Shanghai Daily headline: Peace reigns in Lhasa. WTF??

Yesterday's headline on the English-language state-owned paper Shanghai Daily made my eyes pop. "Peace reigns in Lhasa as riot mobs succumb", the headline blared, above a photograph of a police detail and a motorcycling couple who seemed to have not a care in the world.

Contrast this with the FT's Asia headline today.

Beijing says it shot Tibetan ‘rioters’

Tibet’s government-in-exile, urging pro-Tibet demonstrators to adhere strictly to non-violence, accused China of spreading “propaganda” and “lies” alleging Tibetans instigated violent protests, as Chinese state media said police had shot four rioters in ‘in self-defence’.

I tried clicking on the link but surprise surprise, could not access it. I managed to get a two-second glimpse of Tibetan monks marching but then got the tell-tale "could not find server" yellow error message.

The Shanghai Daily article quoted a Tibetan official extensively, who made it extra clear that Western media had consistently exaggerated claims of violence in its biased reporting.

"Some Western media distorted the facts and viciously described the severe crime as a peaceful demonstration, so as to slander our legitimate efforts to keeping social stability as a violent crackdown,'' he said.

Some Chinese friends of mine have expressed pretty much the same sentiment, that the Western media has consistently played up the victimhood of the Tibetan people and cast the Chinese authorities as grim rulers with an iron fist. This FT article published today probes the question of mutual perception in the media--and interestingly, one of the few pieces on Tibet not blocked by the Great Firewall.

A few choice quotes:

The government propaganda, which can seem staggeringly crude to foreigners – Zhang Qingli, China’s party chief in Tibet called the Dalai Lama “a monster with human face and animal’s heart” – does not appear out of place at home.

Mr Zhang’s tirade is at one with comments permitted on internet bulletin boards, such as the one hosted by sina.com, China’s largest portal. “Add countries supporting Dalai Lama to the blacklist of terrorism!” said one of the milder postings on Wednesday.