At 18th Party Congress, a Popular Foreign Reporter

For members of China’s foreign press corps, the odds of getting called on to ask questions at events during China’s 18th Party Congress have been about the same as being hit by a nor’easter just days after taking a blow from a hurricane–it happens, just not that often.

Yet one foreign reporter covering China’s once-a-decade leadership transition appears to be able to buck the odds.

Andrea Yu, an Australian journalist for CAMG Media Group Ltd., was one of two foreign reporters called upon on Sunday at a press conference held by Chinese cultural affairs officials. A video from China Central Television (see below) also showed her getting picked to ask a question at a Saturday briefing that included officials from the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planning body.

Those events weren’t outliers, Ms. Yu told China Real Time, who says she has been called upon four times so far. She says her secret to being tapped is sitting in the same spot at every official meeting. She also credits her ability to make across-the-room eye-contact with moderators.

But there’s one more reason, she says: “They know my questions are safe.” Ms. Yu said her questions are pre-written by her Chinese colleagues and that she is not allowed to ask her own questions. “I’m representing a Chinese-Australian company, so I need to ask questions they want me to ask,” she said, adding: “Believe me, I would have other questions to ask if I could.”

Events such as the party congress are usually highly choreographed, especially when they involve foreign media, which government officials see as potentially disruptive to an event they want to see go smoothly. The government, which predictably takes questions from the state-run Xinhua News Agency, the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily or China Central Television, has particular reason to steer clear of disruptive questions following the fallout from the ouster of former highflying politician Bo Xilai and renewed concerns about corruption and wealth among the elite.

Ms. Yu’s question at the cultural affairs forum, which she asked in both English and Chinese: “After the 18th Party Congress, what policies and measures will there be to support overseas Chinese media to publicize and promote Chinese culture, to propel Australian-Chinese cultural exchanges to the next level?” Officials thanked her for her question and assured her that China would be ensuring that it has cross-cultural exchanges with many countries around the world, including Australia.

Ms. Yu said that while she’s limited in public meetings to asking “questions that are geared toward soft news,” she is interested in addressing hard-hitting issues, such as corruption.

Her employer, CAMG, says on its website that it is a media company with radio stations in the Asia Pacific region and with one in Argentina. It is affiliated with state-run China Radio International, though the relationship is unclear. Its domain name is registered to a Beijing address. People at the company said managers weren’t available to comment.

Ms. Yu has been a common sight during the party congress, having been interviewed briefly in a segment on state-run China Central Television’s Monday night national news broadcast and appearing on an online slideshow on the website of the Communist Party official mouthpiece People’s Daily showing photos of women at the event that it labeled “beautiful scenery.”

The trend of seeking out safe questions underscores the gap between China and developed Western nations that offer a more transparent approach to politics and policy. In many other countries, officials are seen as civil servants obliged to answer to the people they serve. And dodging questions results in critical articles or opinion pieces in media outlets or mockeries of shame on parody news shows like Comedy Central’s the Daily Show.

To be sure, China has come a long way. Unlike decades ago, political events are now open to foreign media and many are translated into English. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs holds a daily briefing, allowing interface between foreign journalists and the Chinese government, though the answers aren’t always as forthcoming as journalists would like.

Still, at this year’s political handover, a time when the world is looking for clues as to whether China will step forward to a more open approach to the world, leaders have largely been roped off, discussions about meaningful topics like intra-party democracy and censorship have been thwarted and access to ask questions has often been limited.

Ms. Yu said in an interview that she wasn’t called on in Monday’s government meeting on housing, to which she was grateful. “I’m so glad, otherwise all the foreign journalists here would hate my guts,” she said.

– Laurie Burkitt w/ contributions from Lilian Lin. Follow Laurie on Twitter @lburkitt

Like China Real Time on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates.