Quite…“From Xinjiang to Hong Kong, from the Pacific islands to Africa, the Chinese narrative is not bought by people and the reason is, in fact, obvious,” Sun said. “When Beijing projects only one narrative, and does not allow for alternative views or interpretations, people naturally grow suspicious of the Chinese narrative. In international politics, no one just takes anyone’s word for it.”
We sometimes tune into CGTN, China’s global cable network. Often has interesting shows, but overall the presentation is amateurish and the presenters too stiff, formal and apparatchik-like. We’ve often wondered at how China has done so well economically, but fails to make its window in the world look more worldly. After all, Russia TV, Kremlin-funded, does a way better job than Beijing putting out world-class content.
93% of mainlanders think XJP is doing a fab job. Right. 79% of people outside China think the opposite.
That said, I’m going to say something positive about China’s government (for a change). It’s this. Many in the west say China is a totalitarian dictatorship which oppresses the people. It’s true that it’s authoritarian, but a “dictatorship”? No. (Or not quite). Case in point: Beijing recently announced vaccine mandates. People objected, loudly. Next day the mandates were cancelled. Another: people in Shanghai were told they have to wear tracking bracelets if they were a close Covid contacts. Again loud objections and the policy was ditched. (BTW we have both these policies in HK). This morning the Canton government apologised for some crude treatment of people suspected of close contact. So it’s not true that the authorities can trample on people’s rights with impunity. (At least, not always).
