Lin Min

MORE than 30 years after China opened its door to the outside world, mistrust still haunts East-West interaction, with both Chinese and Western media establishments remaining obsessed with conspiracy theories about each other.

A commentary, titled “China’s Antiforeign Monologue” and published on the Web site of The Wall Street Journal last week, regarded the “foreign trash” comments by Yang Rui, host of the CCTV English program “Dialogue,” as part of the authorities’ plot to rally the public against foreigners.

“It’s no coincidence that this campaign to arouse public anger against foreigners comes after the fall of Chongqing boss Bo Xilai and blind activist Chen Guangcheng taking shelter in the U.S. Embassy. … When the Party is under attack, it lashes out at foreigners,” the article claims.

Foreign journalists who understand China well would not jump to this conclusion, which is based on speculation and a conspiracy theory, rather than facts. Yang’s comments were apparently his own venture, which some say was an effort to draw attention to his microblog. The official Global Times criticized his microblog post, saying the wording was too harsh, and there were no orchestrated reports on State-controlled media aimed at foreigners.

Anyone who understands Chinese police’s policymaking would believe that Beijing police’s 100-day crackdown on illegal immigration is a typical knee-jerk reaction to a Briton’s alleged sexual assault on a Beijing street earlier this month, which triggered a public uproar after a video clip showing the attack was uploaded to the Internet. Such a campaign, apparently aimed at calming down an angry public and showing Beijing police are doing their job, is not enough to divert the public’s attention from the Bo case or the Chen incident.

Some overseas media also suspected a political conspiracy, rather than the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood allegedly by Bo’s wife and the family’s orderly, led to Bo’s downfall. They seem not to understand that the Mao Zedong era is long over. The “Great Helmsman” known for his mastery of plots and intrigues would use political struggles to wipe out his perceived enemies, but the leadership transition process has been institutionalized since Deng Xiaoping retired from his last public post in 1989. The rule of law, although flawed, has basically taken root, which means a murder case like this has to be dealt with according to law regardless of who is involved.

Some Chinese media are no less obsessed with conspiracy theories. In his controversial microblog post, Yang called on the authorities to throw out “foreign shrews,” referring to reporters who allegedly write stories demonizing China. Yang’s view reflects those of some media organizations and officials who believe Western media are collectively and systematically engaged in a conspiracy to demonize and smear China.

Last week, the Web site of a prominent Beijing-based newspaper published an article titled “How Western media smear China,” which says governments and various anti-China elements in the West such as weapons suppliers and labor rights groups exert influence on their media to intentionally “dwarf” and slander the Chinese Government.

Those who buy this theory should note how Western journalists pursue muckraking stories on politicians and corporations in their own countries. Bob Woodard and Carl Bernstein’s investigative reports for The Washington Post on the Watergate Scandal eventually led to the resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon. The landmark New York Times Co. vs. Sullivan case virtually made a law allowing media a free hand in reporting wrongdoings by public officials or public figures without easily facing the threat of defamation and libel lawsuits. Early this month, AP ignored a request by the U.S. Government to hold a story about an underwear bomb plot until it was officially announced. Western news media are largely independent establishments, rather than mouthpieces of government, although their reports inevitably bear the hallmarks of their culture and values.

While they may have produced some misconceived ideas and inaccurate or even biased reports about China, Western media outlets generally report any stories that they deem newsworthy, without considering whether these stories will have a “positive” or “negative” impact on a country’s image. They may be doing it to attract readers and viewers, but the perception that they conspire to smear China is spurious and defies logics. In fact, many Chinese newspapers and broadcasters have also been vigorously reporting China’s dark sides, such as unsafe food, dirty air and water, corruption and unjust land grabs, believing reports of conscience will help build a better society and government.

With the ideological divide and differences in values remaining wide between China and the West, knowing each other better can reduce mistrust.

Western journalists should understand more about how China has evolved in the past three decades. Despite censorship, outspoken netizens, notably microbloggers, are now able to fill cyberspace with colorful, critical comments in a digital information revolution that has the potential to make China a more open and democratic country. The “Middle Kingdom” is also making strides on many other fronts, therefore interpreting the country with outdated logic and experiences from the distant past could cause misunderstanding.

For China, Mao-era ideological rhetoric has lost its appeal as the population has liberated itself from thought control. Yet, the instinct of seeing critical comments as a hostile act is alive and well. Those who believe in a Western media conspiracy should realize that hypersensitivity to criticism does not make China any better and conjuring up a threat only serves vested interests’ purpose to resist reforms.

(The author is editor of the Shenzhen Daily News Desk.)