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Opinion

Western media should rethink its distorted portrayal of China’s rise

L. K. Cheah says Western journalists who regard China’s motives with suspicion and cynicism are cherry-picking facts based on a biased view, and the misinformation they produce as a result is unhelpful

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L. K. Cheah says Western journalists who regard China’s motives with suspicion and cynicism are cherry-picking facts based on a biased view, and the misinformation they produce as a result is unhelpful
L. K. Cheah
The Western media can do everyone a favour by analysing China in a balanced way.
The Western media can do everyone a favour by analysing China in a balanced way.
Many in the West are alarmed by China’s rise as an economic power in just 30 years to become the world’s second-largest economy after the United States. Scores of Western writers have penned denigrating articles on China as they believe that a non-democratic country must be regarded with suspicion and fear. Although the “domino theory” of multiple countries succumbing to communism has fallen by the wayside, such writers continue to perpetuate a climate of anxiety and misunderstanding about the emergence of China.

Insecurities and bluster: the roots of distrust between China and the US

The latest to do so was Gideon Rachman in the Financial Times last month. He claimed that Xi Jinping ( 習近平 ) is taking his country in “radical and risky new directions” by abandoning the formula that has driven China’s rise. Specifically, he said Xi has significantly changed the three ingredients for success adopted by Deng Xiaoping ( 鄧小平 ) – in economics, politics and international affairs – and seeks to follow his own experiment for national rejuvenation. Xi, he said, has created a perilous path for the economy, fostered severe tensions within China, promoted a cult of personality for himself in the likeness of Mao Zedong (毛澤東), and caused confrontation with the West in the international arena.

Rachman is mistaken. On the economy, while it is true that China has had to make changes to its fiscal policies, Xi is dealing with the harsh realities of the global economic environment. He realises China cannot rely on export-led growth indefinitely, given the steady rise of costs and wages in China, and the fact that other countries can do things cheaper.

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