Saturday, 16 August 2008
Thursday, 7 August 2008
Are the Chinese 'evil'?
There is one story, and one story alone, that the media are intent on telling us about the Beijing Games. It is the story of a despotic, oppressive regime incomparable with anything in the West and a naïve, complicit populace unrelated to the rest of us.
One story to tell them all! How insulting to the Chinese? And, more pertinently, how insulting to us the audience?
China, it should be said, has a terrible record with human rights, pollution, Tibet and international relations and it is a country that must do far more, far quicker, to resolve these issues. The international community along with the IOC are making the right moves in recognising the Games but also condemning and bringing publicity to such issues.
But the media’s attempt to characterise a population of 1 billion and a country of more than 9,000,000 square kilometres in such a simple and rigid narrative of good and evil (us and them) is woefully insufficient and offensive. I am already bored of their single-agenda reporting where everything is presented as having a sinister and evil undertone. One report toured the Beijing traffic control centre – who would have thought it masks a clandestine big brother operation that controls and oppresses the residents with digital precision. The reporter went on to ask an official whether people were allowed to enjoy the games - is fun tolerated?
Apparently, the people are paralysed by fear and offer only the stern faces of a repressed and robotic nation. Having lived in China before, I know his not to be the whole truth.
What of the Chinese athletes inspired by the prospect of a home Olympics, the warmth of receptions, the classic landscapes and modern skylines, the diversity of culture and the people so proud to be finally on the world stage?
It is representative of the lazy journalism, increasingly found in today’s media world, where the complex is reduced to the palatable at the expense of understanding. China is becoming increasingly important beyond the borders of sport and it is up to us to learn about the nation in full and not to regress into the fear of the unknown.
One story to tell them all! How insulting to the Chinese? And, more pertinently, how insulting to us the audience?
China, it should be said, has a terrible record with human rights, pollution, Tibet and international relations and it is a country that must do far more, far quicker, to resolve these issues. The international community along with the IOC are making the right moves in recognising the Games but also condemning and bringing publicity to such issues.
But the media’s attempt to characterise a population of 1 billion and a country of more than 9,000,000 square kilometres in such a simple and rigid narrative of good and evil (us and them) is woefully insufficient and offensive. I am already bored of their single-agenda reporting where everything is presented as having a sinister and evil undertone. One report toured the Beijing traffic control centre – who would have thought it masks a clandestine big brother operation that controls and oppresses the residents with digital precision. The reporter went on to ask an official whether people were allowed to enjoy the games - is fun tolerated?
Apparently, the people are paralysed by fear and offer only the stern faces of a repressed and robotic nation. Having lived in China before, I know his not to be the whole truth.
What of the Chinese athletes inspired by the prospect of a home Olympics, the warmth of receptions, the classic landscapes and modern skylines, the diversity of culture and the people so proud to be finally on the world stage?
It is representative of the lazy journalism, increasingly found in today’s media world, where the complex is reduced to the palatable at the expense of understanding. China is becoming increasingly important beyond the borders of sport and it is up to us to learn about the nation in full and not to regress into the fear of the unknown.
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