CHINATION REPORT©

by Virginia Hoge
August 27, 2008

I have been noticing the alarming amount of China-bashing going on in our media leading up to, during, and after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but where are they getting their “information” from? This is the troubling question, one that has not been addressed by anyone in the country (that I know of), certainly not in the national headlines.

For instance, a recent article in Huffington Post was entitled “Mixed legacy likely as China’s Olympics conclude”. More of the same came from the New York Times whose headline read “After the Glow of Games, What Next for China?” (two blog columnists at the New York Times conspicuously have bashed China: Nicholas Kristoff and Mike Nizza).

Mixed legacy likely as China’s Olympics conclude? The “mixed legacy”, from what I can see, lies with the Media, more importantly with their sources, and nowhere else.

Almost ALL American media has jumped on the “China-bashing” bandwagon, and has been sounding off about “human rights abuses in China”, picking up information sourced by - and here is the point, WHO? Two groups mainly:

Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders.

Yet Reporters Without Borders has been outed for years as nothing less than a U.S. State Department funded propaganda arm with links to Otto Reich (from Contra days) - see here http://www.counterpunch.org/barahona05172005.html.  I found literally thousands of press releases designed expressly for the Beijing Games, here: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25234

I first became aware of them when they mounted an obvious and ugly “media propaganda siege” against the Beijing float in the 2008 Rose Parade in my hometown of Pasadena, CA, Fall 2007. They displayed their “handcuff” graphic on a large billboard in town (a graphic photographed all over the world) and took over the local press (who were already openly sourcing a right-wing extremist, and therefore easy “prey”) barraging my city with more “information” than a 3rd year History of Human Rights Abuse in China PhD student could ever care about!! They also co-opted the the tiny Falun Gong club at Cal Tech.

One small moment of “poetic justice” occurred at the end of all this ugliness, when no one less than Diana Barahona (author of Reporters Without Borders Unmasked) was there, unintentionally, in the audience of the parade.

I wrote about it here, but only after ALL of the local press refused to address the issue: http://pasadenanewprogressive.blogspot.com/2008/01/reporter-without-borders-media-siege-of.html

Among other writings about this group, I wrote a recap of their anti-Olympic’s campaign. As a graphic designer, I could not help but notice their blatant use of propaganda, via clearly expensive and trendy graphics: http://pasadenanewprogressive.blogspot.com/2008/04/reporters-without-borders-anti-olympics.html.

More than anything I have discovered about this group, what is most alarming to me is their proliferation within our Media. They are used as an almost constant source for “news” on a daily basis. Yet, one finds right out there in the open, information coming from them, that is either biased or bogus.

Take their 2008 Annual Report “Freedom of the Press Worldwide” http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25595.  Reporters Without Borders has built a reputation (and bank account) by outing censorship of journalists around the world - yet give this ridiculous 2008 assessment for the United States, which contains almost nothing more than:

ONE (count ‘em) Iraqi journalist detained in Guantanamo

ONE blogger, Josh Wolf, got three paragraphs detailing his plight

A big plug for the Shield Law

A plug for the Freedom of Information Act (an act that has become a tool for the Right to attack public institutions like public schools)

And that’s it! (come on!)

People around the world have called RWB out for giving out the wrong information, seemingly based on how tight they are with the U.S. - or not. Here, Hossein Derakhshan writes about their misleading “information” on Iran:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/hossein_derakhshan/2006/12/reporters_without_borders_rsf.html

excerpt:
“Reporters Sans Frontier, sent out a press release announcing that Iran has blocked access to The New York Times, implying that the Islamic republic has expanded censorship to Western news websites and this is in line with the new anti-Western policies of president Ahmadinejad.

A few hours after that, through trusted journalists and friends in Tehran, I verified the report and realized that almost none of the websites mentioned in the report, including the New York Times were filtered.”

In Rwanda, they noticed some funky stuff going on as well: Rwanda: Reporters Without Borders Pulls a Scam Again
http://allafrica.com/stories/200802290947.html

This incredibly prolific spread of information (I would call it “dirt”) condemning other countries is super-alarming to me, because I often find it clearly politically motivated. Yes, the information exists, but what is not mentioned is how it has been selected and literally shoved down the throats of the entire nation, via the Media, via Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch.

I wrote about the obvious benefits of all this to the Bush Administration here: http://pasadenanewprogressive.blogspot.com/2008/08/bush-gets-gold.html

Human Rights Watch is up for questioning as well.

For more information on Human Rights Watch, Read Paul Treanor’s excellent (and forgotten) article here:
Who is behind Human Rights Watch?
http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/HRW.html

Robin Kelley, professor of history and American studies and ethnicity at  USC, also noted in a recent lecture that Human Rights Watch does not currently address ANY human rights issues in the United States (unlike their past good work with prison abuse here).

I also noticed that they have “stepped in” as THE most-used source, replacing Reporters Without Borders during the Olympics. Could the fact that Human Rights Watch opened a headquarters in Paris last Fall have anything to do with that? How close are the two organizations?

I’m not saying this group is all bad, I am NOT saying that human rights are not important.

But both organization’s “work” in helping America’s media to condemn the Beijing Olympics, is nothing less than highly suspicious and needs to be looked into, if only to prevent something like this from happening again. These embarrassing media games, are below the dignity of our great country.

That said, the grace of the Chinese in ignoring this petty “media siege” and continuing on with their work producing the Games, is awe-inspiring.

By James Shen

I recently wrote an article “Mainstream Western media stages Blemishing China Marathon” which was posted on a number of blogs and websites. Many comments were received, most were generally supportive or partly positive, while a few readers expressed their criticisms especially over my observations on politics and problems in the US or the influence of the mainstream Western media.

Some Western readers felt the discomfort of being criticized by an supposedly “outsider” (BTW, I resent that idea because I am a Chinese American with 24 years of experience of studying, living and working in the West), but it is in fact an intended simulation exercise for them to get a taste of how it feels to be criticized by outsiders. Hopefully this will help some develop the skill set to see things from different perspectives.

There are also comments that urge me to write follow up articles either to continue criticisms on the Western media or to provide more balanced and less emotional observations on differences and problems of China and the West.

My first article was inspired by a total off-balance in the Western media coverage of Beijing Olympics, and the intention was to draw attention from people to this issue and urge Western media and their reporters to rekindle their much preached doctrines of objectivity and independence. It was the hope of the article to promote the Olympic spirits of mutual understanding and tolerance so that we can share “a better and peaceful world” in “these increasingly troubled times.”

The article also was not intended to invite or intensify arguments about different views people have about the world around them, be it religious freedom in China or racial tensions in the US.

I am neither motivated nor qualified to offer much observation on a wide range of issues and challenges facing both the West and China. I am an ordinary person who usually enjoys blog writing in Chinese about family, friends, food, fun and travel. I am or was a Christian who is now increasingly attracted by the fundamentals of Daoism and Buddhism. I am more interested in learning than offering at this point. So let this article be the final one from me about the issue of Western media coverage on China.

The party is finally over

2008 Olympics just closed in Beijing and the central scene of the closing ceremony was a grand party between the audience, volunteers, officials and athletes from 204 countries. It may not be as spectacular as the opening ceremony but the idea of harmony and friendship was nevertheless presented successfully.

Although I was hoping that the presentation from London would be more centered on old British traditions, double-deck bus and umbrellas did give us a unique and truthful image of London – the one I knew very well. Let’s wish London all the best with a hassle free Olympics in 2012. By the way, it was not my intention to encourage anyone to protest in London in 2012, and the Chinese is encouraged to show the world the wisdom of restraint and generosity not to retaliate with any law-breaking protests, biased coverage or vandalism in the 2012 London Olympics.

Time to clean up China’s own house

As for the Chinese, there are a lot to be concerned about after the grand party of 2008 Beijing Olympics is over. It is time to clean up the post-party mess in Beijing and start to refocus on domestic issues and various ongoing and pending reforms.

While the China coverage by mainstream Western media is often tainted by self-serving motives and tend to be unconstructive in many ways, many problems or symptoms pointed out by foreign papers are areas where China needs improvements. Without doubt, the contemporary challenges faced by China are much more extensive and complex than what the Western media can comprehend, and these needs to be tackled one at a time at a pace which does not upset the country’s stability so that the fruits of reform so far can be preserved and shared.

I applaud the Chinese government in making the country’s “stability” its top priority ahead of all other objectives. It is also a great relief to see this Chinese government put its emphasis on “social harmony”, “people-orientation”, “environmental conservation” and “high quality economic development”.

Granted, there is still a vast pool of problems facing the country, especially at the local levels and in less-economically developed areas. There are structural flaws in the Chinese political system, government organization, legal system and social-economic hierarchy that need to be reformed. Corruption is still rampant, environments are damaged, and the fruits of 30 years of reform are not shared equally by all Chinese people. On top of these, there are territorial, racial and religious issues which are deeply-rooted in China’s history.

How should the Chinese deal with these? Should these be resolved through direct confrontations between the people, interest groups and the government by means of protests, vandalism, movements, negative press coverage, pressure tactics or violence & riots? If these confrontational approaches don’t work, should the Chinese seek a regime change? Who is going to take over? Will the new regime be a better or a worse one? Will there be another cultural revolution, more turmoil or even an internal war?

The Chinese people already paid a dear price for following the revolution theory of Karl Marx which advocated for achieving society transformation and resolve class conflicts through violence? Enough is enough!

It was the fear of endless internal political turmoil and the cultural revolution, regardless whether they were started from top to bottom or from bottom to top, that drove me and many of my peers away from China. Should there be more turmoil in the country, China will suffer, the Chinese people will suffer, and, make no mistake about it, the whole world will suffer too. Imagine the disruptions to the global supply chain and the international financial market, destabilization of surrounding countries, massive legal or illegal immigration, to name just a few. So, think again now, does the West still want to see turmoil in China?

Learn from the West selectively and wisely

With reference to this topic, there are lessons to be drawn from the Chinese history. Faced with threats of colonization by Western powers in the 19th century, Li Hongzhang, a prime minister and a leading reformer of the Qing Dynasty, suggested that “take what is strong (from the West) to make up our weakness and pick what are good and suitable to follow” (取彼之长，益我之短，择善而从).

There is much to learn from the West by the Chinese government in areas such as the tactful handling and use of media (both domestic and international), public relations and creation of legal and peaceful venues for aggravated citizens to express their grief and opinions. There is also much to learn from the West by the Chinese people in areas such as taking advantage of peaceful and legal ways to express anger and grievances as well as government lobbying. Nevertheless, don’t learn from the illegal Western protestors and hooligans at Beijing Olympics – they are bad examples to be avoided.

At the end of the day, resolving China’s problems will depend on the wisdom of the Chinese people and leadership which are to be drawn mostly from the rich Chinese culture, traditions and heritage. Learning from the West should be selective without external pressures and any attempts to transplant other country’s success will most likely fail. A system with Chinese characteristics is definitely the way to go.

China does not need the approval of the West

Constructive suggestions from the West, whether from media, politicians, business people and friendly groups and citizens, should always be encouraged and heard with great respect. For those who are hostile or unfriendly, however, the best response to them is simply ignoring them. Arguing with those who have preconditioned mindset, questionable objectives and ill intentions is a waste of time.
“China doesn’t need the approval of the Western media” and “China has emerged as an economic power in the last twenty years without the blessing of the West,” a reader commented on my first article. Indeed, every Chinese has worked really hard to get to where the country is now, and the “mouth water” of the unfriendly Western media can not take it away or dampen China’s prospects.

Final suggestion

My final advice to the Western media – Try to be objective, constructive, respectful and gracious. Too much bad mouthing will only serve to further shrink its influence, creditability and relevance. Learn from many leading Western businesses in China which have both contributed to the country and thrived together with it.

My final suggestion to the Chinese people is borrowed from Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy” – “Go your own way; let others talk!”

————————————————————————————-

James Shen is a US-based independent business analyst supporting multinational companies that seek cohesive growth in China. He is a native of Beijing and a naturalized U.S. citizen. He studied in the UK in the 1980s and has lived in the US in the past 19 years.

Synopsis

This is a follow-up article of “Mainstream Western media stages Blemishing China Marathon”. With the Beijing Olympics closing successfully, the author calls China to clean up its own house and draw selectively from the West. However, China’s past economic success was not built on Western blessing and it does not need the approval of the West. Those who are hostile and ill-intentioned should simply be ignored and deemed irrelevant.

James Shen’s response to Joe’s criticisms on his article

“Mainstream Western media stages Blemishing China Marathon” at www.Chinationreport.com

Thank you, Joe, for your patience to read my article “Mainstream Western media stages Blemishing China Marathon” and your criticisms.

You were right to point out some quotation discrepancies. Indeed, there are different versions of translations for the saying of Confucius (己所不欲，勿施于人), and I agree that your version of translation is more suitable in the context of this article. Also you mentioned about the biblical source of “let he who is not sin cast the first stone”. Again there are multiple sources including John 8:1-11, Matthew 7:12 in the Bible citing this criticism of Jesus on Pharisees. I have updated my article to reflect your suggestions. Thank you for helping me improve this article.

However, I have to say you have misread some parts of my article and I feel obliged to clarify and respond.

I do know Barack Obama is neither a Muslim nor the “anti-Christ” and I only cited media reports of these lies to show how some Western media would like us to believe them despite how obvious the truths are. For the record, I happen to be an Obama supporter.

I also happen to know very well what cannibal or cannibalism is. While my English may or may not be as good as yours, it certainly is much better than the Chinese of most, if not all, Westerners living in China.

Your comments seem to suggest that I was advocating for the official Chinese media, but if you read my article carefully then you realize I was only hoping that there was more positive coverage on China by the mainstream Western media so that people who do wish to read about some positive developments in China do not have to rely exclusively on the official media.

You also indicated that I do not know what is really going on in China. I don’t know where that came from, but let me tell you I spend at least three months in China each year, work with ordinary Chinese employees routinely, have a blog in Chinese where I share thoughts with Chinese bloggers, read internet news in Chinese often, and have the experience of worshipping in house churches, government-approved churches and international churches in Beijing. Do these convince you that I may know just a little more than you or Western reporters about China?

However, I am particularly disappointed that you have repeatedly referred China and the Chinese government as “your country” and “your government” in your comments to me despite my statement in my article that I am a Chinese American and a naturalized American citizen. For your information, my government is the US government and I am electing a new president in November. Regardless how some Americans would like to discriminate or prejudice against my ethnicity and race, I refuse to give up my rights and entitlements as an American and no one can take away my pride as a patriotic American with Chinese heritage.

Indeed, the rights of minorities in America have improved dramatically in the past 50 years. But by no means has racism submerged in today’s Western societies. While you may wish to dispute it, my personal feeling is that racism and racial prejudices are simply taking new forms, and racial tension is growing in political, social-economic, legal and cultural arenas in Western countries. Your own assumption that I, a Chinese American, am somehow an outsider serves to show the racial mindset of many Americans.

Your criticized my citations of various political and social problems as well as foreign policy issues in the US and the West. You also implied explicitly that I am somehow ignorant about the foreign policies of “your country” although I clearly indicated in my article that I am a Chinese American who has lived here for 19 years and received advanced education in the West.

If studying, living and working in the UK and the US for a total of 24 years does not qualify me to comment on the problems and politics of “your country” where I live, work, pay taxes and vote, why do you feel those Western journalists who have little or no living experience in China know that country better than me and deserve to bash China regularly for its policies and problems?

It is obvious you felt the discomfort of “your country” being criticized by an “outsider”, but please don’t get too excited about it – it is not good for your health – I learnt it from having to deal with similar discomfort every day

Well, I have to admit my article was intended to give you and people in the West a taste of that discomfort in the hope you realize how we, as Americans with Chinese heritage, feel when China is pushed around by over-simplistic, ignorant and biased media reports routinely.

The point of my article is neither to criticize the West nor to enter into debates about race and international politics, but rather about “don’t do unto others what you don’t wish to do unto yourself” and “to live and let live”. It is obvious there are differences and disagreements between countries, races, religions and interest groups, if we choose to focus too much on them, we will argue and fight forever without peace, no to mention living in a better world.

Lastly, you spoke about appointing a Uighur or Tibetan to the position of the Chinese premier. Perhaps you are not aware of the fact that Uighurs and Tibetans are already well-represented in the governments of their respective autonomous regions. People from these two minorities also hold important positions, such as the Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress, in the Chinese political system. Dalai Lama himself held an important position at the CPPCC before rebelling in 1959.

As to a Uighur or Tibetan premier for China, I am quite hopeful you will see this happen by the time we have an American Indian as President of the US.

With reference to the remarks that China does not allow Tibetans to read religious texts, I am surprised that you actually bought the story since you quickly pointed it out that Obama is not a Muslim. I have not been to Tibet, but at the least I do know there are many monasteries and monks in Tibet. If they don’t read religious texts in the monasteries, do they study and read English instead? No wonder the Western journalists can communicate with them so well.

Since you touched on the issue of minorities and minority regions in China, let me share another personal story with you to show where I am coming from. I have always wanted a big brother from very young. The fact is I do have a big brother but I hardly know him at all. He was a well-educated young man with a lot of future, but he responded to the callings of the government and volunteered to relocate from Beijing to Kashgar, Western Uighur in late 1960s to support the development there as a technician for the local frozen-meat factory. He passed away two years ago in Uighur at the young age of 59 due to various diseases associated with the hardship he endured there. Make no mistake about it, he was just one of the many many Han Chinese who volunteered to help Uighur and Tibet in the past fifty years. For whatever that is worth, they deserve to be remembered and our respect.

……………………..

Finally, I apologize if I hurt your feelings in any way because it is not my intention to be mean. Wisdoms from the Bible and my Chinese heritage teach us to be more generous and not mean-spirited, but I guess we are all too weak when provoked. This is probably why the Chinese culture always calls for harmony and avoidance of direct confrontations.

The Bible teaches us “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9) and “…be at peace with one another” (Mark 9:49). Let me conclude by offering my reconciliations to you despite our disagreements. Let’s focus on our common values and interests rather than underscoring differences, and join hands in the hope of a better and more unified world….

…. if not anything else, for the sake of our children and their children!

Joe’s comments on my article : Mainstream Western media stages “Blemishing China Marathon”

You should read more carefully. Barack Obama isn’t a Muslim. Confucius said that you shouldn’t do unto others as you would not want done to you. You might have been quoting Jesus in Matthew 7:12. I’m also not sure if you know what a cannibal is. Eating scorpions is only cannibalism if you are another scorpion.

In case people only like to read what Xinhua tells them or watch cctv, these same criticisms of China are available from Indian, Korean…media.

There are a plurality of sources for media in the West be they independent, not for profit, single issue, for profit, institutional, governmental, non-governmental, international. Also, almost every country has an English language paper which western viewers can read wherever the country is …Xinhua is a government mouthpiece.

To talk about CNN putting up phony pictures and praising Xinhua is a horrible hippocracy. Some of the pictures in Chinese papers are flat on their face fakes to the naked eye.

It is a huge step towards infantilism to believe what your government tells you time and time again. It is worse off to portray run of the mill propaganda as a positive Chinese trait.

It is a moot point to talk about other countries biases when you don’t even know what is going on in your own country. If people get news from official sources and foreign sources aren’t let in, then it is a monument to self deception for someone to think they know what is going on anywhere.

It is also absurd that you talk about racial tensions becoming worse in the last few decades in the US. Do you think the situation was really better in the 1930’s? The 1800’s? Even comparing the 1980’s to today, you believe racial tensions have increased?

I don’t agree with Bush on the vast majority of issues, I believe the war in Iraq was completely wrong and I do believe there is a lot of media bias towards China in General, but to show Western foreign policy as retrograde in the last few decades is not really sound either. While World war 1 killed more than 9 million people and World war 2 killed 50 million. Since then, however, the cold war resulted in the Korean War and Vietnam, but the total death tolls in both wars combined was less than half of World war 1’s.

Countries such as Japan and Germany were engaged as allies and enjoyed great leaps in prosperity, and stability instead of being humiliated and robbed. The US is unique in history of ending wars and leaving without family ties as in the old European system. Did Germany do this? Did England? Did Japan?

Past choices by China are the reason that it wasn’t the world’s richest country a long time ago. It’s allies as well as its fellow communist countries have also suffered economically. Chinese support for Burma has meant nothing but poverty and death for a nation bounding with minerals. Chinese support of Sudan, has left Arabs richer, but has meant that blacks are victims of genocide with Chinese weapons or being pushed into deserts to die. Chinese Weapons to Zimbabwe go to a dictator who has completely ruined his country’s economy and killed his own people…

To bring up this lovely 5,000 years is really to look past the fact that the country itself is less than 50 years old and that large swaths of it are regions of other groups such as in Xinjiang. If you want to talk about a Chinese way in reference to the country, then why not make an Uighur or Tibetan premier and then prove how unified you are instead of sending a bunch of han to live in their regions and not letting them read their religious texts?