Ten Conditions of Love

• This is how the famous magazine the New Yorker responded to Chinese attempts to stop the screening of The Ten Conditions of Love  
• Please see 10 Conditions for ABC Managing Director Mark Scott

The Australia Network: one film, and Chinese rage, illuminates the inner workings of the Australia Network  

The story of Ten Conditions of Love has taken another ugly twist, which turns out to expose an old, nasty problem - how does an independent national broadcaster serve the propaganda needs of the Australian government? 

Ten Conditions of Love is an Australian documentary directed and initiated by Jeff Daniels, produced by John Lewis through Arcimedia and Common Room Productions. It is a straightforward account of the cumulative persecution of the Uyghar people on the western frontier of China, told through the story of exiled leader Rebiya Kadeer. 

As we described at the time, the Chinese attempted to prevent the first screenings at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2009. 

At the height of the collision with MIFF, the ABC also bought the film for domestic release. But, the Australia Network had already secured the rights to broadcast on the basis of the rough cut.

Rod Webb, then the programmer for the Australia Network, encouraged the purchase. As an expert on film music, he occasionally provides introductions to SSO sessions at the Sydney Opera House which play film music. He had noticed that the hero of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is implied to be a Uyghur, and several instruments and motifs in the soundtrack come from the rich Uyghur musical tradition. That led him to learn what he could about the relationship between the Uyghur and the Han Chinese. 

That purchase would mean that the film would be broadcast to mainland China. As Rod explained, "It is a grey area. Diplomatic, academic and migrant worker compounds have the right to their own satellite dishes, and there are non-subscription services that operate only for non-Chinese nationals. 

The signal would have gone into China, and the bureaucracy would have seen it. Some people also put up their own dishes. They are not allowed to do it, and it is a very murky area. I believe it can get in online as well." 

The film has been actively distributed through Uyghur networks. This now means that the audience for an Australian documentary risks arrest in the far west of China.

Radio Free Asia has investigated a claim that seven Uyghur people have been arrested for possession of Ten Conditions of Love. The account provided by the exiled World Uyghur Congress says that police in Gulja found copies of the film last week. This led to house-to-house searches, and 

"According to our information, the police and the state security police carried out all-day checks on Dec. 1 on Xinhua East Road," Raxit [ the spokesperson for the Congress] said.

"They confiscated several thousand DVDs, and detained seven people, four of whom were detained by the state security police," he said. 

"Three others were detained in the Panjin police station, accused of hiding subversive DVDs and illegally selling religious recordings."

Several thousand DVDs is a determined effort to disseminate the film inside East Turkistan/Xinjiang. Radio Free Asia provided some corroboration, though it is sketchy.

With a signed contract with the Australia Network, John Lewis expected it to be broadcast. Indeed, he even had an email which asked to amend the deal "to give them enough time to technically check the material and promote the program in time for their October schedule."

On September 4th 2009, the ABC celebrated 35 years of its bureau in China with a cocktail party, to which senior Chinese dignitaries were invited. Accounts of that event differ, but it does seem that CEO Mark Scott, Chair Maurice Newman, along with Kate Torney and Bruce Dover were hammered by the Chinese over the Uyghur position.

Mark Scott	Bruce Dover

The ABC wanted landing rights for the Australia Network, and were also setting up a children`s series with China. Landing rights refers to the ability to put the network signal onto terrestrial television, or local cable. 

During that time, according to Bruce Dover, Mark Scott told the officials that the ABC did intend to run the film, and would give the Chinese the opportunity to respond. But, Bruce said, "they didn`t jump up and down about it."

One of the small mysteries of this story is the way in which the Chinese were given that opportunity to respond. In the pressure on MIFF, and Maori Television later, they were provoked by the appearance of Rebiyah Kadeer at the screening. The Chinese government follows her movements, and protests to governments which give her visas. 

But to respond to a program, they needed to get a copy. It did not come from the producers. I asked Bruce Dover by email if the ABC supplied a copy. 

Jeff Daniels, director of The 10 Conditions of Love about the Uighur people who are fighting for independence. The Chinese are trying to stop the film about Rebiya being shown

"No - we have never supplied a copy - well certainly not to my knowledge. What became obvious in our discussions with the Chinese - was that locally, they had not seen the film but were acting on instruction from "higher authorities" in Beijing. I presume they have their means of acquiring copies if they wanted to.

But Ten Conditions of Love was never broadcast on the Australia Network, even though it was transmitted domestically in May 2010, nine months after it was a hot news item. 

Last Friday, The Australian published a short item which paraphrased Bruce Dover`s explanation. 

"Bruce Dover, the chief executive of the Australia Network, said the film had been omitted from screening schedules inadvertently, and that the network had shown other programs -- on Tibet, for instance -- that could arouse controversy."

Next morning, Rod Webb, who was the network programmer at the time, came back with a letter. 

"There was nothing inadvertent about Australia Network`s failure to show the film.

I was instructed on a number of occasions not to show it until further notice.

On at least one of those occasions, Dover told me the instruction came from ABC managing director Mark Scott.

Nor can I recall having arranged the broadcast of any programs on Tibet, for instance, that could arouse controversy, other than short reports in news bulletins provided by the ABC`s news division.

I do, however, recall Dover ignoring my recommendations for the acquisition of at least two documentaries on the Dalai Lama and Tibet, one of which had been shown on the distinguished Public Broadcasting Service in the US."

This is more than a simple fight about the details of a decision inside the ABC which occurred nearly two years ago. It suggests clearly that The Australia Network is cleansing its schedule of items which will enrage the Chinese. 

The account that Bruce Dover provided to me is a little different. 

"The decision was my decision at the time", he said. "I thought we should hold it. It is a bit of a polemic, and we needed to either get a response from the Chinese side, or find something that we could run to provide some other view on it."

"That is my position on anything we get that is a bit polemical or one sided, that we should try and find something to balance it out." He suggested that climate change was a similar topic.

Rod Webb continues to claim that his account in his letter is correct. 

At the time, he understood there was no need for balance. In an email of February 11th, 2010, he told Bruce that "Incidentally, I understand that ABC EdPols's determination on the suitability of the film for broadcast made no mention of the need for balance, because it was considered it a "profile" of an individual."

Dover`s reply suggests this was still being considered. As he said, "I understand Mark Scott will consult with Paul Chadwick about how best to proceed - whether we will allow the Chinese an opportunity to respond and whether we will require the producers to identify "stock" footage which has been incorporated in the film. Mark has given a public commitment that the film will be shown but there are concerns about some elements which is taking advice on."

Since I worked on the film as script editor early in the process, I have a vested interest in this issue. I know we tried to incorporate the Chinese point of view, but they refused to participate. We were also rigorous in corroborating our claims - the accusation that Rebiya Kadeer was the subject of an assassination attempt, for instance, was made by her supporters, but not on the narration track. 

Before the domestic broadcast in May 2010, long after the contracts were signed, the ABC sent John Lewis a detailed list of questions about the material. This is very unusual, and refers to the labelling of stock footage as discussed in the previous email exchange. 

Here is one paragraph from the reply, which shows that Jeff Daniels was meticulous in his research.

"The reference to public executions in Xinjiang and harsh Chinese military crackdowns on Uyghur public protests is based on supporting evidence collected over the seven years of this film's production from independent sources such as Amnesty International Human Rights Watch, journalists at the New York Times, the Washington Post and many others, as well as government sources such as the US State Department's annual country report on human rights in China. These sources are consistent in their declaration that such executions of Uyghur political prisoners occurred and have continued to occur in Xinjiang, specifically after public protests."

There was no general archival footage on the list - all the footage was about the specific events in the narration. 

Bruce Dover`s description of the way in which the film was finally dealt with is much more mundane.

"To some extent Rod was pursuing it, but he left. And I must say I didn`t follow through - I`ve been a bit preoccupied with other things than Rebiya Kadeer in the last twelve months, in terms of tenders and so forth. I still think we should run it with an end card."

Now that the issue has been raised, and it is being followed through, the Australia Network could approach producer John Lewis and secure an extension of the rights, so it could be broadcast. That would be a bold move, given that Uyghar are being jailed for possessing copies. 

Bruce claimed that the Chinese often complain about the ABC coverage of China, which includes both the Uyghur and Tibet. "I think they do respect you for having stood your ground," he said. "Every time I go to Beijing I get a bit of a dressing down but we say that we will continue to try and cover Chinese affairs but we will always try to see that it is fair and balanced." 

"The integrity and independence of the channel is critical," he said. Once you lose that, you lose all credibility. That was our main argument against the idea of a soft propaganda channel."

Here Rod Webb agrees with him. "You cannot have editorial independence unless you uphold it all the time", he said. "Once you surrender your editorial independence on a single matter, no one can trust you from then on. Is the ABC working as a diplomat or a broadcaster?" 

Broadcasters around the world have the same problem with their foreign affairs broadcasts. Radio Free Asia, the source of the story about the Uyghur arrests, is a good example. The organisation is part of the the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which was set up to create an independent system outside the State Department. The older outlets, like Voice of America, were hopelessly compromised as servants of US foreign policy. It contrasted very unfavourably with the BBC World Service, funded until 2014 through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the UK government, but pumped out from the BBC under the terms of the Charter.

The temptation to use the Australia Network as an outlet for government propaganda helps to explain the saga of the tender. 

"I think there is a split in DFAT. I think there are those in DEFAT who believe the Australia Network should basically be a propaganda channel with a positive view of everything," he said.

"We spelt out in our tender application that we wouldn't accept that and weve said the same thing to the Chinese. They want unfettered access for their CCTV news cnannel into Australia. We won`t be censoring their coverage so why would we accept a degree of censorship on ours?" 

Dover`s version of the tender story is less about the shiny toys which Sky claimed to offer in its expanded coverage. Instead, he is suggesting a fight in DEFAT between hardline propagandists and brand advocates, who simply want to promote Australia as independent and trustworthy. 

The ABC plans to bring the Australia Network back into the ABC more closely, build the web presence and create an international version of iView. How this will work has not been finalised, and is provoking plenty of media coverage,which is stored in this unsuccessful attempts by Murdoch to build his empire in China. 

"Having worked for Murdoch myself here and in China, the old tactic of reciprocal rights and a soft channel was exactly the Murdoch strategy in the past, and it didn`t work for him either."

"It`s the old thing - if you drop your trousers for the Chinese, they will take full advantage of you, mate. But they won`t respect you in the morning."

One thing we can expect - the situation faced by those Uyghur caught copying DVDs of Ten Conditions of Love in China is likely to be very, very grim. 

--------------------

As a result of the latest newspaper discussions, Michael Danby, the Federal ALP member for Melbourne Ports, has issued a list of ten questions for Mark Scott and the ABC. We understand that Nick Xenophon, the independent Senator from South Australia will agitate for another enquiry. While this seems unlikely, he will be able to question Scott at the next Senate Estimates Committee. 

Here is Danby`s release:

"In Saturday's Australian former Australia Network executive Rod Webb claimed that Australian Network chief Bruce Dover had twice cancelled screenings of the documentary The Ten Conditions of Love about the exiled Uighur leader, Rebiya Kadeer.

"But Webb's claim that Dover told him this was done on the instructions of ABC Mark Scott is disturbing and will agitate Australian's who support artistic freedom", Michael Danby the Member for Melbourne Ports said. 

Mr Danby said that this claim of censorship by the ABC boss prompted 10 questions to the ABC:
1. "Is Mr Webb's claim that Bruce Dover, Australia Network Executive said he was instructed to censor the screening of The Ten Conditions of Love by the Australia Network true?
2. "If it is not true, why does ABC Managing Director not say so?"
3. "When will the film about the Uighurs screen on the Australia Network?"
4. "If it is true, what was the basis for the ABC boss, Mr Scott's extraordinary decision?"
5. "Given the fact that the film screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival and eventually on the ABC, how would Mr Scott justify his instruction to cancel it from screening on the Australia Network?"
6. "What other, if any, editorial or artistic decisions does Mr Scott make regarding the content of programs screened by the Australia Network?"
7. "How does he justify to the Australian tax payer the purchase of such documentaries and their non screening on the Australia Network?"
8. "Were there representatives of any government in contact with ABC Managing Director to achieve this act of censorship?"
9. "Was this an act of pre-emptive kowtow to communist authorities in Beijing?"
10. "Since when has Mr Scott been given the authority to make foreign policy decisions on behalf of Australia?"

 

 

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