China's restrictions on media freedom are nothing new. This time around, the fabricated story of cardboard-filled meat buns by a Beijing television reporter lends weight to the government's excuse for maintaining media control.
With the Chinese Communist Party Congress approaching, Beijing has set out to tighten its grip on the media. The Central Committee's Propaganda Department -- the organization that monitors the content of the publications for consistency with the party's political dogma -- is kicking off a wide-ranging clampdown on "false news" and "illegal publications."
Such a "well-intended" campaign to sustain "harmonious society" showcases Beijing's lack of confidence.
To build a progressive and cooperative national image, Beijing has long been scheming to blind people to reality. The ban on reporting the real situation of the 172 trapped miners at Huayuan Mine in Shandong and probing the details of the deadly collapse of Fenghuang Bridge in Zhejiang exemplifies the government's reluctance to face the music. However, the disguise fails to whitewash the blot on the Communist leadership, and leaves the unnerved public to speculate, spread rumors and cast doubt on the regime's credibility.
On the other side, Chinese officials are running short of confidence in their subjects.
They have underestimated the citizens' ability to detect bias, distinguish facts from opinions, and reconstruct messages delivered by the media. Under the pretext of protectionism, the people's right to knowledge is trampled on and, in the meantime, the people are deprived of the opportunity to develop critical thinking.
China's media control reckons a bitter reminder -- to the world and to its rulers -- of a totalitarian regime seeking to suppress speech that they disapprove of, dislike, or simply dread letting their subjects know.
Wei Shaozheng
Beitou
Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) led a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan in late February. During their various meetings with Taiwan’s leaders, this delegation never missed an opportunity to emphasize the strength of their cross-party consensus on issues relating to Taiwan and China. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi are leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Their instruction upon taking the reins of the committee was to preserve China issues as a last bastion of bipartisanship in an otherwise deeply divided Washington. They have largely upheld their pledge. But in doing so, they have performed the
It is well known that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ambition is to rejuvenate the Chinese nation by unification of Taiwan, either peacefully or by force. The peaceful option has virtually gone out of the window with the last presidential elections in Taiwan. Taiwanese, especially the youth, are resolved not to be part of China. With time, this resolve has grown politically stronger. It leaves China with reunification by force as the default option. Everyone tells me how and when mighty China would invade and overpower tiny Taiwan. However, I have rarely been told that Taiwan could be defended to
It should have been Maestro’s night. It is hard to envision a film more Oscar-friendly than Bradley Cooper’s exploration of the life and loves of famed conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. It was a prestige biopic, a longtime route to acting trophies and more (see Darkest Hour, Lincoln, and Milk). The film was a music biopic, a subgenre with an even richer history of award-winning films such as Ray, Walk the Line and Bohemian Rhapsody. What is more, it was the passion project of cowriter, producer, director and actor Bradley Cooper. That is the kind of multitasking -for-his-art overachievement that Oscar
Chinese villages are being built in the disputed zone between Bhutan and China. Last month, Chinese settlers, holding photographs of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), moved into their new homes on land that was not Xi’s to give. These residents are part of the Chinese government’s resettlement program, relocating Tibetan families into the territory China claims. China shares land borders with 15 countries and sea borders with eight, and is involved in many disputes. Land disputes include the ones with Bhutan (Doklam plateau), India (Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin) and Nepal (near Dolakha and Solukhumbu districts). Maritime disputes in the South China