Fu Ying tows the party line
Western press ‘demonises’ China
This was the headline for a BBC article putting forward the views of Fu Ying, the Chinese ambassador in London. Here’s what she said:
The Chinese ambassador to London has accused the Western media of demonising China and says there are “complicated problems” in Tibet.
Fu Ying also said that a young Chinese woman asked her: “Where is the gentlemanship?” after the protests during the Olympic torch run in London.
Many of the visitors from China who were in London last week felt that Britain was against them, she added.
Ms Fu said in the Sunday Telegraph that Tibet is “loved” by the Chinese.
The ambassador wrote: “I am concerned that mutual perceptions between the people of China and the West are quickly drifting in opposite directions.
“Of those who protested loudly, many probably have not seen Tibet. For the Chinese people, Tibet is a loved land and information about it is ample.
“There may be complicated problems of religion mixing with politics, but people are well-fed, well-clothed and well-housed.
“That has been the main objective of China for centuries. Tibet may not grow into an industrial place like the eastern cities in China, but it will move on like other parts of China.”
According to BBC political correspondent, Laura Kuenssberg, officials from the British Foreign Office suggest that one way to settle disputes about biased reporting would be for China to allow the international press free access to Tibet.
But Ms Fu says that Western media has to earn China’s “respect”.
She said: “Many complain about China not allowing enough access to the media. In China, the view is that the Western media needs to make an effort to earn respect.
“Coming to China to report bad stories would not be stopped, as China is committed to opening up.”
All of Fu’s comments are strictly CCP and most are laughably hypocritical. Imagine the China Daily publishing comparable utterances from Britain’s ambassador in Beijing. That’s right; you can’t imagine it because it would never be permitted.
I’m going to examine Fu’s words more closely tomorrow, when I have more time.
In the meantime, I would like all readers to be aware of the wave of anti-western sentiment sweeping across China right now. And why is this happening? Because China’s state controlled media has been busy demonising the west (whatever that is) by telling its people that the ‘west’ is demonising China.
Utter crap is my initial response. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’ll be my response tomorrow as well.
Update
Richard Spencer did a far better job of deconstructing Fu’s interview (objectively, too) so I’ll redirect readers here. The comments are interesting, offering a good cross-section of opinion. It is worth mentioning that many of those comments would not be allowed in a China Daily forum - I’ll leave you to guess which ones.
- Censorship , Media , Politics
April 13th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
[...] Foundinchina.com wrote an interesting post today on Fu Ying tows the party lineHere’s a quick excerpt … ould be for China to allow the international press free access to Tibet….“Of those who protested loudly, many probably have not seen Tibet….For the Chinese people, Tibet is a loved land and information about it is ample….Ms Fu said in the Sunday Telegraph that Tibet is “loved” by the Chinese…. [...]
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:39 am
So, is the west demonising China? My overall feeling is yes. Here is an example. Please go to webpage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/china_politics/government/html/1.stm
It’s a background introduction of the power structure of China. It’s used widely inside BBC as a background article. And it has an interesting title: “How China is ruled”. I’m not a native speaker, in order to understand the underlying meaning, I did google search “how xxx is ruled”on other countries. The word “rule” is only used on China. You can probably argue that China is in fact ruled by CCP. Well, it’s an interpretation but not fact statement. Interpretation has no place in an objective background introduction.
My question is why BBC does not use a neutral title?
Similar demonising words are EVERYWHERE on BBC website.
Please correct me and explain to me how objective those words are.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:33 pm
“My question is why BBC does not use a neutral title?”
I really don’t believe that How China is ruled can be seen as demonising China, Linan. It simply means the way China governs its people; there is no negative connotation, except in the minds of the oversensitive.
As for demonising words being everywhere, I seriously doubt it, Linan. It has long been a perception among Chinese that western media is selectively negative in its reporting of Chinese issues. I disagree. News from around the world - the big issues and stories - is predominantly those in which something bad or serious is happening.
China is a huge country at the forefront of global media attention, and it is a country with many issues and problems. This is the nature of news. It’s not all compliments and fulsome praise. It never has been and it never will be - not for any country under the microscope of a free media.
That last point is important, because it explains why so many issues are dealt with in the western media and overlooked by the Chinese media, which, of course, is not in the habit of criticising itself. They are, however, very much in the habit of demonising those countries and individuals who dare stand up to it.
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Thank you for the explanation. Probably I misinterpreted the text in the Dictionary application shipped with Apple computer. Under the item “rule”, it states:
verb
1 [ trans. ] exercise ultimate power or authority over (an area and its people) : Latin America today is ruled by elected politicians | [ intrans. ] the period in which Spain ruled over Portugal.
• (of a feeling) have a powerful and restricting influence on (a person’s life) : her whole life seemed to be ruled by fear.
• [ intrans. ] be a dominant or powerful factor or force : [with complement ] the black market rules supreme.
• [with clause ] pronounce authoritatively and legally to be the case : a federal court ruled that he was unfairly dismissed from his job.
• Astrology (of a planet) have a particular influence over (a sign of the zodiac, house, aspect of life, etc.).
2 [ trans. ] make parallel lines across (paper) : [as adj. ] ( ruled) a sheet of ruled paper.
• make (a straight line) on paper with a ruler.
I have one more point to make about Chinese media: it’s biased and largely distorted but people are not stupid to believe all its BS.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:52 am
Another word I don’t feel happy with is “crack down”. again, i did not find it’s used in case of the riot in Paris. Am I over sensitive?
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:16 pm
it is beyond doubt that anything connected with communism is and will be demonised as long as the west and China are in the different ideology.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:37 am
Kitty - I don’t think there’s much of a connection between communism and today’s China.