The 2008 Beijing Olympics has put China in the spotlight this summer.
To a young Chinese studying in the United States, especially one with a journalist background, I prefer to discuss China with American friends of different backgrounds. To my delight, most of them hold a friendly and positive attitude toward China, and sometimes criticize the country out of sincerity.
What surprises and worries me, however, is that most other Americans even elites know little about China. Their views are often lagged, biased, and full of contradictions.
One of my American friends was a media officer of former President Ronald Reagan. In his entire life, he had been to China only once in the 1970s. His impression of China still remains the same as 30 years ago: narrow streets, few cars, people all wearing the same style of clothing, and fearing to express their opinions. He even does not know that currently there is a non-stop flight between Washington D.C. and Beijing, and that it only takes 12 hours to fly to China.
Another American friend is a senior journalist and a member of an influential think tank. He is very fond of Chinese food, yet he has never been to China. His impressions of China: a mystical, prosperous, rising country. He said he cannot imagine how China operates with a population of 1.3 billion people and is very confused as to why Chinese people are so excited about the Olympic Games.
I also personally experienced a story in a private kindergarten in Washington D.C. There are only two Chinese children in this kindergarten, one is my son Ying, another is an orphan Ann who was adopted by an American couple at birth. At a music class, the young teacher who also had never been to Asia told the children a story "...all the kids put on a new dress to celebrate the holiday, except for one. Because he is from China like Ann and Ying, they are very poor and have no money for a new dress and delicious food..."
In fact, it is not surprising the teacher did not know anything about China. It is also understandable the journalist had so little knowledge of China.
The list of such stories goes on. The American perception of China seems to have been frozen somewhere in China's history. Their knowledge of China is mainly gleaned from the media or study results from think tanks as opposed to their personal experiences.
In the age of information, it seems people more often than not rely on the global media to know the world. But the media is just a carrier of information. It is the people who decide the choice of information they view or read and what they should believe. Naturally, each country's media coverage of the same topic may differ. This bias could be due to the local economy, politics, culture, nationalism and other factors. What is more, the media tend to look for sensational and negative stories. In this sense, most Americans only know a virtual China created by the American media.
In addition, many China experts in the West, including Chinese Americans, usually spend two to three months in China and devote the rest of their time to desk research, which lags real developments in China. And they usually focus on very specialized topics. These experts often create their own perceived picture of China which is far from reality.
