(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-25 07:27

China needs more understanding by the people of other countries, says an article in People's Daily. The following is an excerpt:

A speech of a Chinese student studying in France is popular now on the Internet. On April 19, at a demonstration themed, "Support Beijing Olympic Games, oppose media biases", a Chinese student from Xi'an, named Li Huan, made a long speech, making the Chinese present feel heartened and even catching the attention of many of the French. Also, his speech has moved millions of netizens back in his motherland.

Li said: "During this spell of demonization and distorted portrayal of China via the media, we, Chinese students, studying all around the world, feel hurt. Our feelings have been hurt. But we don't put the blame on French people, for those who should be responsible for this consequence are not you, but those irresponsible media and demagogues."

Li lashed at the "selective blindness" of some Western media and condemned the hypocrisy and the prejudices of some politicians on human rights issues and explained the truth of the Tibet issue. He stressed that China has a different culture and a different history. He said he sincerely hoped for the people of both China and France to become a bridge of information between two very different worlds.

We take pride in Li's speech and see from him the patriotism of the young generation, which mixes enthusiasm and rationalism. His speech also offered a perspective for us: what else can we do about the exchange and the collisions between China and the world and between Oriental and Western cultures?

It is necessary for us to counterattack the groundless accusations and express our own voices. But we also see that everything happening this spring takes a complicated turn due to different factors. Among them are the emergence of various anti-China forces and the misinterpretation and misunderstanding of China following from the media distortions. This situation makes us ponder as to what efforts we can make to remove the biases.

All those landmark events like the 30 years of reform and opening up, seven years of joining the WTO and the hosting of the Olympic Games can be used to judge China's relations with the world. China's development is no longer an insulated one in a closed stage. But what we must face up to is that the world understands us far less than we had imagined. We have to face the challenge of new ways to look at ourselves and the world and to handle the conflicts and pressures.

As Li said, many French people seem to be fearful of China and this fear derives from their ignorance of China. Ignorance results from lack of understanding and from the misinterpretation by sections of the media. We should point out that the demonization of China can only create a confrontation between the West and the East. We, however, should also use various means of dialogue and communication so that more people can understand the real China.

(China Daily 04/25/2008 page8)