By Chungdak Koren
Oslo, August 23 – On Wednesday 23 August, Norwegian PEN held a seminar on censorship and freedom of expression in China in conjunction with the launch of the book “Silenced – China’s Great Wall of Censorship” written by Oystein Alme and Morten Vaagen of Voice of Tibet Radio.
Kjell Olaf Jensen, Chairman and Executive Director Carl Morten Iversen from the Norwegian PEN introduced the issue of censorship in China and highlighted the present situation and stated the importance of raising and focusing on this issue relating it to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also stated that Internationl PEN, together with other international organizations, is planning a campaign focusing on the issue of freedom of speech in China.
Oystein Alme presented the book and outlined the huge gulf between China’s domestic and international obligations; between its own Constitution and the United Nations charter; and the real situation in China related to freedom of speech and access to uncensored information. Alme also stated that Voice of Tibet’s experiences and the developments in general are clearly indicating an increase in repressive policies from the Chinese authorities.
Chungdak Koren of the Norwegian Tibet Committee gave an introduction to the present situation in Tibet, and highlighted the recent cases of the Tibetan writers Woeser and Dolma Kyab. Furthermore, she also brought up the issue of jamming of the Tibetan radio.
The other panelists, Elin Saether, Research Scholar in social geography from the University of Oslo, Aashild Kolaas, programme leader of International Peace Research Institute, and Torbjorn Faeroevik, journalist, writer and China-expert, all stated that some progress had taken place in China, but more as a result of indirect consequence of the economic liberalization than more relaxed policies from the Chinese authorities’ side.
All the panelists agreed that the issues raised in the book related to censorship are very timely seen in light of the Beijing Olympics. They also agreed they saw no immediate reason to expect a loosening of media and freedom of speech policies from the Chinese authorities. On the contrary they expressed reasons to expect that the control mechanisms and the censorship would be further intensified with the upcoming Beijing Olympics.
After the break, the audience was invited to raise issues and ask questions to the panelists which lead to a constructive and interesting discussion. Among the audience were representatives from the media, Norwegian NGOs and the Norwegian Foreign Affairs Office. A journalist stationed in Beijing explained some of the challenges foreign journalists are facing in China, and a representative from the Norwegian Foreign Affairs Office informed about the ongoing human rights dialogue between Norwegian authorities and institutions and their Chinese counterparts. The seminar was concluded after the three hour long program.
