Chen Guangbao Ad HelpsAmerican Public Understand China

According to Beijing Youth Daily’s Aug. 13 report, on Aug. 11, The New York Times published a half-page ad in Chinese and English. In the ad, Chinese entrepreneur Chen Guangbao is calling upon Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe not to participate in the Yasukuni Shrine visit. Accompanying the ad are historical photographs of the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base Pearl Harbor, Japanese troops launching the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and the Nanjing Massacre. The report says that Chen Guangbao plans to air a 3-minute program of similar content on an American television network. He and his son Chen Huanjing, successively in August of 2012 and on Aug. 5, 2013, published articles in The New York Times avowing Chinese sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands.

Objectively introducing Chinese domestic politics, economics, social conditions, history, culture and foreign policy through U.S. news media will help the American public understand China and also help increase mutual understanding between our two peoples, eliminating needless misunderstandings, thereby promoting a healthy and stable development of Sino-U.S. relations. Although America is the world’s only superpower, known as the most open society and has the most contact with each country in the world, in reality, the American public has very little understanding of China. The U.S. media is highly commercialized, often reporting on China through colored glasses. For the most part, it cannot broadcast the original voices or words of Chinese officials or common citizens, usually adding commentary or selective revisions. If members of the American public want to see the original version of Chinese programs or articles, they can typically only do so in specifically designated situations or only after paying. This traditional approach in American media is of course utilized even more for countries of differing ideologies, but is also generally applied for allied nations. The New York Times, in calling for world peace, did not charge a fee for the Aug. 11 article. This ought to be commended.

At present, from the administrative authorities and U.S. Congress down to the general populace, U.S. influence over Abe’s right-wing Japanese government is allowed to grow in Japan in attempts to negate the crimes of World War II Japanese militarism. Changing trends in the international order, following World War II, are also of concern. However, because of the restrictions of the immediate moment and an ignorance concerning the dangers of a revival of Japanese militarism, those making the mistake of siding with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands dispute between China and Japan are even more unrepentant. Therefore, helping U.S. government officials and the public better understand history and understand China is shown to be of absolute importance. Efforts to objectively and equitably introduce the American public to Chinese politics, economics, culture and history ought to be encouraged and supported since these efforts are advantageous to the promotion of mutual understanding between our two peoples and to the promotion of the healthy and stable development of Sino-U.S. relations.