Opinion | China charms world at Hangzhou Asian Games as AP reporter opts to launch inappropriate anti-China campaign
By Augustus K. Yeung
INTRODUCTION
As people the world over are busy discussing the news that Rupert Murdoch, the controversial Australian media tycoon is stepping down, and handing over the sovereignty of his empire to his son, someone supposedly a professional journalist has opted to quietly seize this opportunity to spoil the viewers' undivided attention for minding great games.
Ah, Western media propaganda machine is busy at work again!
When China is bathing in the glory of its green and high-technologically crafted games, a journalist for the AP has seized this opportunity to smuggle in a few usual cheap shots at China, as the Chinese president is hosting its guests of honor, and the jubilant nation is focusing on the events of the day.
Accusing Xi of not mentioning the complex issues of Taiwan, the South China Sea disputes, etc. which is hardly the appropriate occasion for blending politics with worldwide sporting events. Read the following article which may likely spoil your mood. Aren't professional journalists schooled to respect their readers?
ANALYSIS
CHINA GOES ON CHARM OFFENSIVE AT ASIAN GAMES, BUT DOESN'T BACK DOWN FROM REGIONAL CONFRONTATIONS
David Rising, Hangzhou
"A month before the Asian Games, China released a new map, doubling down on its claims to almost the entire South China Sea and disputed border territories with India." Reported AP.
"A few days before the event, it flew more than 100 warplanes toward Taiwan…"
"At the games themselves, however, outward aggression has taken a backseat to unctuous charm as China sought to win the hearts of more than 40 Asian nations and regions by dazzling them with technology and slaughtering them with praise."
In a personal appearance in the eastern city of Hangzhou, into which the government poured billions of dollars for the two-week games, Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed leaders and officials at an opening banquet on Saturday. AP reported.
The Asian Games embodies the Asian people's shared desire for peace, unity and inclusiveness," Xi told them, according to his prepared remarks.
"No mention was made of the status of Taiwan, the tense standoffs in the South China Sea over competing claims with Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia…"
"Nor was anything said about a diplomatic spat China ignited with India the day before Saturday's opening ceremony as it refused to back down on its stance on visas for Indian athletes coming from a region that leaders maintain belongs to China…"
"Signs around Hangzhou billed the city as a "paradise on earth" while China adopted the motto "heart to heart" for the Asian Games, which feature some 12,000 competitors – more than the summer Olympics – from across Asia and the Middle East."
Xi: The region's recent economic growth had been an "Asian miracle" and that "we should make Asia an anchor of world peace."
The headlines the state-run China Daily's supplement edition for the games carried after the opening ceremony included "Xi extends hand of friendship," and "Wave of Glory" alongside a photo of the Chinese leader waving to the crowds.
Xi told the officials at Saturday's banquet that the region's recent economic growth had been an "Asian miracle" and that "we should make Asia an anchor of world peace."
But while offering a verbal carrot in Hangzhou, Beijing continued brandishing a physical stick elsewhere. Taiwan's military said Sunday it had detected the Chinese military initiating an exercise featuring warplanes, ships and ground troops in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan.
The Philippine coastguard reported over the weekend that it had detected a floating barrier placed by Chinese coastguard to prevent Filipino fishing boats from entering a lagoon in a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.
Note: The Philippines removed the barrier on Monday! (Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters yesterday that China's "resolve to safeguard its sovereignty and maritime rights" was unwavering, and he warned "the Philippines not to make provocations or seek trouble.")
Xi's banquet speech did not refer to any territorial claims or confrontations, nor to the mounting tensions with the U.S. and its allies as Beijing and Washington jockey for influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
Still, geopolitics were clearly not far from his, Xi's mind as he outlined China's goals, thinly veiling his remarks with the language of sport.
"As a community with a share future connected by mountains and rivers as well as cultural affinity, we should use sports to promote peace, pursue good neighborliness and mutual benefit, and reject Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation," he said, using language China commonly does when referring to the U.S.'s Asia-Pacific strategy.
"As humanity faces unprecedented global challenges, we should use sport to promote unity, seize the historic opportunity, and jointly stand up to the challenges," Xi said. (Source: MDT/AP)
CONCLUSION
Having read the above AP article penned by Mr. David Rising in the name of "analysis", readers will be disappointed that it was written for a one-sided smear campaign rather than to be a fair-minded report properly tuned in to a major sports event hosted by China's eastern city of Hangzhou, Souzhou province, which is traditionally dubbed, "Above, there's heaven; below, Sou-Hang."
Perhaps, Chinese cultural symbols such as traditionally comparing Hangzhou to heaven above are hard to stomach, especially when the article was written entirely from a Western anti-China perspective.
One can't help thinking of the article written by two or three New York Times journalists who were covering the glamorous Beijing Winter Olympics – in which the team objectively covered the events amid the horror and terror of COVID-19 social distancing. They were absolutely amazed when travelling hundreds of miles underneath the Great Wall on a high-speed train ride designed to mark the occasion.
One could feel the NYT American journalists were thrilled; they couldn't help expressing their state of excitement and exultation. The whole thing was never politicized – and so it remains one of the most cherished articles in journalistic works of art.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
To contact the writer, please direct email: AugustusKYeung@ymail.com
Read more articles by Augustus K. Yeung:
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