Torch Chaos: China's PR Machine Working Overtime

BEIJING, April 9, 2008— -- In less than a month, the Olympic torch is scheduled to begin its ascent up Mount Everest from the Tibet side.

Despite mounting protests from pro-Tibet groups calling for China and the International Olympic Committee to cancel this leg of the trip, it remains on the schedule.

China is standing firm. The governor for the Tibetan Autonomous Region told reporters in Beijing today, anyone attempting to disrupt the torch's journey on his watch "will be dealt with severely."

While China may not be able to deal with the the many pro-Tibet protesters cropping up on the torch's route around the world, it is attempting to control the People's Republic's perception of them.

The Chinese public relations machine is working overtime these days, trying to protect its people from foreign reporting of the protests that have dogged the Olympic torch relay from day one.

China's state-run media almost completely control citizens' access to information. And while the newscasts have reported the protests in Paris and London, the story line reads like nationalist propaganda.

When reports came out that the torch had been extinguished during the Paris relay amid security concerns, the Foreign Ministry denied it both in the Chinese media and to foreign reporters. This denial was widely posted in domestic newspapers and on Web sites.

"The reports by the foreign media are false in claiming the Olympic torch was forced to be extinguished during its relay in Paris," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said. "To protect the security and dignity of the torch under the circumstances there, the modes of relay were temporarily changed. The torch relay in Paris has now safely completed as scheduled."

While CCTV, the only national television network in China, shows the video of the protests in London and Paris, the narrative is in stark contrast to the way it was reported by Western media.

Chinese television anchors describe the protesters as a "small number of Tibetan separatists" trying to disrupt the glory of the holy Olympic flame.