The Chinese Opinion Piece

I love opinion pieces in English Chinese newspapers. This one is a perfect example, beginning with the headline.

How can "press freedom" be misused indiscriminately?
+ - 17:00, November 13, 2007

On august 27, German's "Mirror" weekly had on its cover the reflection of China's national flag in a curtain-shape with a Chinese female face peeping out from behind. The cover story is titled "Yellow Spy", which implies that China has something to do with a lot of industrial espionages in the country over recent years.

I don't read the Mirror, but I believe it is a German rag and treated as such. Perhaps the term "Yellow Spy" is a bit insensitive, however, the weekly isn't particularly kind to the US either.

The "Mirror" weekly has released quite a lot of false, negative reports about China in recent two years, among which there were a cover article filed in September 2006, titled "Intrusion from Far East -- for a rich world war" and Chinese Trojan Horse (or hackers) Infects Computers in German Chancellor's Office". These conjecture reports have tarnished the very image of China and inflicted grave harassments upon its nationals residing in Germany. And a few Chinese students at Chmnitz Tech University, too, were charged with "espionage" and their photos printed inside the weekly, which subsequently turned down requests of local Chinese nationals to clarify the false accusation.

I'm sure they were spies. Yet to suggest that the Mirror has "tarnished the very image of China and inflicted grave harassments" upon its nation is theatrical garbage. Shut up and get over it.

Facing protests of the Chinese nationals residing in Germany, the "Mirror" spokesperson quibbled, citing the title of "Yellow Spy" merely as an innuendo, and his explanation, however, did not hold water. As a matter of fact, the word "yellow" the weekly invokes has apparent hallmarks of the race and its use here is obviously discriminatory. In accordance with German law, racism and racial discrimination have to be rigidly prohibited, and the "Mirror" weekly misused the term "press freedom" indiscriminately and violated the taboo.

Well if they've "misused the term 'press freedom' indiscriminately", then you probably have a cause of action against them.

The whining continues:

Nationals of the Chinese origin constitutes a disadvantageous minority ethnic group in Germany, which should have deserved meticulous care and attention. The "Mirror" weekly, on the contrarily, stirred up distorted views in society based on hearsay to attempt for their persecution. This one-sided, unilateral "press freedom" is almost tantamount to inciting opinions against them. So people cannot but think of a social tragedy which had occurred in German history.

Being a disadvantageous minority ethnic group in China, I too would like meticulous care and attention. I don't get it. Tough. And being that your students were permitted to organize and demonstrate against the paper and print a rebuttal if you could find someone to publish it, your unilateral "press freedom" argument is significantly weakened. Try demonstrating in China.

Meanwhile, the "Mirror" weekly has groundlessly distorted and played down the Chinese culture, and smeared it as a culture with the infringement of intellectual property. Such a notion in violation of the basic values of the modern civilization is precisely a sort of typical cultural chauvinism, which poses a prelude of the rise of such remaining cultural or social dregs as racism and colonialism and, therefore, is the very thing to brewage all social tragedies in modern times.

First, anybody feeling sorry for you up to this point started chuckling with they read the part about smearing your culture with accusations of IP infringement. That's incredibly disingenuous as you're aware. Second, I think we should discuss racism and colonialism. The Chinese are about as racist as a culture gets. And last time I checked the papers, Taiwan was none too excited about its big brother next door. But colonialism doesn't even belong in this article and has nothing to do with your complaint.

Some Western nations have stirred up wave upon waves of the so-called "Chinese spies" over recent years, and such practice has brought untold harms to all those accused. Behind the scene, nevertheless, there is an intrinsic mentality of belittling or despising China. In other words, the Chinese nation, according to the mentality, has neither the capacity nor the right to obtain its economic progress and development. If the nation has scored some successes, it is certain that it has have "stolen from others" and, in the words of the "Mirror", it could be an "intrusion."

This is the most enlightening paragraph because it gives you a view of the Chinese psyche. This is how China assumes all nations and people perceive it and is one of the causes of its ego issues. I think it's why China is so defensive toward criticism and whiney when cornered.

All nations are equal before the right to development, and an aspiration for the pursuit of affluence is common for all humanity and, therefore, it is innate and endowed by the nature. So it can be only natural that China, too, should enjoy this right. Hence, China's development cannot be halted by the surmise of "those who presume others as suspects for having stolen the axe," as a popular classic Chinese saying goes.

How did we go from complaining about yellow spies to arguing that China has the right to develop? And what the heck does that Chinese classic saying mean?