Why Olympic Torch Protests Matter
Without in any way endorsing or rebuking the torch relay protests, I have come to the distinct conclusion that they are extremely important to the psyche of the collective Chinese populace. The jubilation expressed in message boards when the torch’s Argentina stop went smoothly is striking. You would have thought that it is really unusual for an Olympic torch relay not to get disrupted. To paraphrase Chris Rock you’re supposed to run the torch without having 5,000 people trying to extinguish it.
Most of the discussion of the Argentina situation focused on the relief that people felt that things were finally going smoothly, with comments frequently calling Argentinians “brothers.” And in a telling sign, many people seemed to be placing importance on Western media reports that called the proceedings successful. You may remember, the Western media is supposed to be biased (i.e., the devil). If people really fully believe that, then why would Western media reports give any validity? Here is some of what the original poster had to say (most responses were short and supportive):
布宜诺斯艾利斯人士的热情也让那些存在偏见的欧美媒体哑口无言。CNN网站在其头条不得不承认：“Torch gets jubilant welcome in Argentina(火炬在阿根廷得到喜悦的欢迎。)”美联社的报道则称，“圣火过处，热情而喜悦的阿根廷人夹道欢迎。”报道还特别指出：“人们加入了行 进的队伍，圣火的传递之旅变成了民众的狂欢庆典，这与过去几站在欧美的景象形成了鲜明的对比。没有任何的暴力事件发生。……唯一的隐患是当地的大风，丙烷 为燃料的火焰看上去有些飘摇。” (…)
BBC的报道说，圣火传递一帆风顺。报道承认，绝大多数的观众都是来支持火炬传递的，当火炬经过的时候，人们给予的是欢呼。报道也回顾了伦敦和巴黎的乱象，不过这在阿根廷近乎绝迹。
Chinese people citing positive reporting on the torch relay by CNN and the BBC is a little like Bush saying there has been progress in Iraq because Al Sadr says so.
I’m inclined to interpret all of this by saying the protests have backed many Chinese into a rhetorical corner where ithe situation becomes “us versus them.” However, clearly people care what the West thinks and how the torch is being received. It’s unlikely that the nasty demonstrations are not going to change anyone’s views on the major issues of the day, but there is no doubt it has many people here thinking and questioning their long-held ideas.
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Truth searching in an imperfect world | rice again responds:
Posted: April 13th, 2008 at 9:09 pm →
[...] what Josh from Cup of Cha has to say about the positive reaction to the western media (read: Osama bin laden smoking crack [...]
Larry responds:
Posted: April 13th, 2008 at 10:18 pm →
The CNN and BBC are so biased that their reports are not to be trusted. The opposite of what they say is probably the real truth.
Ooyoo responds:
Posted: April 14th, 2008 at 6:04 am →
Borats ‘mankini’ also supports Tibet:
http://www.lep.co.uk/weirdnews/Marathon-runner39s-rear-appeal.3977044.jp
statusq responds:
Posted: April 14th, 2008 at 7:42 am →
sorry “Larry”, but to call BBC biased is rather ridiculous. When BBC says
[State media said the 10 killed in Friday's clashes had included business people who were "burnt to death".
But exiled Tibetan leaders put the death toll higher and blamed China.]
surely they are far less biased than when Chinese media create terms like “Dala1 clique” and villify a man who has publically promoted peace and love between people for his lifetime.
i feel that in the last month, the Chinese media has done an embarrassingly good job at throwing away its credibility to the world’s nations, which is very unfortunate.
Maggie responds:
Posted: April 14th, 2008 at 11:45 am →
How do you konw the Dala who has publically promoted peace and love between people for his lifetime ? Have you been to Tibet ? you know the fact that have happened in Argentina ? you saw it by yourself ? All of us just get the information from media, so don’t splash your bullshit here
Rhys responds:
Posted: April 14th, 2008 at 12:40 pm →
Maggie, I think the point statusq is trying to make is that there are different sources to the BBC coverage. By that I mean they quote from Chinese government, and the Tibetans in exile in India. If they were allowed freely into Tibet they would get quotes from the people there too, but they can’t.
I agree western media is biased, and probably doesn’t cover some of the positive things the Chinese government does enough. The western media is biased in everything, not as a plot against China.
BUT at least it gives two sides of the story. I have lived in China for over a year and I am yet to see the [Dala] Lama quoted once in any Chinese media - however my Chinese isn’t good enough to read Chinese language press so perhaps you’ll enlighten me.
That is the point statusq is making - first the journalist goes to the Chinese gov for a quote, then goes to Tibetans in exile for a quote. It’s called BALANCE. Whereas if you read a Chinese media source, it is only what the government says.
The Chinese government does a lot of good things, sure, but it doesn’t make them automatically right. And for them to relax rules on foreign journalists earlier in the year, then ban them from Tibet after signs of unrest, and then to say they didn’;t kill anyone but not let everybody see the proof, well that’s an act that just encourages suspicion. Sure, they can do it, they did. But to expect people to just believe them….well that’s another matter.
Nick responds:
Posted: April 14th, 2008 at 1:11 pm →
what is wrong with a little bias?
If the western media is untrustworthy, the Chinese media is censored and nobody is allowed access to report freely on an issue, then where do we find the truth? If infact the Chinese reports are 100% accurate (and i highly doubt it, that is my bias) then how are we, han chinese, t1betans and westerners (i f’ng hate that genralisation) supposed to verify these facts? We can start by fostering trust and understanding through open, honest dialogue and sharing of information. In China people don’t trust the ouside media because its reports are contrary to what they have grown up believing due to carefully controlled domestic media and outsiders don’t trust the Chinese reports because there is no way of verifying them and the media here is unashamedly onesided.
It’s pretty hard to asertain bias without having an idea of the truth on which to benchmark. Something is not neccessarily biased simply because it does not conform to your own beliefs.
Rhys responds:
Posted: April 14th, 2008 at 5:04 pm →
Yeah agreed - the “westerners” generalisation is really irritating.
As is the fact that the Indian and Japanese press, which pours scorn on the Chinese Gov’s handling on the issue, never gets mentioned. Why is that? Perhaps someone has an opinion? That is something I really don’t understand.
echo responds:
Posted: April 16th, 2008 at 11:36 pm →
please listen to different sound. One of my classmate has personally experienced this clash incident. He said, if the government had chosed to put down the riot, the Tibetan protesters would not break the peacful Tibetan society. Most of the innocent common people were killed by the radical Tibetan rioters.
As for the second question, why the jounalists were not allowed to enter into Tibet during the first days of the incident. The reason lies the fact that westerners’ coming may lead to their life danger because of the radical ritors who were blind to kill people and the chinese government tried to keep their image, that is, they did not want the upheaval caused by their own citizens to be reported by other countries. the most important one is that, the western media or people or government kept a biased view on China for a long time. That is true and is a fact! Thus, all of chinese people clearly know that there is no justice in report and letting the jounlists in just add the misunderstandings and mistaken report on the incident. There is no right and no justice in media for media serve for politics in any country!
echo responds:
Posted: April 16th, 2008 at 11:50 pm →
and, i think all of us should try to find the truth from fact. that is, never listen to media including western and chinese. we find the truth by ourselves, I think it will be more fair. The best way is to come to Tibet, not to ask those who are blong to any political party. We can talk with those the most common people who live in Tibet. Ask them who is right and who is wrong. look at the true Tibet society and also can read some Tibetan history books or visit some Tibetan museums. Find the first hand sources. As I know Tibet is open again. Thus, after investigation we can get the true truth. Befor doing that, nobody has the right to give a certain conclusion!
However, please remeber, never investigate with color eyes, which will distort the truth.
Rhys responds:
Posted: April 17th, 2008 at 10:59 am →
echo
You say some interesting things, that remind me of an article I read in The Australian newspaper that highlights the fundamental differences between Chinese and western media.
When the Aus Prime Minister addressed students at Peking University last week, he made mention of the fact Australia has differences of opinion regarding human rights in Tibet. The Chinese press barely mentioned this, but talked about his visit a lot - in very glowing terms. The Australian asked some Chinese journalists/editors why they hadn’t reported this part of the PMs speech. They said it was because they didn’t want to hurt Chinese people’s feelings.
In a western context, hurting feelings is the last thing on any journalist’s mind. A journalist’s job is to fearlessly seek out truth, regardless of who he or she offends - and get that truth into the public domain. If one’s own government is hiding some dark dirty secret, a journalist who gets that information out is considered a villain by the government but a hero by the press/public.
As such - the actions of the Chinese government in Tebet are not seen as protective by western journalists - they’re seen as suspicious. It is not the job of governments to protect journalists. But it is the job of journalists to keep governments transparent and accountable. Often, they don’t succeed. But they try.
Furthermore - I didn’t hear of a single westerner getting killed or even attacked in Tebet. And i did see an interview with an Australian guy who said the rioters wanted him to see what they were doing and treated him as a friend. He took a video of what he saw. As the state press kept repeating - the violence was directed at Han Chinese more than anyone else. The rioters wanted westerners to see what was happening! This is not to defend the rioters. I agree violence is going to win you no friends and is the wrong way to achieve your goals. And they should be fairly punished for it.
But for a government to go back on promises they made to allow access to journos is just asking for criticism. Especially when reports come out later that the army has been sent in and more than 100 people have been killed.
Like you said, Tibetans should be interviewed. That’s exactly what western journalists wanted to do!!!
echo responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 12:57 am →
“Tibetans should be interviewed. That’s exactly what western journalists wanted to do!!!” —This is what I want to say!!! And I have said, Tibet is open again, you should not listen to any person who may flavor any political party. I mean, you should go to Tibet personally and interview the most common people who hold none political inclination. Ask those still living victims, or their relatives or friends. Try to find the truth personally. Please find the first-hand sources. Before that, you and all of us have no right to draw a conclusion.
and the second point I will tell you is that, Tibet is part of China, from Yuan Dynasty. untill now, it has been part of China for about more than 800 years. Tibet has been a part of China even longer then the history of US/Canada/AUS/New Zealand. 1903AD, due to the weak of Qing Dynasty, British gained control over Tibet as a colonial region and treated them as slaves. Do you want the evidence? We have, not only from our historical book, but from material evidence!
Before 1950, Tibet is a slave society and [DaLa] Lama is the slave owner. He has all of the land and resources, and all of the slaves. However, the native people need more fair and happy lives. Since the central government reform Tibet, that is, distributed land to native people, [DaLa] Lama lost his privileges. Do you think [DaLa] Lama would be happy now he lost all his privileges during the slavery period? Since then, he never gives up his “dream”, that is, regain Tibet and become the slave owner again. The essence of this matter is the struggle between local power and the central power. Just like the U.S. Civil War happened from the April of 1864 to the April of 1865 between the United States of America (the “Union”) and the Southern slave states of the newly formed Confederate States of America under Jefferson Davis.
When there are riots or some activities which will separate the country, the central government is endowed the right according to the International Law to put down the riots to protect the sovereign rights. Just like Britain to Northern Ireland, United States to Texas Republic and Canada to Quebec!
Thus, the problem belongs to Chinese domestic affairs. nobody has the right to violate our sovereign rights! If we infringe on your deomestic affairs, do you welcom us?
echo responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 1:25 am →
Why not go to Tibet by yourself now?
And I would like to tell you, we never fear to be interviewed and to be investigated!
“In a western context, hurting feelings is the last thing on any journalist’s mind. A journalist’s job is to fearlessly seek out truth, regardless of who he or she offends - and get that truth into the public domain” yes! I agree with you!! And should I add another word? Media should be responsible not only for its own country, but for the world. When the riots which were caused by the Tibetan rioters in Paris, CCTV just reported the scene of Paris’ beauty not the scene of the ugly face of those Tibetan rioters and said to Chinese people, Paris is beautiful. Chinese media may deviate from the true function as a media, but it was responsible to the world—that is, the world need peaceful sound! What is more, Chinese media never is afraid to tell the Chinese people the truth, for every Chinese people know what has happened in Tibet from the internet. Chinese people clearly know who is right and who is wrong, but Chinese media try not to say bad words on western society, western people and western media. That is because, the world need friendship. If the Chinese media reported the riots without covering, and the Chinese people, all of the most common people will hate western society, including commodities, people, media, films, etc, everything.
–to be continue~~~ and sorry, it is too late here, something else I will give to you next day. I have to sleep and study hard.
Any way, Rhys, thank you for your reply and thank you for your attention. I will continue tomorrow. ^^
At last, I want to say, nobody loves China, we Chinese love our country for we live here better-off, and peaceful with no war recent years. At least, we understand our government. We can study peacefully, work peacefully and live peacefully.
echo responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 1:31 am →
and i am sorry for my language ability limitaiton, but I will be better for I never give up studying English. Hope you can understand me exactly.
Bobby responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 8:00 am →
@ Echo
First, you’re writing on a blog in your non-native language and engaging people in their native language, so you should never feel you need to apologize for any difficulty expressing yourself. Many ex-pats speak Chinese, so you should even use Chinese some of the time if you think you can express yourself better that way.
Second, one thing I’ve noticed is that even though the protests have not been only about Tibet, that is the only topic China covers. What about all the people protesting China’s human rights or environmental record? It is much harder to stir nationalistic sentiment about those, to China (ie-the government) only looks at Tibet.
Third, I really hate this “internal issues” argument. It is entirely debatable whether Tibet is an “internal issue” (although the Chinese press is only allowed to present one half of that debate). Tibet had the same relationship with Beijing as Korea did for years. They paid tribute, but were not ruled by Beijing. And by the way, since when was Beijing always ruled by Chinese. Weren’t many of the rulers Manchu and Mongolian? Why don’t Chinese ever say that Tibet was ruled by Mongolians?
Ignoring that inconvenient fact for a moment, since when were countries not supposed to try to influence internal policies of other countries. Once the world united against South African Apartheid, things changed. I’m not necessarily comparing the two, I’m just saying that internal affairs are not always off limits.
Rhys responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 10:51 am →
echo
Nothing I have said is meant to criticize China as a country, and with regards to Tibet being a part of China, that is not an issue it concerns me, and not something I was arguing.
The criticism I have of the Chinese Gov in this issue is that if they had nothing to hide, then why not fling the doors wide open? And what is this hysterically defensive media campaign aimed at “western media” which is an complex mish mash of differeing opinions over different countries, trying to achieve? It just makes the Chinese Gov look like it can’t take criticism, and its actions have the look of a cover up.
Anyway. You did argue your point very well in English. I only wish my Chinese was at that level.
echo responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 1:27 pm →
Bobby, thank you for your reply. However, there is something I must explain.
First, If I write in Chinese can you understand me? As you said, I am writing on a blog in English, and I will never use in Chinese here for I know, few of foreigners can understand Chinese character and can not speak Chinese. If I write in Chinese, most of you won’t understand me. The purpose for my words is to let you listen to a common Chinese girl. Thus, I must write my heart in English.
Second, indeed, China really has many problems in many social affairs, just like you have mentioned above, our government never cover the dirty side of our own society which caused by our own people. Thus, we know and we Chinese people also criticize those people who did bad things on us; we criticize our government in those fields, such as environmental problems and other dirty sides; thus, the government and our people begin to improve our living condition. We criticize and we help our country to build our home more beautifully. We criticize because we are rational and hope our country better. However, do you hope our country stronger and better? However, we accept your criticism and we are improving which you should pay attention to.
Third, I want to say, what about the measurement in U.S.A.? What is the attitude of the White Hall to Kyoto Protocol? What is their attitude to the safety of the earth of our human beings? I have to say none country is perfect! And your country may have no such problems but may have other problems. Why not first solve your own country’s problems and then come to “care about China”?!!! As for the human rights, I have to say, human rights is a relative definition. It is efficient to those who have power and who have money. This is true in any country in the world. However, I have to say, we Chinese are better. My parents are both workers who have no power and no money, and I am just a student who also have no money, but we live very safely and happily. “Human right” is a big word, but I think happy lives are the best answer. Actually, for our common people, any political party or any government is ok, as long as it will bring us the true benefits and happiness. Who is better, we support whom. Now, Chinese government gives us, thus, we support it. It is so easy.
echo responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 1:29 pm →
Fourth, I am afraid that, you never come to Tibet and never read any historical documents or visit any Tibet museums or see any historical evidence. Besides, I have to say you never come to China either. You should apologize for your ignorance to China and for you irresponsibility to say those things before you really understand Chinese nationality and Chinese culture! I do not know which Korea do you mean? If you mean the country which is now called South Korea or North Korea or the Chinese Korea? The first thing you should know, Beijing is not always and not only place of Chinese government in Chinese history, and actually, many different cities in China were the representation of Chinese government. There is also much evidence. Thus, please never only use the word “Beijing” to refer to China.
“Tibet had the same relationship with Beijing as Korea did for years. They paid tribute, but were not ruled by Beijing. And by the way, since when was Beijing always ruled by Chinese. Weren’t many of the rulers Manchu and Mongolian? Why don’t Chinese ever say that Tibet was ruled by Mongolians?” Fortunately, you learn about a little history of China, thank you. However, you have committed another big mistake. China is not equal to Han.
Let me tell you, please listen carefully. China is NOT a single Ethnic nation; in fact 56 ethnic groups make up China, including Han, Mongols, Koreans, Muslim, Tibetans, etc… and we are all united as CHINESE, in other word, China is just as Multicultural as Canada. Chinese history is like a long river, 56 ethnic groups are formed during the long Chinese history and are combined into the whole Chinese culture.
In order to give you a clear picture I would like to show Chinese History Timeline:
Dates Dynasty
ca. 2000-1500 B.C. Xia
1700-1027 B.C. Shang
1027-771 B.C. Western Zhou
770-221 B.C. Eastern Zhou
770-476 B.C. — Spring and Autumn period
475-221 B.C. — Warring States period
221-207 B.C. Qin
206 B.C.-A.D. 9 Western Han
A.D. 9-24 Xin (Wang Mang interregnum)
A.D. 25-220 Eastern Han
A.D. 220-280 Three Kingdoms
220-265 — Wei
221-263 — Shu
229-280 — Wu
A.D. 265-316 Western Jin
A.D. 317-420 Eastern Jin
A.D. 420-588 Southern and Northern Dynasties
420-588 Southern Dynasties
420-478 — Song
479-501 — Qi
502-556 — Liang
557-588 — Chen
386-588 Northern Dynasties
386-533 — Northern Wei
534-549 — Eastern Wei
535-557 — Western Wei
550-577 — Northern Qi
557-588 — Northern Zhou
A.D. 581-617 Sui
A.D. 618-907 Tang
A.D. 907-960 Five Dynasties
907-923 — Later Liang
923-936 — Later Tang
936-946 — Later Jin
947-950 — Later Han
951-960 — Later Zhou
A.D. 907-979 Ten Kingdoms
A.D. 960-1279 Song
960-1127 — Northern Song
1127-1279 — Southern Song
A.D. 916-1125 Liao
A.D. 1038-1227 Western Xia
A.D. 1115-1234 Jin
A.D. 1279-1368 Yuan
A.D. 1368-1644 Ming
A.D. 1644-1911 Qing
A.D. 1911-1949 Republic of China (in mainland China)
A.D. 1949- People’s Republic of China
From Yuan dynasty Tibet has become a province of China. The period of Yuan dynasty is a part of Chinese history, for the ethnicity of Mongols is one member of CHINESE. No matter which ethnicity control the whole China, they are all Chinese! Just like, please allow me to take a comparison. Do you think the people in Northern Ireland or Scotland are not one member of British people? And Northern Ireland or Scotland has the opportunity to control the whole England, and united the whole country, but no matter who control the country, they are families. This is a supposition but reasonable.
echo responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 1:30 pm →
“Why don’t Chinese ever say that Tibet was ruled by Mongolians?” Please respect facts! Every Chinese knows Yuan Dynasty is controlled by Mongols. And certainly, at that time we Han, and other Ethnic groups were under the control of Mongols, but we are all Chinese, brothers and sisters, they are our families. Nowadays, the native people in Inner Mongolia are working with all the people in China for a better life. Thus, Yuan Dynasty is part of Chinese history, Mongols are Chinese people, why not Tibet?
By the way, do you have a clear understand of Chinese geography? Have you carefully know every province in China? How much do you know Chinese culture?!!
Since then, Tibet is always part of China and goes through Yuan, Ming, Qing dynasties… and until now.
And let me tell you, a certain ethnic group who controlled China in history was not only Mongols!!
“Once the world united against South African Apartheid, things changed. I’m not necessarily comparing the two, I’m just saying that internal affairs are not always off limits.” Why not the world united against the Southern slave states of the newly formed Confederate States of America under Jefferson Davis during the U.S.A. Civil War? Why not accuse American central government of putting down Southern people who wanted to be independent? Why not say the government sent so many army in this war? Why not say there is not human rights in America?—-We know, we Chinese know, the war is justice, and clearly understand the historical background and we see this war very objectively.
Let me tell you again, Tibet is part of China. To those who never come to China and know very little Chinese history guys, please, and please, go to China and go to Tibet, learn about China, not just say with your brain!
Ok, you like “internal affairs”, we will learn from you some western unfriendly people, we will be ready for caring about other “internal affairs” in other countries. As I know, some problems happened in western countries are supposed to be “internal affairs” for “internal affairs are not always off limits.”
echo responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 1:46 pm →
Rhys, as for your question I think I have answered very clearly. The answer is above as for the problem of Chinese media.
Most of Chinese people are friendly to forieners and respect western poeplr before, this will be contributed to Chinese Media and goverment.
Thus, we hope the Chinese media show the ugly faces of those Tibetan rioters and some irresponsible media and some hosts who saied bad words on Chinese people—for at least, most of Chinese people love peace and respect your advanced tecknolege and some good culture. Why do you attact most of innocent Chinese people? Such is your honorable western media? and your responsible western media?!! and do you confident enough to say your media never cover things?!! Why are you so confident?
If you can not find the answer to your question I will write again:
“In a western context, hurting feelings is the last thing on any journalist’s mind. A journalist’s job is to fearlessly seek out truth, regardless of who he or she offends - and get that truth into the public domain” yes! I agree with you!! And should I add another word? Media should be responsible not only for its own country, but for the world. When the riots which were caused by the Tibetan rioters in Paris, CCTV just reported the scene of Paris’ beauty not the scene of the ugly face of those Tibetan rioters and said to Chinese people, Paris is beautiful. Chinese media may deviate from the true function as a media, but it was responsible to the world—that is, the world need peaceful sound! What is more, Chinese media never is afraid to tell the Chinese people the truth, for every Chinese people know what has happened in Tibet from the internet. Chinese people clearly know who is right and who is wrong, but Chinese media try not to say bad words on western society, western people and western media. That is because, the world need friendship. If the Chinese media reported the riots without covering, and the Chinese people, all of the most common people will hate western society, including commodities, people, media, films, etc, everything.
At last, it is better for you to learn the differnt mode of thoughts between Chinese and western. You know, the students in China are taught the knowlege as a subject in order to understand you westerners and establish good friendship with you.
We know we are not as good as you in many social fields, but we are studying from you and utilies the good things in our own culture.
Rhys, thank you for your reply.
Bobby responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 1:54 pm →
How ironic you would use the example of Northern Ireland and Scotland being British. Many people in Northern Ireland consider themselves Irish and NOT British, and there was a low level war for years there. Similarly, the Scottish HATE the English. Furthermore, Scotland has its own parliament and is in fact considered its own country. Ever notice that the team in the World Cup is England and not Britain? Scotland usually fails to qualify as does Northern Ireland.
With regard to your comparison with the American south, the analogy interesting, but you failed to carry it out properly. The ethnic groups were virtually the same (Anglo-Saxon). The real issue was not nationalism, but policy. The south wanted slavery, and if the world had stepped in, hopefully they would have sided against that evil which is a stain on America’s legacy. I might argue that the analogy has a passing similarity to the situation in Tibet, except that would state the claim too strongly and assuredly provoke an angry response. However, it was your analogy, not mine.
echo responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 1:59 pm →
Because of the mis-spelled words above, I write again. Sorry.
1. Rhys, as for your question I think I have answered very clearly. The answer is above as for the problem of Chinese media.
Most of Chinese people are friendly to foreigners and respect western people before, this will be contributed to Chinese Media and government.
Thus, we hope the Chinese media show the ugly faces of those Tibetan rioters and some irresponsible media and some hosts who saied bad words on Chinese people—for at least, most of Chinese people love peace and respect your advanced technologies and some good culture. Why do you attack most of innocent Chinese people? Such is your honorable western media? And your responsible western media?!! And do you confident enough to say your media never cover things?!! Why are you so confident?
If you can not find the answer to your question I will write again:
“In a western context, hurting feelings is the last thing on any journalist’s mind. A journalist’s job is to fearlessly seek out truth, regardless of who he or she offends - and get that truth into the public domain” yes! I agree with you!! And should I add another word? Media should be responsible not only for its own country, but for the world. When the riots which were caused by the Tibetan rioters in Paris, CCTV just reported the scene of Paris’ beauty not the scene of the ugly face of those Tibetan rioters and said to Chinese people, Paris is beautiful. Chinese media may deviate from the true function as a media, but it was responsible to the world—that is, the world need peaceful sound! What is more, Chinese media never is afraid to tell the Chinese people the truth, for every Chinese people know what has happened in Tibet from the internet. Chinese people clearly know who is right and who is wrong, but Chinese media try not to say bad words on western society, western people and western media. That is because, the world need friendship. If the Chinese media reported the riots without covering, and the Chinese people, all of the most common people will hate western society, including commodities, people, media, films, etc, everything.
At last, it is better for you to learn the different mode of thoughts between Chinese and western. You know, the students in China are taught the knowledge as a subject in order to understand you westerners and establish good friendship with you.
We know we are not as good as you in many social fields, but we are studying from you and utilize the good things in our own culture.
Rhys, thank you for your reply.
echo responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 2:00 pm →
“How ironic you would use the example of Northern Ireland and Scotland being British. Many people in Northern Ireland consider themselves Irish and NOT British, and there was a low level war for years there. Similarly, the Scottish HATE the English. Furthermore, Scotland has its own parliament and is in fact considered its own country.” do you mean both Northern Ireland and Scotland are independent?
echo responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 2:06 pm →
and let me tell you, Tibet and ethnic group have their own political power in China. Their people control their own people and own land. which is call autonomous region, but must admit the central government, just like HK but actually not the same like HK. They call themselves as, for example Mongols and Chinese.
echo responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 2:12 pm →
The problem you have said belongs to the structure of social organization. You mean all of the countries in the world should have the same or similar organization is proper? Individual is different from ondividual, Country is different from country due to history and coultre and social ideology. But one thing is the same, that is, we are all human beings. We need communication and understand. We can not ask you to love us, but at least, see us from a objective stance. If you just litsten, it is not enough.
echo responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 2:16 pm →
“With regard to your comparison with the American south, the analogy interesting, but you failed to carry it out properly. The ethnic groups were virtually the same (Anglo-Saxon). ” I want to ask you, do you really understand what is CHINESE? What’s more, as for the historical background including how it broke out and how it ended, every Chinese student understand, even elementary student. So, please do not teach me.
echo responds:
Posted: April 18th, 2008 at 2:25 pm →
Bobby, there is no two same leaves in the world, maybe, like you said, my analogy is not perfect. I know, but at least one thing is the same, both of them belong to domestic affairs. Although Tibet involves ethinic problems, but they just like the ones who tried to separate the country. Thus, the government sent army. What is more, as I know, they are not all Anglo-Saxon, some from france or even Germany. I do not know wherther I am right, later, if I have time I will serch for that. but, To be continue~~~ I have to have class now, and thank you for your reply. ^^