But despite the proximity and important interests in play, most Chinese newspaper readers had to content themselves with dry, narrowly drawn and sometimes inaccurate accounts of the events. Absent from the foreign news coverage was independent reporting from the scene or any in-depth analysis.

The contrast with domestic news coverage could not be more striking. Despite continuing censorship and restrictive government rules about ownership and registration of publications, Chinese news coverage at home is in the midst of something of a golden age. A large and growing variety of news sources and a new generation of journalists have steadily expanded the boundaries of the permissible.

But what Chinese readers are able to learn of events in the rest of the world from most mainstream media here remains sharply limited in context and tightly controlled. On September 27, for example, a day after Burmese soldiers opened fire on unarmed demonstrators, both Shanghai’s Oriental Morning Post and the Beijing Youth Daily published an article from the official Xinhua news agency saying that the “Myanmar government has been restrained in handling the monks’ protest and didn’t use force” to disperse the protesters.

Only a handful of China’s conservative, state-run publications have permanent bureaus and correspondents in foreign countries. Asked why, editors pointed to a government rule requiring authorisation to open bureaus or send reporters overseas. One editor said orders were sometimes received not to interview people overseas, and to avoid talking with representatives of the foreign media. An official at the State Council Information Office, a branch of China’s cabinet, refused to confirm or deny the existence of such a rule.

“By and large, China’s international reporting is a mirror of China’s diplomacy,” said Yu Guoming, a journalism professor at People’s University in Beijing. “As government mouthpieces, their international reports are linked with the government’s diplomacy. It’s not free, so what we’re really talking about is China’s diplomacy, not its media.”

Chinese news coverage of Pakistan typically depicts the United States as the only foreign country that is a factor in Pakistan’s affairs. This is in keeping with a general tendency to depict the United States as a meddlesome power, in sharp contrast with China, which frequently proclaims that it does not interfere in the affairs of other countries, and sees to it that this line is scrupulously echoed in the news media.

“In its world coverage, the Chinese press often presents an ‘It’s none of our business, let’s watch the show’ attitude,” said Zhang Ping, a veteran editor with the Nanfang Press Corporation, one of China’s most highly regarded news companies. “This is, of course, the safest approach.”