Censored Thai Exhibition Undermined ‘Core Interests,' China Claims
China's government has accused the organizers of an exhibition in Thailand of undermining its 'core interests,' after the publication of a report that the show's co-curator removed and altered artworks at the request of the Chinese embassy in Bangkok.
The Reuters news agency reported last week that the Bangkok Art and Culture Center (BACC) had removed materials about China's treatment of ethnic minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang and its policy toward Hong Kong from an exhibition featuring artists from authoritarian nations.
In a written response to Reuters yesterday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that the exhibition 'promoted the fallacies of so-called 'Tibetan independence', 'the East Turkestan Islamic Movement' and 'Hong Kong independence',' distorted China's policies and 'undermined China's core interests and political dignity.'
The exhibit, titled 'Constellation of Complicity: Visualizing the Global Machinery of Authoritarian Solidarity,' opened at the BACC on July 24. According to the center's website, it features artworks from Myanmar, Iran, Russia, Syria, the diaspora community, and 'regions with cultural and autonomy demands.' It said that the exhibition sought to interrogate the 'formal and informal alignments between authoritarian states through the lens of artists who have lived through – or in exile from – their consequences.'
Reuters' report quoted Sai, an artist from Myanmar who has co-curated the exhibition, as saying that three days after the show opened, Chinese embassy staff, accompanied by Bangkok city officials, 'entered the exhibition and demanded its shutdown.' The news agency also quoted an email dated July 30 in which BACC said: 'Due to pressure from the Chinese Embassy – transmitted through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and particularly the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, our main supporter – we have been warned that the exhibition may risk creating diplomatic tensions between Thailand and China.' The email said the gallery had 'no choice but to make certain adjustments.'
According to a report by Khaosod English, China was originally included in the list of repressive countries, but the word had been covered with black tape, 'both in the Thai and English descriptions of the exhibition.' It quoted Sai as saying that the names and regional affiliations of three artists, from Hong Kong, Tibet, and the Uyghur diaspora, had been 'covered with black tape,' while the Tibetan and Uyghur flags in one installation were removed. 'Later, all of Tibetan artist Tenzin Mingyur Paldron's video works were taken down, and postcards referencing Xi Jinping and a book were removed,' he added.
'It is tragically ironic that an exhibition on authoritarian cooperation has been censored under authoritarian pressure,' Sai told Reuters. 'Thailand has long been a refuge for dissidents. This is a chilling signal to all exiled artists and activists in the region.' Sai reportedly fled abroad after Thai police sought to find him.
The censorship of the exhibition is a sign of Beijing's willingness to leverage its diplomatic clout to prevent the expression of criticism of Chinese policies, whether by Chinese nationals or foreigners. Indeed, it is just the latest in a line of Chinese attempts to shut down film screenings, exhibitions, and other cultural events abroad. In 2009, Beijing demanded that the Palm Springs International Film Festival withdraw two China-related films; the same year, Chinese hackers attacked the website of the Melbourne International Film Festival over its decision to screen a documentary about the exiled Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer. In both cases, the organizers refused, after which Chinese films were subsequently pulled from the festival line-ups, apparently under Chinese government pressure.
Similarly, in July of this year, Chinese officials sought to halt the initial screening of the Philippine film 'Food Delivery: Fresh From The West Philippine Sea,' which details the experiences of Filipino troops and fishermen facing Chinese pressure in the South China Sea. According to its makers, the film was quietly dropped from the roster of the PureGold CinePanalo Film Festival due to what its organizers described as 'external factors.' (The filmmakers later moved to an alternative venue.)
Chinese diplomats also attempted – unsuccessfully – to have 'Food Delivery' removed from a film festival in New Zealand. According to correspondence seen by the New Zealand press, the Chinese Consulate in Auckland said that the documentary 'is rife with disinformation and false propaganda, serving as a political tool for Philippines to pursue illegitimate claims in the South China Sea. Its screening would severely mislead the public and send the wrong message internationally.'
In many of these past cases, festival organizers and gallery owners have refused to accede to Chinese requests to withdraw films or censor artworks. According to Sai, BACC also 'never wanted to censor' the 'Constellation of Complicity' exhibition and 'showed remarkable courage and professionalism in resisting repeated demands from the Chinese Embassy.' But the reported participation of the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority in the enforcement of the exhibition's censorship sends a worrying sign of Thailand's shrinking commitment to freedom of expression – and raises fears that close Thailand-China relations will exact a cost on the Thai creative community.
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