CHINA, JOURNALISM AND THE STATE SERIES: Who Does He Think He Is?

[See Series Introduction -- The editors]

Charlotte Li

I cannot imagine that a journalist who truly loves China could describe it as "donkey droppings." This title deeply hurts my feelings. I feel very angry about Mr. Kristof's attitude towards my country.

Yes I know little about the detention of journalists in my country. But I think the police had proper reasons to arrest Zhao Yan.

From the view of Mr. Kristof, there is no freedom of speech in our country. The Chinese people are still living in hot waters. All of the Chinese leaders are dictators who can do nothing but persecute the people. These groundless accusations are ridiculous.

First of all, the journalist Mr. Kristof has no right to comment on the judicial system of my country. It is none of his business to say who should be arrested or not. He is not god. Indeed, I recall a few years ago, Dr. Wen Ho Lee, an expert on nuclear physics was accused of leaking advanced skills to China and was detained for many days by the American government.

What I want to express by taking this case as an example is that each country has its own situations, and they're obviously different from other countries. But Mr. Kristof's article gives me the impression that some journalists, especially American journalists, enjoy criticizing other countries.

The world is complicated. Each country has its history, culture, religion and traditions. As an English saying goes: "one man's meat is another man’s poison." It is no good if the American government pushes its democracy to other countries. We can see this in Iraq. Although personally I don't like the former president Saddam Hussein, I am worried about the Iraqi people. By watching television and reading newspapers, I can see the country has turned into a hell.

Also Mr. Kristof indicates that the Chinese leaders want to maintain dictatorship by persecuting Falun Gong adherents. This accusation is even more ridiculous. Because China is a developing country, many people do not receive an adequate education. It is easier for them to believe in dangerous cults. One of my neighbors suffered from such an illness. But he believed in the cult and he was instructed not to take any medicine otherwise he would not become a good follower. In the end, he died a miserable death.

In fact, China is very open now. You can voice your opinion if you wish to. And the government welcomes foreigners to give advice and criticism so long as they are out of good intentions. And, yes, China needs not only spaceships and big buildings but also freedom and democracy. However, I don’t think any Chinese can accept such words as "donkey droppings."

One of the jobs of a journalist is to pay close attention to evil social phenomena. But he must study it and reveal it on the basis of facts so as to supervise government functions instead of making personal attacks. I don't know if Mr. Kristof often reads Chinese newspapers. If so, he should know that nearly every week the newspapers publish articles on officials arrested for corruption. If it's true that journalists who expose corruption take such a great risk of being arrested in China, then there should be thousands of journalists ensnared, far more than the 42 mentioned by Mr. Kristof.

China is a great country, so is America. Both countries share dreams and glory and want to contribute much to mankind. But the dream and the glory should be based on mutual respect and understanding.

[Correction: As pointed out in a comment below, Dr. Wen Ho Lee was originally and incorrectly identified in the article above as Dr. Ho. We regret our error and appreciate it being brought to our attention -- the Editors]