Opinion | I don't trust Western journalism anymore
By Philip Yeung, university teacher
PKY480@gmail.com
The Israel-Palestine war is a litmus test for freedom of speech, if not journalistic integrity.
In the US Congress, its lone Palestinian member was censured for tearfully appealing to spare the lives of civilians. MSNBC silenced three of its journalists for airing views critical of Israel. Academics in America lost their jobs for their pro-Palestinian views. In the UK, a senior aide was forced out for espousing Gazans' cause. Is it the water they drink in Britain? Strange things are coming out of that country. Its firebrand home secretary insanely calls "homelessness" a "lifestyle choice." Fully grown adults are spouting nonsense with their eyes closed and their minds shut, including the Guardian's famed columnist Simon Tisdall.
It's clear Tisdall is no fan of China. Incredibly, he accuses China of "poaching on America's Middle East turf" as if that region is solely America's playground. How about America poaching on the Chinese backyard in the South China Sea? Then he scapegoats China for "isolating Washington". Excuse me? Washington is isolating itself by defying the tidal wave of world opinion. Suddenly, he flies off the handle, calling China part of the "new Axis of Evil" (along with Russia and Iran), breathing new life into an old Bush coinage that is past its sell-by-date. Not even America wants to revisit that tainted territory where over a million perished. Tell us, exactly, what evil has China perpetrated?
Tisdall calls China "two-faced" for "stirring the Gaza pot", by refusing to condemn Hamas atrocities. He sees it as part of the larger Chinese plot to build a China-led world order.
This allegation has two fallacies. One, China did not stir the pot in Gaza. The pot was stirring by itself thanks to Israeli suppression and Hamas retaliation. He accuses China of not being interested in saving lives, only in "advancing China's global ascendancy". He didn't know that China and Israel have enjoyed a constructive bilateral relationship. By sticking its neck out, China is risking that healthy tie. Standing up for Palestinians therefore comes at a price. There is nothing "two-faced" about its principled neutrality. Tisdall is squeezing China into a "damned if you do, and damned if you don't" dilemma, while talking out of both sides of his mouth.
Tisdall is quick to blame China for imaginary sins. His ignorance of China is staggering. Doesn't he know that many Chinese cities mean "peace"(ning) as in Nanning or southern peace, the old name for Beijing is Northern Peace, or Xi'an for Western Stability. A yearning for peace and stability is deeply ingrained in the Chinese character. China's hands have never been bloodied by a foreign war of aggression, unlike America. Indeed, war and America seem inseparable.
If calling for a ceasefire is "stirring the pot", then this world needs more pot-stirrers. But siding with America-Israel would indeed be "stirring the pot".
Tisdall is dangerously naïve about geopolitical reality. He faults China for not condemning Russia for its Ukraine invasion. Had it done so, its neutrality would have been compromised, and its leverage over Russia lost. China knows only too well that the moment America extricates itself from the Ukraine quagmire, it would "stir the pot" over Taiwan. Crushing Russia now means crushing China next. China needs Russia as a counterweight against future American aggression. If peace comes to Ukraine, China must work with Russia to stabilize a world unsettled by America's lop-sided dominance.
As for the South China Seas, anyone with a primary education can tell you that China's single coastline (America is bi-coastal) is vulnerable to US containment. Militarizing the islands is a life-and-death matter for China's economic if not national survival.
Eight years ago, pre-Trump, China and Britain enjoyed a "golden era" as partners. Now, Tisdall wonders aloud if China should be treated as a "competitor, threat or outright enemy." How did China slide from "partner" to "enemy" in just eight years? The only thing to ruffle Britain's feather between then and now is Hong Kong, even though China had turned it into the world's freest city until it was turned upside down by foreign-instigated rioters.
One telling detail says it all. A 15-year-old figuratively "diaper-wearing" agitator called Joshua Wong laughably made the Time Magazine's cover, and almost laughably became a Nobel Peace Prize nominee. America used him and then unceremoniously dumped him, leaving the poor kid to rot in jail. The Hong Kong unrest is on a par with the January 6 riots in Washington, except it lasted 9 months while Washington's lasted just one day. It is not a fight for freedom. It is an attempt at anarchy, a trashing of law and order. Any responsible government would act to restore order as America forcefully did. Chaos or order—the choice is clear.
I have a friendly piece of advice for Mr. Tisdall. The next time you write on China, please do your homework. Visit the country, and see for yourself a nation at peace, reinventing itself in pursuit of innovation and technology. If you don't go, you won't know. No more jaundiced journalism. No more China-scapegoating. If Gaza tells us anything, it is that freedom of speech is a charade. China's path of peace and shared prosperity, however, maybe the alternative this war-weary world needs. That, Mr. Tisdall, is no empty charade.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Philip Yeung:
Opinion | Sanctions, proxy wars, and lies galore — the world in disarray
Opinion | The world's undisputed master of disaster
Opinion | The wrong leader for the wrong region at the wrong time
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