After NBC News’s morning and evening shows spent only 12 minutes, 22 seconds (in a year) on China’s horrific genocide of the Uyghurs, NBC actually managed to equal that coverage of the Uyghurs in just one night and morning of their Beijing Olympics coverage. That’s a good job.
Beginning with NBC Sports’s Thursday primetime coverage (led by host Mike Tirico) and through NBC’s TodayShow Friday Morning coverage of the Opening Ceremony. Panelists and correspondents combined managed to manage a total amount ofTwelve minutes and forty seconds Talking about the Uyghur Crisis
Continue reading February 2,, Media Research Center President L. Brent Bozell called on NBC to “devote significant on-air reporting to telling the truth” about Communist China’s genocide against Uyghur Muslims, as well as the country’s “egregious response” to COVID-19 and other human rights outrages.
There was sober discussion of China’s “massive program of social engineering” of “forced assimilation,” “suppression of culture,” “forced labor” and “coercive birth control practices” against the Uyghurs.
Not to be overlooked was the passing on of an official Chinese line. Panelist guest and ex-panelist The Wall Street Journal Andy Browne (China editor) dutifully recorded: “It has to be said that the Chinese government emphatically denies all of this. They say that accusations of genocide are the ‘lie of the century.’”
After it became known that an Uyghur-born athlete had been selected to light the Olympic torch, the Uyghur issue was impossible to ignore. Today co-host Savannah Guthrie relayed: “This moment is quite provocative. It’s a statement from the Chinese President Xi Jinping, to choose an athlete from the Uyghur minority. It is an in-your-face response to those western nations, including the U.S., who have called this Chinese treatment of that group genocide.”
BREEZING OVER CHINA’S FORCED ABORTION POLICY
There were other moments in the coverage that sounded like they were cribbed from a Chi-Com’s propaganda booklet. One particularly sickening moment came during Friday’s opening ceremony.
The stadium’s center was filled with little snowflake-decorated snowsuits, which were worn by children. Get it TodaySavannah Guthrie, co-host of the show, gushed about how beautiful the imagery was “heavy with meaning.” To which guest panelist Yale professor Jing Tsu responded with a gross glossing over of China’s forced sterilization/abortionShe called policies “beautiful, poignant, heartwarming,” adding: “For more than four decades, China had a one-child policy. The country’s lowest birthrate for five years was recorded last year. The country has always relied on its reservoir of human labor for its economic miracle but now continuous population growth is posing a challenge.”
Here is the full exchange
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: A return to the snowflake theme and from the choir to the videos to the performers, we’ve seen kids throughout this ceremony. This is Professor Jing Tsu’s choice, and it is full of meaning.
JING TSU Yale Professor of East Asian Studies, Yes. This is a significant, beautiful, touching, and heartwarming segment. China has had a policy of one-child for more than 40 years. China had its lowest annual birthrate for five years last year. While the country relies on its human labor to create its economic miracle, continuous population growth poses a problem. In an effort to reverse the downward trend, in 2016, the government eliminated one-child policy. The government encourages families to have at least three children.
CHINA CREATED THE GLOBAL Pandemic, BUT TAKE A LOOK AT HOW THEM BUILD LOCAL ECONOMIES
A few minutes before that performance, came another opportunity to pass along some propaganda about China “building up local economies” around the world. It ironically came during an “artistic portion of the program” devoted to the “images of a shared global struggle” against the “pandemic” — that was caused by a virus that originated in China!
GUTHRIE You’ll see as they walk, images of shared global struggle, particularly against the pandemic. Andy Browne is the former China editor of Wall Street Journal. China’s attempt to portray a positive image to the outside world is complicated by the pandemic.
BROWNE: Yeah, it’s worth remembering that while western countries may be boycotting these Olympics over human rights issues, China styles itself as a champion of the developing world, and it has plenty of support in countries from Africa to Latin America where its investments are building up local economies.
There were also a few (very brief) mentions of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai’s sexual harrassment charge against a Chinese official and China’s crackdown on Hong Kong protestors.
NBC Sports and NBC News both deserve credit for not giving up on the Uyghur genocide completely.CBS has.
The following are some more of the relevant exchanges during NBC Sports’s February 3 live primetime coverage and the February 4 edition of NBC’s Today show.
NBC Sports
Februar 3
Beijing Olympics Primetime CoverageHOST MIKE TORICO: This is a primary concern. The U.S. government has declared the treatment of Uyghurs in the northwestern region of Xinjiang by China as genocide. U.S. officials estimate that more than 1,000,000 Uyghurs or other minority ethnic groups were detained and abused before being forced to work in internment camp labor camps. China calls these “lies” and says the camps are for, quote, “vocational education and training and are necessary to counter religious extremism and domestic terrorism.”
There are also other issues that contributed to the latest crisis between China and America, such as an escalation in crackdowns against pro-democracy sentiments or protests in Hong Kong.
The U.S. State Department claims that China uses coercion, aggression, and violence to systematically undermine autonomy in Hong Kong and Taiwan democracy, to abuse rights in Xinjiang, Tibet, and to assert maritime claims in South China Sea, which violate international law. China is concerned about these domestic issues, and Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, recently told President Biden that China doesn’t approve of invading other countries’ internal affairs via human rights questions.
Peng Shuai was a three-time Olympian and a tennis player from China. She disappeared for several weeks. Her social media accounts contained accusations of sexual coercion from a former top-ranking Chinese politician who was also responsible for Beijing’s 2022 bid. Peng was contacted by the IOC in regular contact since their initial video chat to assess her health. Critics counter that it didn’t prove Peng was capable of speaking freely and accuse the IOC for aiding in a cover up
In protest of China’s violations of human rights, the United States declared its diplomatic boycott on these Winter Olympics. One of many countries that announced it would not send high-ranking officials from its government to Beijing to attend the Games, was the United States. The omicron waves that are looming above these games have caused the Biden administration to call out China, blaming it for not being transparent about the source of the covid-19 epidemic, while locking down Olympic athletes and cities in its relentless pursuit of zero COVID cases.
MIKE TIRICO: Let’s discuss human rights. There’s a clear difference central to the diplomatic boycott for the U.S. of these games along with other nations like the United Kingdom, and Canada and Australia, pointing to the treatment of the Muslim Uyghur population in Xinjiang and they’ve said that is genocide. Let us have a better understanding of this region. Why is this so challenging for China to manage?
ANDY Browne, Former China editor, is Editorial Director for Bloomberg New Economy. The Wall Street Journal: This, I’m sure, is the most contentious, sensitive and complex issue in these Olympics. Xinjiang shatters China’s carefully constructed image of ethnic diversity. 56 diverse ethnic groups live together happily in one large happy family.
TIRICO: It’s 56 ethnic groups. But 55 only have a tiny percentage. One is Han Chinese at well above 90 percent.
BROWNE: Exactly, exactly. That’s the whole point. That in Xinjiang, what they’re actually trying to do is to suppress ethnic diversity and assimilate the Muslim Uyghurs with the Chinese mainstream. It is an immense, huge program of social engineer.
Andy uses the term Social Engineering. How does this work?
BROWNE: We’re talking about forced assimilation. It’s about suppression of culture. Ethnicity. These are the allegations of human rights organizations about what is happening in these camps. All manner of human rights abuses are discussed. Forcible labor and coercive contraception practices are all discussed. It is called indoctrination. There is a lot evidence from those who have survived these camps that it’s happening. It is important to note that this is not happening. These camps are vocational training centres if they existed. The accusation that genocide was committed is denied by them completely. Which they call the “lie of the century.”
Below are the top exchanges of Friday. Act NowReportage of the Opening Ceremony is required
NBC
Live coverage from the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony today
February 4,
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: And as I bring myself into this conversation, some have said that there’s a cloud over these Olympics, that China has come under fire globally because of policies and practices. The U.S. has imposed a boycott on these games and sent no representatives to the country because they are against human rights. In particular, China’s treatment of the minority Uyghur population in the Xinjiang region. Andy says that the U.S. has called it genocide.
ANDY Browne, Former China editor, is Editorial Director for Bloomberg New Economy. The Wall Street JournalThis is the most delicate issue in the Olympics. Western governments, including the White House and rights groups, allege that China is actively repressing Muslim Uyghurs from Xinjiang. These people claim that the Chinese government is engaged in a huge program of social engineering to subvert Muslim Uyghur culture. A host of human rights violations are claimed by them. Coercive birth control, forced labor and indoctrination all add up to a kind of cultural genocide. All of this is denied by the Chinese government. They say that accusations of genocide are the “lie of the century.”
…
TIRICO: There is a handoff. Zhao Jiawen, a 2001-born Chinese Olympic Winter Games athlete, was the first to compete in the nordic combined. Dinigeer Yilamujiang, a 2001-born cross-country skier, is also competing. According to the state media, Dinigeer belongs to the Uyghur minority. Those are people who hail from northwest China. They have been the subject of much of the discussion about human rights, the ethnic minority and the comments made by the United States government regarding genocide committed against Uyghurs. It is an important moment.
Mike, that is quite provocative. It’s a statement from the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to choose an athlete from the Uyghur minority. The Uyghur nation is being rebuffed by western countries, such as the U.S. who call this Chinese treatment of their group genocide. This choice will cause much debate.
About Post Author
