No, it's not possible for the West to be too mean to China. For those too young to remember the slaughter of innocents in Tiananmen Square, there's Tibet.

If China wants to be taken seriously by the West, it has to cast aside its barbarous behavior and move into the 21st century. The U.S. is guilty of some mighty bad behavior, but nothing like the behavior of the Chinese government toward its people and others.

I happen to agree with the article extremely. I think you have to look at the China of 1989 and before and the China of 2008. It is ruled by different generation of leaders, and compose of a different generation of citizens. It is not the same China as before. And thats the problem, the western media likes to portray China as the old China, not the new. Yes, there are problems in China, there are definetley issues. But using human rights as a condition for outrageous behaviors by certain activists can and will be not be accepted by the Chinese people. Activists who try to grab the olympic torch from runners, extinguish them, vandalize property in the name of "human rights" ought to be ashamed of themselves. The fight for more human rights in China, if continued fought in the way it is by western activists, would only trigger China, as a nation, to completley reject Western Ideology. Western activists who had hoped that their actions would bring to light upon China's human right record to the Chinese people have greatly failed. They have only made the Chinese people look down upon them, and not the Chinese government.

Is the Western media being too mean? For the most part, I'd say no. But when you see stories like this one, it does make you understand why the Chinese are fuming about unfair coverage.

In the article, the writer complains that the opening ceremony didn't include "centuries of decadence, famine, civil war, peasant revolts, Japanese annihilation, communism." "No echo of the Cultural Revolution's big rallies here." Oh no!

He also blithely compares the ceremony to Fascism.

Think how we Americans would feel if foreign reporters came here and complained that the opening ceremony didn't include anything on slavery, the Civil War, the internment of Japanese citizens, hostility toward illegal immigrants, lynchings, Vietnam, our awful health care, subprime mortgages, the Iraq War, Guantanamo, illegal wiretapping.

I mean, my head is exploding that this American journalist could have been such a huge ass, going so far as calling for a "Janet Jackson moment" to liven things up, because you know, the opening ceremony was just a tad too perfect, too impressive for his taste.

The Chinese can't win. The foreign press rag on them for their failings -- such as the pollution in Beijing -- at the same time it belittles their accomplishments.

The issue is not that China is not making tremendous progrses, that the opening ceremony and the Olympics thus far haven't been a very impressive, quite amazing coming-out party. I think if you asked most of the foreigners in Beijing, they'd also tell you that this is a historic moment for the country, for the world.

The issue is actually that China challenges Western dominance of everything from the economy to cultural values. Its economic prowess is already very obvious, and culturally, it will also become more influential. But for now, the Western media just can't grasp the concept that China is not there to impress THEM. It might seem that way because the Chinese people, as you have pointed out in your story, have been very welcome of foreigners. But the truth is, China is there to show itself off in the way that it sees fit. And that means it's not about to include some "Janet Jackson moments" just because one Western reporter finds it to his taste.

It's easy to make fun of China's ambitions to use the Olympics as a "coming out party," because hell, if you were so confident about the state of your country, why would you be so damn defensive about how you appear to other people?

I mean, 40 billion spent on what is after all, only a sporting competition that is not even the most important event to sports fans. The joke is on how wholly and completely the Chinese see the Olympics as a public relations coup to be "won" at the expense of any and everything else. How Beijing has bull-dozed its hutongs, scuttled away its migrant workers, street vendors, and other "unpresentable" peoples, essentially destroying the way of life in the city as it is lived by its own people--all to to unveil a carefully orchestrated statement to foreigners.

It's not that single show number but how it is just one example of a wider ambition to make a whole country put on a show--such self-conscious posturing begs to be snickered at.

I'm not sure how much "western" media is being harsh on China. American news media, yes. American sports media, not so harsh. Non-American western media, sort of a mixed bag, but not nearly as harsh on average as the Americans. I'm a Canadian who reads English, French & Chinese, and my wife reads English, French and Spanish, and most of the Olympic-related media hostility towards China comes from the USA.

I think this is sort of natural, since Chinese and Americans have a lot in common. Both are large, highly populated & highly industrial countries.You're both very nationalistic & patriotic, like to wave flags, and you both think the entire world revolves around you. Both countries have foreign policies that are based 99% on domestic politics. Both want to be major players on the world stage, although China is more quiet about its ambitions.

Something else about China. The government isn't exactly composed of Mother Theresas (they are politicians, after all), but if you want to go somewhere to report on human rights abuses, China is a very safe place to do so. You can go pretty much anywhere these days (especially if you don't have a press visa) on cheap & reliable, although not necessarily comfortable or clean, public transportation, stay in hotels with (probably bad & leaky) plumbing. If you get sick or injured, there is a hospital close by. The worst that will happen to you as a foreign reporter is expulsion & confiscation of camera, computers, etc., and that's more because their security services are paranoid about espionage than because of censorship.

Now compare that to places in the world where really extreme & obvious human rights abuses like genocide are going on. It's not so comfortable, and you might die.

I'm not going to argue that there aren't human rights abuses in China, although I challenge anyone to show me a country that doesn't have any. The situation in Tibet arose from an adoption of Canadian & American style treatment of indigenous populations, and when the annexation of Tibet is compared to how Canada, Australia & the USA acquired large parts of our current territory, well, the Chinese don't look so bad. If you don't like Chinese pollution, labour violations, etc., stop shopping at WalMart.

I think there's a lot of sour grapes that China has pulled off the best opening ceremonies in Olympic history. Up to now, no other country has come close to the LA, Salt Lake City or Atlanta ceremonies, but let's face it, when it comes to spectacle, everyone is an amateur compared to China.

And frankly, when I see that many Chinese cooperating with each other, when there's no coercion or natural disaster involved, I may think it's a good sign (& a friggin' miracle), but I also think it scares a lot of people. China's always been a major power, but for a long time, it's looked inwards and fought with itself. If the Chinese learn to cooperate with each other to the same degree as, say, Americans, British or French do, (& that's not such a high bar), it will be a prominent force on the world stage the way the Soviet Union or Russia could never be. Nobody allies with Russia by choice.

strawberrylover:

...Think how we Americans would feel if foreign reporters came here and complained that the opening ceremony didn't include anything on slavery, the Civil War, the internment of Japanese citizens, hostility toward illegal immigrants, lynchings, Vietnam, our awful health care, subprime mortgages, the Iraq War, Guantanamo, illegal wiretapping....

Hahaha- I could have put it any better than you!

strawberrylover:

Is the Western media being too mean? For the most part, I'd say no. But when you see stories like this one, it does make you understand why the Chinese are fuming about unfair coverage.

In the article, the writer complains that the opening ceremony didn't include "centuries of decadence, famine, civil war, peasant revolts, Japanese annihilation, communism." "No echo of the Cultural Revolution's big rallies here." Oh no!

He also blithely compares the ceremony to Fascism.

Think how we Americans would feel if foreign reporters came here and complained that the opening ceremony didn't include anything on slavery, the Civil War, the internment of Japanese citizens, hostility toward illegal immigrants, lynchings, Vietnam, our awful health care, subprime mortgages, the Iraq War, Guantanamo, illegal wiretapping.

I mean, my head is exploding that this American journalist could have been such a huge ass, going so far as calling for a "Janet Jackson moment" to liven things up, because you know, the opening ceremony was just a tad too perfect, too impressive for his taste.

The foreign press didn't HAVE to write those things about America, the American press does so all the time. And continues to do so even as we speak. Nobody treats America with less respect than its own press.

And as far as the Salon article you linked, agreed. The author was an @ss. OTOH, who reads Salon? I'd never even heard of it until I read your link, so it's not exactly CNN, is it? That's another part of having a free press, having nutjobs writing all sorts of things. I'd bet if you looked hard enough you could find a neo-Nazii publication on the Olympics somewhere online - would you claim that was also representative of Western media?

The guy that wrote the Salon article though won't end up in prison for what he wrote --- unless he's unfortunate enough to have it read by Chinese authorities while he's still in China.

Interesting that you've never heard of Salon. According to their website, they have 6 million monthly uniques, about on par with Slate.

Anyway, this John Krich guy isn't just some raving neo-Nazi who's easily written off. He's apparently the Asian Wall Street Journal's main food/sports/culture writer (inte-resting mix of beats) and has been covering China for 20 years. Still a total @ss, but since he's been covering China so long and he was obviously given a mini-soapbox from Salon, his opinions are probably respected by his colleagues. And that's why I'm thinking there might be a problem with the way the U.S. media establishment covers China.

Human rights violations, Tibet, pollution, income disparities, the rights of migrant workers, freedom of speech. Those are all issues in China that should be covered. But to rag on a country the way he did for a spectacular opening ceremony just because it didn't unfold exactly the way he preferred... well quite frankly, I just think it was uncalled for and it was totally hitting below the belt.

Shenping:

I think this is sort of natural, since Chinese and Americans have a lot in common. Both are large, highly populated & highly industrial countries.You're both very nationalistic & patriotic, like to wave flags, and you both think the entire world revolves around you. Both countries have foreign policies that are based 99% on domestic politics. Both want to be major players on the world stage, although China is more quiet about its ambitions.

Shenping, thank you for pointing this out! I think many in the U.S. media often forget just how much the two countries have in common.

David Brooks with the NYTimes had an interesting column recently about the cultural differences that result from a focus on individualism versus a focus on collectivism. I think that might be at the heart of all the teeth-gnashing from the American press at the Olympics. Like I said before, they just don't seem to get it sometimes that people in other countries probably do not think the same way. What looked like "Fascism" to Krich was probably perceived as "harmony" by many people in China, and where he was yearning for a "Janet Jackson moment," people there and all over the world are probably grateful that there was no such thing.

Shenping:

You're both very nationalistic & patriotic, like to wave flags,

Um... I'm sorry, but I really had to laugh at this, as it's coming from a Canadian. I mean, I have never *ever* seen any American or Chinese tourists walking around with their national flags sewn into their bags. Or wearing national symbols on hats/accessories. Canadians are kind of known for these things.

Of course, my favorite had to be the girl who had "Oh, Canada" as her ring tone on her cell. Come on!

Yes, but then again, you are Canada.

Chrissli:

Yes, but then again, you are Canada.

?? I don't know what you mean to say here.