Understanding another world: How to criticize China.
A travel guide about China opens with: “China isn't a country - it's a different world”.
Though China is more and more interconnected in an increasingly globalized planet, this claim still rings true. China is not only a geographic term, but also a very different culture and tradition, especially regarding socio-political structures.
Even in relatively uncontentious and calm years, the different political logics between China and the West have produced numerous quarrels regarding human rights, media freedom, international responsibility etc. This year, people have seen a much more dramatic display of the China-West gap on the Olympic stage.
China was surprised by the Western protests against its Tibet policy despite the substantial developments there. The West has also been shaken by the fierce patriotic backlash which emerged in China against Western criticism, since such reactions to protests are unexpected in the West, where protests are as common as eating and sleeping. Moreover, the interpretations of the reactions become divided as well. For many Chinese, the Western media exaggerates the demand of a small number of people and distorts the whole picture. For Westerners, all Chinese sound so unanimous that they can only be explained as indoctrinated and brainwashed.
Why do the Chinese resist the Western criticisms so vehemently? People may say it’s the instilling of authoritarian traditions, but that is not plausible. Over 350,000 Chinese students, not counting visiting scholars and professionals, are studying in the West, many of them in the fields of management, administration and politics. In contrast, only about 15,000 students from the West are currently enrolled in Chinese universities, and even less are interested in studying Chinese social and political thought. Many westerners rather think there is nothing to learn from the “goons and thugs” (Jack Cafferty, CNN). Not intending to discuss the disproportion here, I just want to ask why these learning-minded Chinese reject the criticism this time so resolutely and univocally.
The first suggestion is that the attitude of criticism is problematic. Minorities’ appeals are always controversial and sensitive issues in modern states. As brothers live under the same roof, the close contacts between Han-Chinese and Tibetans are accompanied by numerous conflicts as well. Facing such subtle love-hate relationship, any benevolent third-party criticism ought to be extremely cautious to understand the complexity. Simply blaming one side without comprehensive analysis, such critics can be considered as unserious at best. Incredulous people easily become suspicious whether the critics hope to benefit from fueling others’ internal conflicts.
Second, the criticisms need to consider different approaches. The critics and protests in the West just represent one kind of voice, while the issues are usually discussed in the public from various angles and in various manners. Yet, the lack of comprehensive knowledge about China leaves the public greatly depend on the individual reports from media. The critics are no longer just viewpoints, but become the whole truth for a large part of the public. Since the commercial media tends to report negative stories, some defects are exaggerated and become the main image of China. Therefore, criticisms often look like biased “China bashing” if no complete background is provided. This phenomenon is not only limited to China, but can be seen from lots of resentments in the developing world against the Western criticisms. Voices from other cultures cannot reach the global audience as well as the Western media giants. Partly out of this reason, many developing countries are very cautious in opening up the media. Of course, the appropriateness of such a measure is dubious.
Finally, the target of the criticism, namely blaming the communist political system, misses the real point too. Communism as ideology actually has lost its significance in China for long time. The communist party keeps its name mainly in order to avoid unnecessary political turbulence. In fact, China has been learning from other countries and been improving its political system constantly for decades. There are still millions of problems, ranging from ethnic minority, culture preservation to religion, environment and inequality. Yet, it is unfair to attribute all of them to the political system and unwise to demand radical reform. On the contrary, only under a stable government can the problems which occur in the modernization process be solved pragmatically.
However, since such clichés have been heard too much, they are not the main reason for Chinese’s anger this time. But the misunderstanding creates a stereotype image of China, nurtures simplistic attitudes and makes China bashing popular.
After 30 years of rapid development, the Chinese are not only proud of their country’s achievement, but also fully aware of the importance of true learning in a stable and united nation. Therefore any threat to the unification and stability, such as the Tibet or Taiwan issues, triggers the strongest reaction of the Chinese people.
Correspondingly, three suggestions may help the criticisms become more effective and avoid unnecessary hostility. First, address the complexity of the criticized problems. On the one hand critics should demonstrate their comprehensive knowledge about the issues; on the other hand the consideration from various perspectives makes the criticisms more pragmatic and targeted. The Tibet question is not simply the antagonism between Dalai Lama and the Communist Party, but involves problems such as unavoidable social changes during modernization, the role of religion in today’s world, cultural preservation in the trend of globalization, market economy’s impact on the less developed community and so on. Only after laying out the complex, the criticisms can identify the key points to be improved.
Second, understand China’s concern over the Western media’s dominance and use fewer dramatizations. Original voices actually have more persuasive power, whereas exaggeration only misleads outsiders and creates tension. Chinese government is not interested in partial viewpoints, but very attentive to the overall public opinion. Therefore it is unlikely that the amplifying of some voices most heard in the West, such as dissidents or Tibet government in exile, can really impact China. Instead, comprehensive surveys with concrete data become more and more a basis for China’s policy decision. Chinese government is even hiring consulting companies to investigate the citizens’ satisfaction rates for local administration’s performance.
Third, respect China’s wisdom of reforming while maintaining stability. It may still take a while for people, including the Chinese, to figure out how a modern China should exactly look like. Yet the economic, cultural and social developments achieved so far have proved the viability of the gradualism approach and the government’s capability of self-correction. In this context, China does not need new great political ideas, but eagerly seeks down-to-earth suggestions for continuing the chosen path. Therefore, instead of attacking the political system in general, constructive criticisms should rather cooperate with the government and focus on specific shortcomings. A friendly external environment and objective evaluations of the risk and benefit are more likely to convince the government to remove unnecessary restrictions.
Of course, these suggestions are only made for those who truly want to increase mutual understanding and construct a peaceful world. Hopefully the good intention can bring positive result when it’s combined with insight. As to those who have other purposes, China has a unique program for them as well, but that’s a different thing.
Of course, these suggestions are only made for those who truly want to increase mutual understanding and construct a peaceful world. Hopefully the good intention can bring positive result when it’s combined with insight. As to those who have other purposes, China has a unique program for them as well, but that’s a different thing.
不過，一般被忽悠的老百姓有幾個有腦子去研究實際情況得呢？而那些要忽悠老百姓的又有什麼必要去管它娘的實際情況是什麼呢？
所以這個世界上像作者這麼清醒的人千中不見一，萬中也不一定見一。而且可悲的是，這種人一定掌不了權。因為太清醒的人沒有統治力量。
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