China correspondent on Tibet documentary: "Very disturbing"

The media in P1 this weekend reported that the documentary Himalaya - neighbor under the clouds, which was purchased in 2017 by the Education Radio, was produced in collaboration with China's state broadcaster CCTV.

Now the UR is being criticized for spreading Chinese Communist regime propaganda. Head of supply Anna Rastner did not want to interview an interview with the Culture News, but said the following to the Media:

- This program series we bought from a major distributor, formerly called Skyvision, but now bought by NBC, a very established player in the market. We saw that Discovery was one of the co-producers and all these players signal that this is a quality content, she tells Medierna.

Hanna Sahlberg is a former foreign correspondent in China for Sweden's Radio. She thinks it is remarkable that UR has bought and shown the documentary.

- It is very disturbing to see that the threshold is so low for obvious propaganda content to enter Swedish channels. Of course, I also watch propaganda films but then I am used to the sender being the one who wants to do propaganda, says Hanna Sahlberg.

The documentary consists of five parts and has been broadcast in the Knowledge Channel. The series gives a picture of Tibet as a tourist paradise. There is no mention of the censorship that prevents journalists from reporting from the region or the political repression exercised by the Chinese state.

- The government's strategy is that everyone should see the positive side and forget what must be sacrificed and the people who must be sacrificed for it to be like this happy, bright vision, says Hanna Sahlberg and continues:

- I am not against technology development in Tibet or so, but you have to remember that the people who say something that doesn't fit are at great risk of just disappearing or being jailed. It is not an opportunity for an honest working journalist not to tell it in this story as well.

The Chinese Communist Party is currently running a media and propaganda offensive in Sweden and abroad, something that Swedish media executives recently highlighted in a call. The fact that the Chinese state is buying into media abroad has become increasingly common.

- A lot of money is invested in getting good looking productions right now, both Chinese-produced and co-produced, so there is money. The question is whether you are willing as a journalist to lend yourself to this, says Hanna Sahlberg.