Headlines like 'Dalai Lama is spewing lies' do little to aid China's efforts to communicate with the world.Today's China Daily has a lash at the Dalai Lama who Beijing accuses of presenting unquestioning the Western audiences with unsubstantiated claims about events in Tibet.
The article is spot on in highlighting the Dalai Lama's skill in delivering his message to the media. He is, it says, adept at rallying support behind his cause.
But the author fails to conclude that China should take a leaf out of the Dalai Lama's book when it come to public relations.
Like it or not, if you want to communicate through media channels, you have to play by their rules. If you are concerned with influencing Western minds, you need to understand their media.
Outsiders see a smiling old monk complaining of suppression by an angry authoritarian communist (a loaded term in the West) regime with a dubious history.
Intemperate rants about this nice old geezer 'spewing lies' or being 'a wolf' just strengthen the image of China as a bully and allows the violent rioters to be painted as heroes.
Beijing's anger needs to be focused on communicating effectively. They need an affable figurehead who speaks in terms that the target audience understands.
This will have to be matched with actions such as allowing freer access to foreign media covering Tibet. [The province reopens tomorrow, having been a no-go area for over a month.]
The full article is worth a look:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-04/30/content_6655137.htm
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