It is also exemplified by the measures of protecting the traditional heritage. Furthermore, it reaffirmed that ‘cultural activities, goods and services, mainly derived from cultural industries, have both an economic and a cultural nature’ (UNESCO, 2005) as a continuing way of French-proposed ‘cultural exception’.

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[1] It will be abbreviated as 2001 Declaration later in this dissertation.

[2] It will be abbreviated as 2005 Convention in this dissertation later.

[3] See more at the INCP Official Website: http://incp-ripc.org/index_e.shtml

[4] Madger (2006: 169) concludes that ‘the right to information’ and ‘the right to culture’ constitutes the core principles of world communication.

Cultural Policy & Measures

(Specific) State Subsidies, Screen Quotas, Broadcasting Time Quotas,

Measures of Protection & Promotion Enhancing Local Content, media diversity ( Ethnic Minority Media)

Cultural Diversity (aka. Diversity of Cultural Expressions)

Cultural Content

Vehicles

Cultural Identity (Language as central) Cultural Activities

Goods and Services

Inter-cultural Communications (Cultural Industry)

Economic & Cultural Nature

Cinema & Audiovisual Sector

Fingure 1.1 UNESCO’s Logic about Cultural Expressions, Cultural Identity and Cultural Industries

The standpoint expressed by China is clear. As China’s delegates to UNESCO remarked, ‘China holds a view with most countries like France and Canada, playing a significant role in promoting the establishment of Convention’[1]. This reaction, as a consequence of long-established alliance with France and Canada in terms of cultural domain, was based more than on the realisation of the importance of cultural diversity. In fact, culture, considered as ‘soft power’, has been always placed great emphasis with China’s domestically ideology constructing, patriotism educating, ethnic relationships and international image establishing. Despite this, a compromise was made. China’s commitments[2] in audiovisual sector, as an exchanges for entry into WTO, such as a continuing increase of ‘screen quota’ (from ten in 1995 to fifty in 2005), apparently pushed itself into a fierce competition, and especially an erosion of its domestic audiovisual industry (Lee, 2003: 14) and a challenge for its own cultural taste. Yet, for the latter one, it has long before been transformed by the street-flooded ‘pirate DVDs phenomenon’, which is often accused by the Hollywood studio in terms of revenues but ‘provide[s] unprecedented exposure for the Chinese to the cultural output of the West and shape their cultural tastes’, especially for the young generations (Kuo, 2001; Dai, 2002, quoted in Lee, 2003).

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[1] See official website of China’s Ministry of Culture, at http://www.mcprc.gov.cn/xwzx/whbzhxw/t20051024_17491.htm

[2] It should be noted that China, Mexico and Malaysia are countries both activated commitments in the audiovisual sector and as members of Canada-led International Work on Cultural Policy (Beale, 2002: 85; Madger, 2006: 165).

Emergence of Ethno-Cultural Diversity for China

As the Department of Canadian Heritage, for instance, defines, the concept of ‘diversity’ is ‘moving beyond language, ethnicity, race and religion, to include cross-cutting characteristics such as gender, sexual orientation, and range of ability and age’. Indeed, as Bhikhu Parekh (2006: 3-4) suggests, subcultural diversity[1], perspectival diversity[2], and communal diversity constitutes the most common forms that cultural diversity takes in modern society. For the latter one, he articulates that it is distinctively characterised by (more or less) ‘well-organised communities’, like long-established groups, newly-arrived immigrants, or indigenous groups, who are living upon ‘different systems of beliefs and practices’ (ibid.).

Similarly, as for the 2005 UNESCO Convention, one of the defining features of cultural diversity is the emphasis of ‘groups and societies’ in such a way that the central agent/player has been transformed from nation-states towards communities. Originally, Tomlinson (1991: 70-75) outlines the UNESCO’s conceptual ambiguities caused by ‘vacillat[ion] between the assertion and denial of national identities as cultural identities’, from the controversy between ‘for the cultural identity of all people’ as remarked in the opening addressing to ‘…threatens the cultural identity of the nations’ (UNESCO, 1982: 60). Indeed, as Schlesinger (1987) notes, this ‘conceptual confusion’ may lead to the ignorance of ‘various linguistic groups’ within or beyond the state, especially on the premise of ‘the centrality of language to culture’ (UNESCO, 1982). In the wake of this, the 2005 Convention emphasised the ‘groups and societies’, which signifies a ‘communal diversity’, as Parekh (2006) terms, although difficult to accommodate, requires more strengths to investigate and develop.

If we locate the concept of ‘communal diversity’ into the context of China, it will be another story or a narrow sense since the number of immigrants is small compared to its domestic population that is the largest in the world. Specifically, ethnic groups, in the case of China, are also differently defined according to Stalin’s definition (quoted in Mackerras, 2003: 2) as ‘a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up manifested in a common culture’[3]. Despite the deficient application of the definition itself in China’s case, it seems sensible for us to adopt a concept of ‘ethno-cultural diversity’, rather than ‘communal diversity’, in the context of China that rarely has a large group of immigrants or aboriginal people.

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[1] Parekh (2006: 3) defines ‘sub-cultural diversity’ occurs as members share a broadly common culture but seek for their ‘divergent lifestyle’ rather than for an alternative culture, e.g. gays and lesbians.

[2] As Parekh (2006: 3) suggests, perspectival diversity is characterised by groups (like feminists, environmentalists) challenge the ‘very basis’ of the existing culture.

[3] This officially-adopted definition is deficiency especially applied to the case of Hui people and Manchu people who have been assimilated by the majority Han people in terms of language and Hui people also scatter throughout the country.

The Chinese Approach to the Inclusive and Ethno-cultural
Society

The ‘five-thousand-year’ Chinese culture, in a historical discourse, is officially or typically depicted as ‘inclusive’, ‘magnanimity’ and ‘tolerant’ in a dynamic and hybrid process[1]. It, originally based on the Han plain civilisation, has been preserved by the Han people and so-called ‘barbarian invaders’ who adopted a series of open policy to change themselves in some ways rather than destroying. On the other side, it has been promoted by absorbing alien elements, alongside with the ethnic hybridities caused by it own conquering, so-called ‘barbarian invasions’ as well as immigrations brought by ‘silk-road’ and marine trades (See, for example, in Fei, 1999).

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[1] There is also another saying that China, literally translated as ‘Central Empire’, regard that they are civilization centre surrounded by barbarians.

‘Fifty-six nationalities blossom as fifty-six flowers; Fifty-six brothers and sisters live in one big family.’ As described in this widely-known patriotic song of Loving China, fifty-six ethnic groups, of which the Han people are 91.59%, constitutes the ‘Chinese nation (Zhonghua Minzu) (Dikötter, 1997: 10) (National Bureau of Statistics of People’s Republic of China, 2004) or is described as ‘an intriguing demographic equation’ of ’55 minorities + the Han’ = the Chinese nation (Mullaney, 2004a). The official justification for this formula is based on the Chinese prominent Sociologist Fei Xiaotong (1999)’s theory of ‘Multi-factors in One body’, which is allegedly derived from Chinese philosophy of I-Ching (Huang, 2002) and his decades of study on the officially sponsored project of ‘Ethnic Classification’ (Mullaney, 2004a; Di, 2005). This will be explored in-depth in the followings

Constructing the Nationhood

Central to an inclusive society, as Ratcliffe (2004: 166) argues, it should be built on a ‘One Nation’ culture based on ‘a common-sense of nationhood accompanied by a respect for, and acceptance of, difference and diversity’. It seems rather difficult for countries, especially an immigration county, to image this picture. Chris Barker (1999: 4-6) points out the challenge of balancing the diversity and unity, by citing difficulties of South African’s construction of ‘Simunye’ (we are one) among racially and culturally people. Canada, notably, is the first and the only country that legitimatise the ‘multiculturalism’ (Solution Research Group, 2003). What’s China’s story? For China, it is characterised by two traits, firstly, of the notion of Chinese Nation and, secondly, of ‘depicting the ethno-cultural diversity’.

But, is it an ‘imaged’ national identity or a ‘utopia’? (Anderson, 1983; quoted in Gladney, 1994) A distinctive idea is from Su, especially through the Television Series River Elegy[1] (1989; quoted in Dikötter, 1997), who points out that the ‘Chineseness is seen primarily as a matter biological descent, physical appearance and congenital inheritance’, and ‘Chinese civilisation or Confucianism are thought to be the product of that imagined biological group’.

The notion, however, of ‘Chinese Nation’ as a homogeneous whole has been constructed, both politically and imaginarily, for a long history. For the political justification, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who led the Revolution of 1911 that ‘abolished the feudal monarchy and give birth to the Republic of China’ (National People’s Congress of People’s Republic of China, 1982), changed his slogan of ‘Expel Manchu’, the ethnic minority ruler of last feudal Qing Dynasty, into ‘Five Ethnic Groups under One Union’ as one strategy to combine all the strength of all nationalities in China to resist imperialist intruders. People’s Republic of China adopts Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s concept of ‘Chinese nation’ and further provides the evidence of ‘all nationalities working together to resist imperialism and feudalism’ as the political justification. In Preamble of Constitution of People’s Republic of China, it declares, ‘The Chinese people of all nationalities led by the Communist Party of China with Chairman Mao Zedong as its leader ultimately, in 1949, overthrew the rule of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism’. In this sense, D. C. Gladney (1994) suggests that ethnic minorities have been playing the role of OTHER to the Han people who are subsequently ‘essentialised’, far beyond their ‘objective importance’. This is agreed by C. Mackerras (1995: 208) who furthers this point by locating this into the context of ‘the increasing nationalism[2] of China as a whole’ in the 1990s.

On the other side, ‘imaginary construction’ of China as ‘a homogeneous organic entity’ should also be attributed to the myths of ‘Descents from the Dragon, from the Yellow Emperor and from the Peking Man’ (Sautman, 1997: 76). This way was greatly challenged especially from the ethnic minorities’ perspectives. A tripod decorated with fifty-six dragons, representing fifty-six officially-recognised ethnic groups, presented in celebration of the fiftieth anniversaries of the UN, as Sautman (ibid.) notes, officially signified all the ethnic groups are ‘Descents from the Dragon’, which is contradictory given that ethnic minorities themselves have other ‘animal progenitors’. Striking examples come from ‘the wolf and dog among Mongols, the Monkey among Tibetans, the bear among Koreans’ and so forth. It is also the same case that the idea of ‘authentically Chinese’ or ‘fellow-descendents of the Yellow Emperor’ (ibid.) were rejected by those ethnic minorities, like Uygurs, Kazaks, and Kirgiz in Xinjiang, who do not ‘physically and culturally resemble the Han’. Another ‘unifying symbol’, culturally and officially portrayed as ‘an embodiment of the spirit and force of the Chinese nation’, is the Great Wall, which was employed as the negative barriers of resisting the ancient nomadic people (most of them now are recognised as ethnic groups in China). Gladney (1994: 8) critically points this out by referring to one picture published by Nationality Pictorial, portraying some ethnic minorities proclaiming that ‘I love Great Wall’.

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[1] This TV Series, broadcasted in 1989, critically reviewed the Chinese Civilisation, which is considered as the fuse of 1989 Students’ Pro-democratic Movements.

[2] ‘Nationalism of China as a whole’ refers to, in a narrow sense, patriotism which is especially based on the resistance to the imperialism invasion over centuries and nowadays is quite prevalent in the forms of anti-Japanese in the issue of history textbooks, Japanese PM’s visiting controversial Yasukuni Shrine and anti-American in the 1999 bombing of Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia.

READ MORE - Cultural Politics and Audiovisual Media within China 2

Cultural Politics and Audiovisual Media within China 3

2. Survival or Not? Traditional Ethno-cultures Matter

Is there any ‘Cultural Genocide’ in Tibet?

Nowadays, strikingly opposed to the Chinese official statistics and proclaimed accomplishment of preserving Tibetan cultures in series of white papers, ‘some kind of cultural genocide’[1] or ‘developing cultural extinction’ was often quoted by Exiled Tibetan Spiritual Leader 14^th Dalai Lama, mainly premised on increasingly massive immigration of Han people, especially fuelled by Qinghai-Tibet Railway’s completion. There might be no room here to explore, in essence, the relationship between the usage of this expression and political motive of independence, but, it is worthwhile for us to examine to what extent the Tibetan culture has been preserved and promoted (or damaged) by the Chinese government especially in the context of globalisation, immigration mobility as well as cultural hybridity.

The official response from the government white papers like The Development of Tibetan Culture (2000) furiously denounced Dalai Lama’s accusation and articulated the legal framework as well as accomplishments in matters of Tibetan-language use at different occasions, cultural relics and ancient books, public subsidies, administrative system, religious life, folk festivals, folk songs, literatures, Tibetan studies, cultural exchanges and so forth. Especially in conclusions, this report (2000) argues by ‘cultural extinction’, it means cultural rule, once monopolised by a few serf-owners, have become ‘extinct’. Specifically, the status of Tibetan-language was ensured by legal framework of the Constitution (1982), Law on Ethnic Regional Autonomy (2001), especially for Tibet, Some Provisions of the Tibet Autonomous Region on the Study, Use and Development of the Spoken and Written Tibetan Language (1987). A bilingual education policy also assures Tibetan people’s right to study and use their own language. Regarding the public subsidies, more than RMB 300m (£ 20m) was spent on renovations of 1400 monasteries and temples. It is also reported by Financial Times that another RMB 300m will be spent to ‘further restoration of Potala Palace, Norbulinka Palace and the Sakya Monastery’, despite the US State Department’s 2004 Report on China’s Human Rights Practices claims that ‘many monasteries have never been rebuilt or repaired with others partially repaired’ (Flanagan, 2005). Notably, Tibetan heroic epic King Gesa[2]r, which has been passed down only by folk artists orally for over 1000 years, now has been printed out in more than 120 volumes through more than 20-years attempts of government’s collecting, researching and publishing. But, as the Chinese government still adopts an ambiguous attitude towards the Cultural Revolution, this white paper mentioned nothing about the cultural destruction during the Cultural Revolution but only mentioned the survival of ‘Potala Palace’[3]. There, after all, have been signs that the government now have been making more and more efforts of protecting and promoting Tibetan traditional cultures.

The cooperation between UNESCO and the Chinese government has also been playing a significant role in this process. Until now, Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace[4], Lhasa was listed as the UNESCO World Heritage in 1994, with the extension of Jokhang Temple Monastery[5] in 2000 and Norbulingka[6] in 2001. Further, Yalong, the cradle of Tibetan Culture, was also nominated by the National Commission of China into UNESCO’s tentative list. Notably, as quoted by white paper (2000), UNESCO World Heritage Committee considered the Potala Palace as ‘a miracle in the history of ancient building protection’ and ‘a great contribution to the protection of Tibetan and World Culture’.

For western scholars, prominent Australian anthropologist Colin Mackerras (2003: 46), based on his four visits to Tibet since 1985, responds to this as:

It is true that the Cultural Revolution saw massive cultural destruction. However, what strikes me most forcefully about the period since 1980 or so is not how much the Chinese have harmed Tibetan culture, but how much they have allowed, even encouraged it to revive, not how weak it is, but how strong.

(Mackerras, 2003: 46)

Insightfully, he argues that ‘a modernisation process going on in Tibet, carried on the context of Tibet as a part of China, which may dilute tradition’ (ibid.) This reaffirms his conclusion in the book China’s Minority Cultures: Identities and Integration Since 1912, where Mackerras (1995: 221) argues that ‘what matters most is whether features essential to the traditional cultures of particular minorities survive or not’ as well as the extent of integrations. The following part of this chapter will extend this specific discussions to the national level, to explore the extent to which the Chinese government have done to preserve and promote (or damage) the diversity of ethno-cultural expressions as well as ethno-cultural identities.

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[1] See at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,169128,00.html

[2] Gesar, collectively created by China's Tibetans, is a heroic epic which originates in ‘the folk oral traditions and passed down through Tibetan generations in a combination of song and narration for over 1,000 years’. See more at its special site: http://zt.tibet.cn/tibetzt/gesaer_en/doc/1000.htm

[3] In this report, it mentions as ‘Even in such a special period…, Premier Zhou Enlai gave instructions personally that special measures be taken to protect major cultural major relics like the Potala Palace from destruction’.

[4] Potala Palace, the former winter palace of Dalai Lama, is considered as the symbol of Tibetan Buddhism.

[5] Jokhang Temple Monastery is an exceptional Tibetan Buddhist religious complex.

[6] Norbulingka is the former palace of Dalai Lama.

Overview of Ethno-Cultural Policy in China

Parekh (2006: 2) suggests that identities, especially for minorities, can be expressed or realised by virtue of ‘necessary freedom of self-determination’, ‘a climate conductive to diversity’, ‘suitable legal arrangements’ and so forth, thus requiring ‘an implicit or explicit cultural agenda’. As for People’s Republic of China, ethno-cultural policy, largely influenced by the political agenda, can be roughly divided into two stages.

First stage (1949-1976), characterised by the ‘social reform’, ‘class struggle’ and ‘cultural revolution’, allowed for little or no space for ethnic minorities to develop or maintain ethnic identities and cultures, which were oppressed and assimilated, especially with the blow of Cultural Revolution’s ‘dismantling all the traditional cultures’. In this stage, a slogan of ‘let a hundred flowers blossom, let a hundred schools of thoughts contend’ (Zhao, 1998: 21) had no interactions with the artists but was utilised for the guise of Mao’s political campaign.

The second stage, maybe termed as ‘post-Mao era’ and reforming-opening era, ethnic minorities’ cultures have gradually become revival, ensured by a framework of legal system, preferential policies and rise of intellectual discourse but largely subject to the strict control of expressions caused by politically sensitive issues like national unity and religious feelings. Especially for the audiovisual policy (see the process of policy-making at Appendix I), given Chinese media’s functioning as mouthpiece for the government, the images of ethnic minorities in mainstream media are still largely framed by the traditional representation strategies (which will be explored in Chapter 3) while the seemingly prosperous developments of ethnic minorities media (discussed in Chapter 4), despite providing a relatively limited space expression, are still largely shaped by national policy of anti-splitting, commercial factors and so forth, under several projects constructed by the State Administration of Film, Radio, and Television (SAFRT).

Discourse of Policy Shifts in the Post-Mao Era

Ethno-cultural identities, especially of ethnic minorities, as Mackerras (1995) puts, are largely characterised or maintained by languages (and by implication education), religions, folks and customs (including traditional clothing as well as habits), literature and arts, and so forth. In this case, it deserves explorations of ethnic minorities themselves, especially in the post-Mao era, with in-depth policy interpretations, derived both from laws and white papers, from the ethno-cultural fields.

‘Dismantling all the traditional beliefs and symbols’ in the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) slaughtered Han-originated Confucianism as well as marginalised ethnic minorities’ cultures. During this period, class struggles to create a new ‘communist’ culture dominated, which extremely repressed against minorities’ cultures (Mackerras, 1995: 214). In this context, cultural resistances emerged against ‘savage assimilation’ among ethnic minorities, which might take little effects but serve as the basis for their ‘cultural revival’ from 1980 onwards, namely, in the post-Mao era. It should also be noted the Constitution of People’s Republic of China, the cornerstone of Chinese legal system, was adopted in 4 December 1982, in which Article 119 says:

The organs of self-government of the national autonomous areas independently administer educational, scientific, cultural, public health and physical culture affairs in their respective areas, sort out and protect the cultural legacy of the nationalities and work for the development and prosperity of their cultures.

(Constitution of PRC, 1982)

Like the language policy mentioned before in the case of Tibetan, minorities’ languages have never been ‘suppressed’, as accused by some Human Rights monitoring agencies. Rather, with the promotion of the bilingual education system, it was guaranteed and promoted (It will explore later specifically about minority linguistic broadcasting system). Strong ethnic identities, for instance, of Uygur, Tibetan, Korean people also contribute their insistences on using their own written and spoken languages, while others with weak language traditions (like Zhuang people who did not have their own written language until invented 50 years ago), by contrast, might become the focus of concerns (I will talk later about Zhuang’s language use in broadcasting system) and central tasks for the national preservation. It should be excluded the cases of Hui and Manchu people who have been assimilated in the historical discourse and now mostly adopt to use the Chinese language. It might be influenced or slightly constrained by the policy of promoting Mandarin (the standard Chinese or Putonghua) as the communication tool between ethnicities as well as sociologist ideology of promoting a national culture. For instance, Chapter 4 Article 36 of Administrative Regulations on Radio and Television (1997) reads: ‘All radio or television stations shall use standardized spoken and written language’, and ‘All radio or television stations shall promote the nationwide use of Putonghua’.

Regarding religion, a ‘prime cultural source’ (Mackerras, 1995: 215) of ethnic identities and the most controversial area of Chinese policy, it becomes more complex when factors like ethnic unity, national unity are taken into account. Compared to the banned and persecuted policy in Cultural Revolution, those antitheists of Chinese Communist Party[1] (CCP) members adopt a more tolerant policy towards them. To be exact, Article 36 of the Constitution ensures citizen’s ‘freedom of religion’ on the condition that ‘no person may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the State’. Evidently, the central concerns for the Chinese government are those attempts to use religion for political independence, especially for those who have strong ethnic identities. It can be better exemplified by the case of 14^th Dalai Lama, who was political ruler as well as spiritual leader. In terms of religious affairs in Tibet, it’s not a wise way for the Chinese government to completely root up all the religious images related to Dalai Lama, as in the case of government’s interference with selection of 10^th Panchen Lama and 1996 Tibetan people’s furious reaction against government’s banning photographs (Mackerras, 2003: 121). Religion of Tibetan Buddhism is the way of life for Tibetan people. Dalai Lama, after all, is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists who have their religious freedom to worship him. At any rate, the Tibetan Buddhism, most Tibetans believe, have been recovered since 1980s towards a more revival era. Another striking feature of religious policy is that the government utilise its power to censor any contents which they assume as ‘insulting to religious feelings’ (either slightly or largely), especially in matters of Muslims. Hui people, an Islamic ethnic group but assimilated with Han historically, are always the focus of ‘ethnic violence’[2], thus resulting in the government’s sensitive alertness. Besides those considered as ‘strong groups’ (Clark, 1987), the government, however, considered some ‘primitive religious activities’ as ‘superstition’ compared with their definition of ‘socialist modernisation’, which is challenged by Mackerras (2003: 125) as ‘irritating people by interfering in personal matters’.

There is a trend that more and more artistic modes of expressions in literature and art are promoted after Chinese government’s abandoning of assimilative policies (Mackerras, 1995: 212). It is also claimed by the White Paper (2005) that ’55 ethnic minorities in China has its own brief written history’. Three major Heroic epics, namely, Gesar (as mentioned before), Jangar (Mongolian epic) and Manas (Kirgiz epic) were preserved. Public subsidies, with related administration bodies, were established to preserve ethnic minorities’ cultural relics (like Potala Palace). With the cooperation of UNESCO, protections of ethnic minorities’ intangible heritages, like folk songs, are now run in a sound system of funding, administrative bodies and a working procedure[3] (UNESCO Beijing Office, 2004). Besides, world cultural heritages site of the Old Town of Lijiang is also located at ethnic minorities areas. Lastly, traditional cultures are also maintained by the revival of traditional clothing and festivals, which is also arguably utilised by the government to conduct a project named ‘ethnic identification’ (It will be explored later with the issue of representation) as distinctive characteristics.

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[1] It will be abbreviated as CCP in the following discussions for Chinese Communist Party.

[2] See one example at BBC about conflicts between Hui and Han caused by religious insults.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3970611.stm

[3] See more at UNESOC Beijing Office: http://www.unescobeijing.org/view.do?channelId=006002002001

Dual-role of Audiovisual Media in the Discourse of Ethno-cultural Diversity

Adequate protection and promotion, in accordance with UNESCO’s 2005 Convention, is needed for the tradition knowledge (especially of indigenous people), either intangible (language, religions, songs, folks and customs, and other forms) or ‘material wealth’ (cultural sites, books, and so forth). This should be recognised, appreciated as well as celebrated, no room to compromise or recede. In this context, the role of audiovisual media (film, radio, television) should be emphasised not only as, firstly, integral ‘cultural expressions’ themselves, but also they can also be considered as the vehicles of other cultural expressions and contents.

In the first instance, it arouses issues like ethno-linguistic diversity as well as ‘fair and authentic’ ethno-representations in contents (that will be discussed specifically in Chapter 3 and Chapter 4). For the other one, it exemplifies the definition of cultural diversity in 2005 Convention ‘through diverse modes…whatever the means and technologies used’. In this sense, the audiovisual media function as a way of utilising technologies to record ethnic minorities’ folks, customs, lifestyles (like the application of visual anthropology), to transmit necessary information as the basis for cultural dialogues and social cohesion.

Despite the fact that revised Article 38 in Law on Ethnic Regional Autonomy (2001) requires the autonomous areas to develop their cultural undertakings as well as audiovisual industry more positively, it still lacks a specific agenda of promoting ethno-cultural diversity in any articles of SAFRT’s regulations except that Chapter 1 Article 4 of Administrative Regulations on Radio and Television (1997) states, ‘The State provides financial support to the development of radio and television activities in minority nationalities autonomous regions and rural or underdeveloped areas’.

Instead, Administrative Regulations on Radio and Television (1997) and Regulations on the Administration of Movies (2001) were characterised by precautionary articles that provides legal basis for strict censorship in terms of anti-splitting affairs as well as religiously sensitive issues. In other words, those programmes ‘inciting national division and undermining national unity’, as defined by SAFRT, are strictly prohibited and censored (See Article 32 (3) and Article 24 (3) respectively). The official interpretation of both articles is characterised by ‘anti-slitting’, ‘prohibiting discriminations against races, ethnicities and genders’ and ‘prohibiting backward habits and customs exhibited, made and shown’. It is also added that it should be censored contents that ‘might cause the insulting between ethnic minorities as well as religions’. A striking example, as Mackerras (2003: 44) observes, are SAFRT’s bans against Australian film Babe (2000) in which the start as ‘a talking pig’ were perceived by SAFRT as ‘upsetting Muslims’. That’s what termed by Bulag (1999) as ‘Don’t or else’ policy.

Besides legal framework (see the process of policy-making at Appendix I), the SAFRT, in the light of ‘updated spirit’ reflected in the national ten-year plans, always inactivate a series of projects as an integral part of the so-called ‘socialist construction’, like the ‘Xinjiang-Tibetan project’ as one part of ‘Western Region Development Project’ (discussed later in Chapter 4) and ‘2131 Project’ through which mountainous areas farmers like most Tibetans can enjoy the films projected by the specialised teams.

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