Free Apologies to My Censor by Mitch Moxley Page B

and every other major news organization that had a presence in China were covering the forum. This brought back my feelings of inadequacy. During the days of the forum, China Daily gave me free rein to attend whichever talks I wanted to. Whereas other China Daily reporters were tied down to the media center, I was free to wander around all day with no obligation to even check in with the team. I should have been out making contacts, developing sources, and setting up the exclusive interviews with bigwig business types that China Daily so lusted after. Instead, I wandered around aimlessly, my ID badge shamelessly flipped around so no one would know where I worked.
    The forum was very much a China lovefest, and if anything of significance was accomplished there, I didn’t see it. The majority of sessions were behind closed doors, and the discussions open to the media were mostly contrived and bland. Each panel invariably had one Chinese member who would rattle off facts and figures and boast about China’s economic might, its commitment to the environment, and the development of a “harmonious society”—Chinese president Hu Jintao’s catchphrase. The foreigners on the panel would smile and nod, never questioning anything that was said.
    After two days and after only contributing a few blurbs alongside my “Dalian impressions” story, I was feeling guilty about my insignificant contribution. I flipped through the forum’s schedule and noticed a session called “Soft Power: Influencing the World with a Chinese Touch.” The discussion would be moderated by Fortune magazine Asia editor Clay Chandler, featuring panelists such as Thomas Friedman; Sha Zukang, the United Nations undersecretary-general for the Department of Economic and Social Affairs; and prominent businesspeople from China and abroad. It sounded interesting and I decided to attend.
    At the session, Chandler started things off by criticizing Premier Wen’s speech from the night before. Wen had given a boilerplate speech, listing off GDP figures, economic and environmental promises, etc.
    â€œIt was an opportunity for him to say something new,” Chandler told the audience. “But he didn’t.”
    What ensued was a lively and candid debate that, for the first time I’d seen, contained both praise for and criticisms of China.
    After the discussion wrapped up, I went to the media center and told Xiao Zhang about the session. He suggested I write a story about it. I told him I would but only if I could write it honestly, including the criticisms made about China.
    â€œThat’s okay. Write about the different opinions,” he said.
    So I did. The story I filed focused on the debate about China’s use of “soft power” and included a back-and-forth between Friedman and Sha about China’s role in the world. Friedman said China should take a hard-line stance against Iran and Sudan; Sha argued that China should lead by example, not by shows of dominance.
    Back in Beijing, the hatchets came out. During dinner that night in Dalian, a colleague told me the editors were removing any mention of Iran or Sudan from the story.
    â€œBut that defeats the purpose of the story,” I protested.
    I text messaged Max in Beijing, who I knew was editing the Dalian stories. I asked him what changes were being made. He called back a few minutes later and said someone had cut the story from 750 words to about 250 words. All mentions of Iran and Sudan had been axed, as had Thomas Friedman and all of his quotes.
    â€œSo what’s left?” I asked.
    â€œThe China stuff.”
    â€œPlease take my name off it.”
    The next day’s story, which didn’t include a byline, was titled, “China, Leading by Example.” “A panel of experts and officials was in hot debate about how soft power could work better, particularly about how China could use its soft power to attract and