<p>“Do the Chinese people hear about how the lawyers who agreed to represent the parents of the schoolchildren killed in the quake due to shoddy construction of school buildings got their law licenses yanked?”</p>
<p>As a matter of fact, they do. I’m not sure if you actually spend the time watching Chinese news or reading the hundreds of millions of online forums in China, but as of now, there’s been heated debates in China concerning issues such as government transparency, media freedom, property rights, political reform, and the opening up of government agencies to public participation. I know these things are happening because I’ve seen them with my own eyes and have participated in the process. Talk to an average Chinese college kid nowadays, and you’ll be surprised by how much he/she knows about the Western world, esp. the United States. A week ago, I had a chat with a group of Chinese undergrads in Beijing, and we spent the entire afternoon dicussing the pros and cons of separation of powers and the checks and balances in a democratic republic. It was a very mature and serious discussion, not something I would expect I’d be having with several Chinese undergrads in the country’s capital. Later I asked them which historical figures they admire the most, and familiar names like Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Martin Luther King, FDR, and Winston Churchill popped up one by one. Then, I later asked them to which direction they’d like to see their country heading in the near future. Everyone said that the general consensus among the Chinese public is to stay on the current track while steadily pushing for further political and social reform and opening up to the outside world. </p>
<p>“Reform.” “Open Door.” “Harmony.” These are actually the three metaphorical themes displayed during the Olympic Opening Ceremony by Chief Director Zhang Yimou. Water, the Taichi Circle, and Confucius’ 3000 students are traditional symbols of Harmony. The display of Tang Dynasty navigation and the 4 great inventions represent Reform and Open Door, because the Tang Dynasty (600-900 AD) has always been a symbol of an open, prosperous, and innovative era. </p>
<p>Umm…the only thing I’m a little bit confused, a little perplexed about is why these rather positive developments have never made their way to CNN’s Headline news or BBC’s World News.</p>
<p>Uhh, I’m not saying those debates don’t exist in China, but the govt.-controlled media didn’t exactly report on about the pressure put on the parents of the dead children (from poorly constructed schools) to accept the monetary award and refrain from demanding an investigation.</p>
<p>Nor did much of the Chinese media report that the attorneys who were willing to represent the bereaved parents just happened to lose their licenses to practice.</p>
<p>Same w/ the coverage about the two elderly women (and others) who applied for the permit to protest in the designated areas during the Olympics (NONE were issued) who ended up being sentenced to a labor camp.</p>
<p>The Chinese who are aware of these stories usually learn them from Western sources (if they aren’t blocked by govt. censors) - and it was the pressure of human rights groups/the Western press that got the 2 elderly ladies sentences for labor expunged.</p>
<p>^Nice.
Well, if you watch FOX News, you know that they bash everybody, except for Karl Rove’s cronies. The Chinese, the Russians, the Libertarians, the Brits, Muslims, etc. None of them are safe from the wrath of “fair and balanced coverage.”</p>
<p>ALL COUNTRIES HAVE BIASED NEWS. Got it? Russia, check. USA, check. CHINA? CHECK! Censorship, bias, you’ve got it all. Yes the US is hypocritical, but less hypocritical than others. Go live in Iran if you want some contorted media with heavy influences.</p>