“The Tibet Problem”

In the days immediately following the Lhasa riots, an engineering student in the Northeastern Chinese city of Harbin spoke forcefully on the issue. “The problem in Tibet is something that [is] impossible for foreigners to understand. This is because it is so closely tied to our many thousands of years of Chinese history and culture.”
Indeed, Chinese assessments of American sympathy for Tibetans are often of this variety; foreigners just don’t get it. This extends to general perceptions of the Western media and its coverage of the recent violence in Lhasa, Tibet. When asked, many people here will acknowledge the flaws of the state-controlled domestic media, but with regards to the “Tibet Problem,” as it’s known here, they do not necessarily view the foreign press as a more reliable source.
In the weeks following the rioting in Lhasa on March 14, the Western media has been widely attacked on blogs and in the mainstream media for false reporting of the event. Criticism focused mainly on the misuse of a photo of Nepali police beating demonstrators in Kathmandu, Nepal, which certain German news outlets claimed was of Chinese police brutality in Lhasa.
Additionally, when asked about foreign coverage of the riots many people will also bring up a photo that was aired on CNN, charging that it was doctored to exclude the Tibetan rioters hurling stones at police, as evidence of Western media’s bias against the Chinese government.
“The Chinese media is not perfect,” said a freshman college student from Shaanxi Province, “but I think that no matter what country you’re in, the common people are always being misled. Have you heard about the photos they used on German television? They’re saying it’s just an accident but I think they just don’t want to take responsibility . . .”