原文：
And so, that's it. My time in China is up. I've come to the end of my three years here - the standard life expectancy for a BBC foreign posting.
I'd like to take you through a few of the things I've seen during my time here. Not a representative portrait - just some of the stories that have stuck with me.
Petitioners
Shortly after I arrived, I paid my first visit to a part of Beijing called the petitioners' village - a run-down collection of alleyways in which some of the country's most desperate people live while they try to get the authorities to hear their appeals for justice.
I met one man who told me of his son's murder, for which no-one had been convicted. The father sat on a bed he shared with two others and shook with sobs as he showed me pictures of his son's skeleton. He wanted to give me a copy of his petition - 40 pages of documents stapled together and sealed inside a brown envelope. He hoped that I might be able to help. I warned that there was little that I could do, but he insisted that I accept it.
Most petitioners campaign for years without any success. They're often harassed and detained by a government which would prefer them to just go away. Earlier this year, a prominent professor dismissed most petitioners as mentally ill.
Almost every day for the last two years, I've caught sight of the bereaved father's petition on my shelf at home and wondered if he ever got the justice he wanted.
Many believe that petitioners suffer from the lack of an independent judicial system. This country's courts operate without any kind of public scrutiny. I've never been able to see inside a courtroom. As a consolation, I was able to see a court building from my office window for a while - until a new building went up on the only empty bit of land between our office and the court.
Many families in China have to carry their own anguish in silence. In the summer of 2007, I went to central China to cover the news that hundreds of men had been found working as slaves in illegal brick factories. Some had been kept underground for so long that they no longer knew their own names.
I met a man called Zhang Bairen. His son Zhang Zhike had gone missing and the father was hoping that his son might be one of the rescued slaves. But he wasn't.
I asked the family if they could show me a picture of their missing son but they didn't have one. The family was too poor to afford any photos.
A year later, some more men working as slaves were rescued. The family hoped that the missing Zhang Zhike might be among them. But, again, he wasn't.
Another year on, family members tell us that they have now given up hope of ever finding their lost son. Theirs is a silent grief.
Dissidents
Anyone who chooses to speak out has to pick their words with care. There appears to be an unofficial rule here, that you're allowed to criticise corruption and incompetence among local officials, but if you criticise this country's main leaders, or if you dare to suggest an end to one party rule, you will get into serious trouble.
In January 2008, I went to Nanjing to interview Professor Guo Quan. He'd just founded the China New Democracy Party. We sat on the grounds of his university as he took me through his party's charter. At the time, I was surprised that the government didn't try to stop him. But in November 2008, the professor was arrested for subversion. He's now awaiting trial.
The activist Hu Jia has also paid for his own determination to campaign against abuses. I first met him at the end of 2007 when he was under house arrest at his apartment in Beijing. His wife, Zeng Jinyan, was expecting their first child. She told me that a police officer slept outside their front door to make sure that her husband didn't escape.
Shortly after the birth of their daughter Qianci, Hu Jia was formally arrested. He's now serving the second year of a 3 1/2 year sentence for subversion.
The police still stop outsiders from visiting his wife, Zeng Jinyan. She sent us a text message to say that the authorities allow her to visit her husband in prison once a month. Hu Jia is now routinely mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Economic Progress
But these are subjects that the government prefers not to discuss. The Chinese Communist Party prefers to focus attention on its efforts to raise people's living standards - it argues that economic progress is a much more accurate measurement of human rights.
In recent years, China has got rich because of its engagement with the outside world. This engagement began in 1971 when a group of American table tennis players was invited to compete in China. In 2008, I interviewed Liang Geliang who was a member of the Chinese team which played against the visiting Americans.
When I met him, Mr Liang was running his own ping-pong club in Beijing. He was also trying to market a new kind of table tennis bat. Instead of a normal handle, Mr Liang's bat had a wooden panel in which you insert several of your fingers. He demonstrated this in a one-sided match against our driver.
A year on, Liang Geliang says that he is still trying to find a business partner so that he can mass produce and sell his new bat.
In China, you can try to make money from pretty much anything - including the country's most famous Communist, Chairman Mao.
The first man I ever interviewed here was a sculptor called Wang Wenhai. Mr Wang specialises in making busts of the late leader, and from what I could tell, he never seemed to get bored of sculpting the same person day after day. Mr Wang's cheapest sculptures were on sale for $200.
Almost three years after I met him, the sculptor has now gone back to his home-town to look after his mother. He's still making his Mao sculptures. But he says he's not having much luck in getting people to buy them.
Wang Wenhai's decision to return home makes him an exception. Around 200 million people in China here make a living as migrant workers - they leave their homes in the countryside to find work in the cities. But the world's financial crisis has caused many of these workers to lose their jobs.
Chen Zhongwei is one of them. Earlier this year, he lost his job at a factory in the southern city of Shenzhen. I met him during the New Year holiday while he was lolling about on his parents' small farm. After the holiday ended, he left to find work. But he couldn't find a job. So he's now back at his parents' house.
He doesn't want to work on their farm. His generation has grown up to expect to do something more exciting that farming.
Chen Zhongwei says he is now thinking of borrowing money from his parents so that he can buy a car and get work as a driver.
He has the freedom to choose his own job. That's something that his parents never had.
Thirty years ago in China, your local Communist Party work unit would pick where you went to school, what you studied at university, where you lived, where you worked, and even who you married.
In recent years, the government has stepped back from people's private lives. But the Communist Party still maintains one element of control - it dictates how many children each couple can have. China's one-child policy began in 1979. The first generation of only children the world has ever known has now grown up.
This generation has run into a set of unusual problems. A traditional preference for boys in China means that there now are too many men chasing too few women. A point I learned on the southern island of Hainan when I met a dejected set of young men who were unable to find any eligible women to marry.
Even the chased-after women find it difficult to pick someone who will satisfy their parents. In early 2008, I interviewed Ji Nan, an only child in her 20s who was searching for a husband. When we met, she was an architect. She now works for a magazine which specialises in bridal fashion. She is still single.
Beijing Olympics
For much of my time here, this country was busy preparing for the Beijing Olympics.
Taxi drivers in the capital were made to wear fresh yellow shirts and to take English lessons. One driver even told us he wrote the answers to the English test on his sleeve. Factories and building sites were shut down in order to clear the city's pollution. Organisers promised a drug-free Olympics.
A year before the Games began, I travelled to northern China to meet a former weightlifter, Zou Chunlan. During her career, she was made to take unidentified supplements. She believes that these were steroids. After she took them, she started to grow facial hair and developed serious health problems.
When we met her, she and her husband were running a laundry with the help of the Chinese Women's Association.
Two years later, she tells us that her business is doing so well that she no longer needs any financial support. She and her husband are now thinking of opening up a second laundry.
The couple watched the Olympics on TV along with the rest of this country. China calls itself "The Middle Kingdom". For two weeks last summer this country truly felt like the centre of the world.
Almost a year later, the Bird's Nest Olympic stadium in Beijing has now become a kind of Chinese Westminster Abbey - a national cathedral visited by thousands of tourists every day.
Since last summer, the two men who were meant to be China's Olympic stars have both run into problems.
The hurdler, Liu Xiang, has yet to recover from the injury which forced him to withdraw from his first race at the Games.
I was in the stadium when he pulled out. A legend has grown up that the crowd reacted to his withdrawal in "stunned silence." I can assure you that this was not the case. No-one in the stadium knew what was going on when Liu Xiang walked away from the starting blocks. We were all far too confused to be silent.
The 7ft 6in basketball player Yao Ming - perhaps China's most recognisable citizen - has now broken his left foot. Reports say that the injury may threaten his career.
In happier times in 2007, I watched Yao Ming walk through Tiananmen Square followed by a crowd of fans who barely reached up to his belt.
So, this country may now have to begin finding a new set of sporting heroes.
Communist Party Leaders
But it's already picked its next set of political leaders. In October 2007, I joined hundreds of reporters in the Great Hall of the People to watch the unveiling of the new nine-member Politburo Standing Committee, the inner circle of Communist Party rulers.
The new Committee included two men - Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang - who are expected to rule China for a decade when the current generation of leaders steps down in 2013. The two spent most of their first appearance practising standing still on stage behind the president.
I would love to tell you what the Politburo members are like. But I really have no idea. China offers foreign journalists at best cursory access to its rulers.
During a reception for a visiting African leader, I once got into the same room as China's president, Hu Jintao. But I was sternly told off by an official for speaking during the signing ceremony. Presumably the sound of my voice might have broken the officials' concentration as they signed their names.
The closest I've ever come to an interview with a senior official was when I followed the Commerce Minister, Bo Xilai, down a corridor in the Great Hall of the People. He looked at me with a mixture of discomfort and surprise - you don't do doorstep interviews in China.
Whenever we ask for formal interviews, we're told to send our requests by fax. Chinese government departments seem determined to keep old-fashioned fax machines in business. Our requests are sometimes turned down. They're usually just ignored, as was the case in 2007, when we asked for one-on-one interviews with the entire Politburo. We had to try.
Our most exciting moment came earlier this year when the defence ministry actually returned one of our calls. An official told us that the ministry would consider our request for a trip with the Chinese navy in the South China Sea. Five months later, we have heard nothing more.
Very occasionally, government leaders meet reporters - but only on their own terms. In March, China's Premier Wen Jiabao throws an annual press conference which is so heavily scripted and planned that it's like going to see a (very heavy) play.
Sichuan Earthquake
Above all from my time in China, I will remember the people I met in aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake of 12 May 2008.
There was Fu Xuezhong who laid down a flower on the ruins of the school in which his 12-year-old son Fu Tian and said, "Son, your Dad will love you forever."
A year later, an official investigation found that no-one was to blame for the mass collapse of schools in the earthquake. Fu Xuezhong tells us that he believes his chances of getting justice for his son have now gone.
Finally, I will remember 14-year-old Li Tangmo and his 7-year-old sister Qingyi, whose parents were killed in the earthquake. I met them at a shelter in a small stadium. They were being looked after by an uncle and were waiting to find out whether he and his wife would take them in for good.
Li Tangmo told us bravely that he and his sister would go somewhere else if their uncle and aunt didn't want to care for them. He sobbed as he spoke to us. Of all the stories I've covered in my time in China, theirs was the one which affected me the most. A year later, I don't know what's happened to the brother and sister - but I think of them often.
These, then, are the fragments of three years in China.
At 03:00am on 07 Jul 2009, Shanghai2010 wrote:
I love my country, I love my wife. Neither one is perfect, believing oneself, or others, or one's country to be perfect is often the sign of a delusional mind.
Sometimes my wife is late from work and does not call - I forgive her because I understand she is busy.
Sometimes China gets things a little bit wrong, and I can forgive China as a nation that is emerging from 3000 years of mixed history, cultural diversity and a population that is impossible to manage.
Sometimes my wife complains to me after I work a 12 hour day that I do not spend enough time with her, so I work less and then all I hear is that I am lazy and we have no money. I don't forgive her this hypocrisy.
Sometimes China calls itself one thing, yet does another, commits a crime and deflects blame with lies, finger pointing and the old false assertion that "no-one can understand China" I don't forgive my country this hypocrisy.
Balance, in domestic, social, political and cultural life is so important. Gesturing towards economic progress as a means of justifying poverty in certain quarters is no excuse. Proudly pronouncing the country's economic growth is hardly a comfort to a man and his wife whose 2000RMB per month will not afford them sanitary housing, or guarantee a good future for their children.
Much of our country is arrogance and defensiveness. The adage "This is how we do it in China" is a lie as "how we do things in China" really depends on "what we want". A man who wants his son to study in a great university abroad will break every cultural, moral and social norm to get what he wants - an no-one will think less of him for it. If he wants to throw up every cultural barrier to progress, convenience and ease to scupper a financial deal, then he will be applauded as a patriot and true blood of China.
Thank you for reminding us, James Reynolds, that while we can love someone or something, it does not mean it is perfect.
At 03:40am on 07 Jul 2009, HongKong123 wrote:
Dear James,
Yes, sadly you guys are only staying for 3 years which is a problem.
During such a short period it is so much easier to find and focus on current problems and issues that are still popular with the western worlds communist disliking hordes, many of whom would surely change their mind about China in a significant way should they ever bother to go there. Unfortunately people like you do very well at maintaining the myth.
It is sad that you I three years have not been able to see anything positive in China. Maybe it is about time that you went back to your own country and looked at it with the same tainted glasses. Having lived here for more than 20 years being a Westerner I have seen I company and its people grow stronger and prouder every day, it has opened up to the outside world at a speed never seen in history and Chinese are now travelling the planet in huge numbers both for business and pleasure and they dont defect or run away they can see what is happening and want to be part of it.
Stay another 20 years and your may have time to digest and really see what is going on up there.
At 03:56am on 07 Jul 2009, chantow wrote:
I know China has many problems like corruption, injustice policies, disrespect for human rights and religious freedom...... What I want to say is that protesting and demonstrating aren't going to work in one-party country like China, they are often end up being silenced. That's why we need more wisdom when dealing with China, show her respect and the benefits of being a democratic country. Being able to both English and Chinese language, I have to admit some English media is biased when they report news on China. China is often being portrayed as a evil trying to suck up every last drop of oil or grab any last piece of resource on earth. Wasn't the British Empire doing quite the same thing in the last 18th century? Now UK is one of most respected nation in the world because of her respect for human rights and freedom. Give China time and I have confidence she will change into a better China. China has changed dramatically for the past 30 years on economy and social development. No one understands China better than her people.
At 06:12am on 07 Jul 2009, shenyuan wrote:
I feel very sorry that the vast majority of memories you have about China in the last three years are on the negative side. China is not perfect, but better than you described in your blog.
China is a country too big to be very stable. She is still so poor that not everyone's requirements can be fully satisfied. China encounters some problems which European countries never encountered. Sometimes she HAS TO use some special methods to cope with these problems which sound unbelievable from a European point of view. Some problems are solved well but still a lot not solved. It is in such a way that Chinese and Chinese government gradually become wisdom. We are still on the way. We try to think out our own way to organize our society, we try to think our own way to improve our living standards, but we do not copy European way of organizing country because we have totally different backgrounds.
For those ones who come to China several times in the last three decades, they have seen how the society has improved. For those who know more about Chinese history, they understand nowadays China more. For those who do not know Chinese at all and too confident about their own social structure, I am sorry for these people, you can see only negative part about China. It is true that what you saw depends on your psychological anticipation.
It is only in the last three decades that China begins to try to be a modern country. The last three decades witness the greatest change in Chinese history. Three decades is really not very long comparing to her several thousands history. Your British society also takes several hundred years to become modern and wisdom.
At 11:40am on 07 Jul 2009, dazzleh wrote:
I have to agree with some of the comments above, that your reporting on China has been overly critical. It's good that someone has been able to report on some of the flaws, but every article I've read by you has only covered the negatives and has had no balanced viewpoint, perpetuating the western myth of 'big bad' China.
There are many things wrong with the country, just as in the UK, but having spent time in China and Hong Kong I can say that the people I met there are generally a lot more satisfied than those here. I appreciate that more attention is generally given to negative news anyway, but I think you had a responsibility to convey something of real Chinese life in your reports and have failed to do this. I could write similar articles on the UK, focusing on things like the police shooting an innocent man on the tube and the lack of subsequent justice, corrupt politicians syphoning off public money to pay for duck houses, huge issues with drink related problems that the government is unable to make an impact on etc etc. Yes, maybe some of these aren't as bad as some of the worst failings in China, but many of the points you make in your articles are no worse than these, and we don't have the benefit of any positive reporting to balance these out.
I hope the next reporter in China continues to unveil the dark side of the country, but also looks to make more complimentary note of the progress and change that is happening in the land they are a guest in.
At 11:54am on 07 Jul 2009, Abbas1984 wrote:
I'm a foreigner Dutch actually and have been in China for 3 years orso, working and studying with Chinese. I can see the irritation from Chinese my age with western media. Most know their government is not flawless, but then none of our governments are really. I must say that although i think many parts of the journo's reporting are correct, he does focus on the negative things a bit to obvious.
China is a pretty decent place to live, its different but i have enjoyed it. Although im sure the government suppresses people, and doesnt value much opinion of its people, its easy to always bash them for it, without recognizing the problems they face governing such a huge country.
I do feel many people are left behind in China, i can see it in the streets, but also this is normal in a country big as China still developing with a large part of the country still very poor.
As for the western journalism i think its as honest as xinhua's reporting
is transparent and honest..... not very much!
Anyways the Chinese will resolve their conflicts the way they do.. and will develop the way they wish and see fit...now people opinions might be suppressed but nobody can stop the people from getting smarter and more educated, so things will change according to how the Chinese want them to change in the future. It not correct for Western media and people to decide or always comment on how things are supposed to be.
In my personal opinion Democracy is good..but people need to be educated to have it succeed. If such a large percentage is still poor its bound to fail. Also there are plenty " democracies " around the world that are useless. Most important thing is a government is for its people, and I do feel the Chinese government is doing ok.
Change will come in time!
At 1:39pm on 07 Jul 2009, ghostofsichuan wrote:
The Chinese are the Chinese. Once again they have moved their rulers into becoming Chinese (the Chinese Way of doing things). China now looks like China has always looked, rich in Beijing and the East coast and poor in the West. The distinctions of rich and poor, powerful and powerless and the uneven hand of justice, combined with an intolerance for opposition. Corruption is the mainstay of Chinese business and politics and because of this the future is clouded. The West has sold its middle class and economic foundations for cheap Chinese labor and goods. China maintains relationships with governments in Burma, North Korea and Iran, not the friendliest bunch in world politics. The government of China will change or be changed as that is the Chinese way. The horrors of the Cultural Revolution remain in the minds of many and like the Great Depression in the West, that expereince will filter through at least another generation. China is like the atheletes you mentioned, great potential but hampered by injuries. The Chinese were captialist before there was the term and at some point will be democratic. Until that time I mourn for the people in the mountains of Sichuan.
I know a Han woman from Xinjiang, who as a little girl was taught ethnic dances by the Uighers. She always speaks so fondly and with such joy of that time in her childhood.
At 1:43pm on 07 Jul 2009, 2009LondonJV wrote:
Dear James
As a Chinese person, I appreciate your objective report regarding these sensitive issues. It helps me to understand my own country better although it does sometimes cause pain and ache. However I believe as spending three years in China you could understand how proud Chinese are and how we see us as a whole that we simply block any criticisms from outside even though secretly we blame ourselves for many wrongdoings.
There are many problems inside China. We do see them. And I agree that we try to ignore them. It sometimes makes me angry, however, that people from outside China pick on China simply because we have a different system. (I used simply here but I understand it is far beyond simple.) Human rights is a rifle that anyone can pick up from the ground and fire at China. I appreciate that you talked about issues rather than simply concluding it as the result of lacking of Human Rights. In your article, you mentioned,
The Chinese Communist Party prefers to focus attention on its efforts to raise people's living standards - it argues that economic progress is a much more accurate measurement of human rights
True, I thought. Thats truly a statement the government provokes and we, with no surprise, all believe in. But I started to question recently - is it only by sacrificing some peoples rights that people born in a good family can live in the standard we are now (I have to admit that I have quite a pleasant life, thanks to my successful parents and grandparents)? There is no doubt that there is always a gap between the rich and the poor (although it seems to be against the communisms value). My question is to what extent that a country grows or a society develops that people in the higher social position will start caring about the poor, like the West do? Is China in that stage yet? I know it sounds selfish but imaging you are just surviving from food deprivation, the memory of hungry stomach is still haunting in your head, is it a natural reaction of being only thinking about yourself? Thats pretty much the Chinese.
Inevitably, the topic has to come to Human Rights. By having a family in the UK I truly appreciate the system here and that each individuals rights are very much taken seriously into consideration. I can also see why Human Rights are so difficult to spread in China. We have a very long history and together with hundreds of revolutions something didnt happen very often in the British history. It seems normal to the Chinese that if anything went wrong with the system or the monarchy, we just overthrew it and then set up a new one. Revolution just makes so much sense that evolution barely exists in anybodys minds. Thats why the Chinese government prevents Human Rights. That giving individual rights indicates the risk of them bringing down the central power. Since none of the emperor and the citizens has patience to negotiate and wait for evolution, revolution seems to be the most possible consequence of any disagreements between the two groups. As the majority of the Chinese only want to progress and improve their lives after so many years in war, peace is something we couldnt want less. The government knows it and hints that if citizens follow the unspoken rules, they shall have the peace they long for. As we are so desperate to thrive, so desperate for peace, we have no choice but accept it. And the reason why those among us who want to abandon the rules or break the rules receive very little sympathy and attention is because we are so worried that these people will destroy our new built lives and that Chinas rise is only a dream demolishes as soon as we wake up.
If what I wrote sounds like defending China that please forgives me as it wasnt my original purpose.
At 4:00pm on 07 Jul 2009, XYHUANG wrote:
Hello James,
I think you help me better understand the common view shared by majority of western media. But I am really surprised to see the report from you, what I meant is that there is so little difference between yours and major reporters who never been to China.
I come from China and now live in UK, and work as a senior manager in a big company in London. Before this position I was a seniro manager in same company in China until the end of 2008. So perhaps I could share my thinking about the 'Fact or Truth' you reported.
To be honest, I think most of your reports are ture or at least showing 'Fact', base on my experience in China. But I have to say, it may be only the 'Fact or Truth' you or people like you want to see. This desire sometimes blind you eyes to other things. In a developing country, such as China, you always find it easier to find something wrong or bad. Because 'developing' is always linked with 'problems and issues', according to the history of great democracy development in western leading countries. In normal Chinese people's life, they may experience something which mentioned in you blog, but I believe that's not the whole life for them, and the majority of Chinese people would share same points with me. In a common western thinking style, you need to collect data or proof as much as possible before you make a desicion, a conclusion or a judgement. So if you only have particial data, or only the data supporting your predetermined thinking, what kind of result you will have.
So we have to ask 'What's the point?' of your blog. Think about if someone take your 'Fact and Truth' as a good reference to understand China, as she/ he hasn't been to China before, due to 'BBC and 3 years in China' is so powerful and convinced, it's not hard to assume what kind of thinking will be adopted by them. But again I don't think this 'copy and planted' thinking is helpful for western people. Please be responsible for your loyal audience.
I am really sorry about that what you are trying to do is just to enhance the thinking that 'What we are being told about China (by our gorvernments and medias) are true and complete, that's all for China!', even though many people already realized the big difference bewteen 'the stories being told in their own countries' and 'their own experience in China'.
Finnaly I am just a normal Chinese but with a little more experience than average about life outside China. I love my country and also realize that there are many things annoying or need to be improved in China. If I want to make a friend, I would not think about and broadcast her/his disadvantage as wide as possible, beceause I know she/he has more good faces than bad faces, otherwise I could not make friend with her/him, unless you don't like her/him.
At 7:24pm on 07 Jul 2009, dothiepin wrote:
Mr Reynolds,
I read your article with utter incredulity. Perhaps the BBC has a casual relationship with balanced reporting, something which I think is the duty of any reporter, particularly from a body which is normally held in such high regard. Your position in reaching such a wide audience is a most enviable one, but it is a position that should not be abused. And I feel, most regrettably, you have abused it.
I am sure the events you chose to mention were very impressionable on you, such as a successful girl living in the city with no partner, or the fact you were not allowed to speak during an obviously important ceremony. I find that strange. I live and work in London. Presumably you have too. I see single people all the time. Hardly news worthy.
And I have been thrown out of a school chapel service for talking. Again, not news worthy. But there are similarities to my being thrown out as a teenager from the service and you being told off sternly. I didn't agree with the views of the institution (I am not a Christian), and you, if I may be so bold and suggest, probably don't see eye to eye with the Chinese government. But where we differ is that I have learnt since that incident. I have learnt that we must respect others, even if we do not agree. You obviously do not agree and even lack the most basic respect. If you thought that through your disrespect you could achieve some greater good, say, hand in that old man's petition, then, perhaps, I might regard you differently. But your account just seems like a childish and bitter because you got a telling off.
If this article is any reflection on your previous works, then this is bad reporting. Every country has their short-comings. Some more than others. Some are less experienced, still developing. But all have positive aspects, as many of your commentors have already pointed out. Your entire article showed a juvenile mocking attitude towards an entire nation, without any depth of analysis that one would expect from a BBC reporter.
The one child policy for example, do you think China introduced that for some sadistic pleasure in controlling its people? Or was it because in post-war China there were forseeable food shortages (one fifth of the world's population if you didn't know) and the government then, rightly or wrongly, deemed that it was preferable to limit the rights of everyone rather than allowing the country to descend into a state where only the wealthy had food for their families. Perhaps there are better ways to limit population, like the Singaporean government's policy of financial incentives. These are finer points of a broader debate. But you do not even introduce that debate. You merely state your prejudices as facts, without respect for your readers to read the facts and opinions from both sides, your opinion, before finally deciding for themselves.
I hope you will find the time to respond to many of your readers who have felt it need to comments, and I hope that gradually, as you mature in your career, you will learn, among many other things, that sometimes whispering in the back will result in a slap on the wrist.
At 10:44pm on 07 Jul 2009, yifanwang99 wrote:
I believe most of the time, you're trying to be impartial, despite your reports contains quite a lot of negativities about PRC. the truth is, that there IS a lot(not just "a little" or "ah, not really perfect" that's sometimes claimed) negativities in the PRC now such as the somewhat corrupt justice system, the unfortunately authoritarian government, most people still dont have a clue what the hell happened in 1989, ethnic conflict at far-away provinces, sproadic police brutalities, riots, etc etc.
However, having lived in China for 15 years and being a Chinese-British myself, I will still whole-heartedly point out that there is also a lot of positives, booming cities, certain areas do enjoy a degree of freedom and democracy (for example, Shenzhen, and to a certain extent, Shanghai), improving standards of life, and more freedom than ever before(which you noticed, to your credit), and some leaders in the party are good and honest(of course some are bad corrupt).
Sometimes I do complain that you focused too much on negativities, but having also lived in England for 10 years, I found that the media in the West generally focuse on scrutiny and criticism, on almost anyone, be it China, USA, Gordon Brown, GWBush,Obama, Clinton, or whatever.
Good luck in your next assignment and I hope that the next China Correspondent from BBC will also be writing blogs.
At 10:05am on 08 Jul 2009, beijing_2059 wrote:
Initially I didn't want to post any more comments here, until I read the excellent comment by Black_wood: "...What struck me quite strongly is that you never seemed to enjoy being there. Many of your reports had a sneering tone, and the impression given is that China is full of sad, weird people..."
I, as a Chinese, may be biased in commenting on your reporting style, however, judging from this reader's reaction, I have to congratulate you for having accomplished your goal of painting a grim picture of China to someone who had never visited the country.
I, after reading so many biased reports from BBC, was ready to give up any hope of arguing or discussing with any westerners, since the arrogant attitude and the feeling of superiority have made them lost the sense of justice. I must thank you, Black_wood, you changed my opinion. As we say in Chinese, "hearing is deceiving, seeing is believing". Only fools will be dictated by others view. Think and check for yourself.
At 2:36pm on 08 Jul 2009, SYDNEY2009 wrote:
Dear James,
It is sad to see you are leaving China but as an honest reader of yours, I want to say that I am actually a bit disappointed to read your article of 'Three years in China'.
I am a Chinese and lived in China till my early twenties and then studied abroad. Now I have been living in Australia for almost ten years. Ten years on, I LOVE English culture so much and had been a firm believer that Western countries are far better than China in terms of its political and social systems. However, I have been really impressed with what has been happening in China at the moment during my holiday trip to China in March this year. My hometown is Nanjing and so many small things happened to that city I have seen this time are still lingering in my mind. I have seen trees carefully protected with ropes and wooden frames and pavement cleverly engraved with anicent stories in ancient Chinese history. They may well be just small things in peoples' eyes but they are a true reflection of the efforts city developers are making to make our cities more beautiful and at the same time maintaining the unique oriental culture China has. Certainly there are still so MUCH to improve in China but I believe it is well on the right track to becoming a modern-yet-sophiscated-in-its-own-way China.
Young people in China nowadays are more open to the diversity of life and they have more freedom to lead the life they would like to have. I fully understand that there are still a GREAT difficulty of changing your life and fullfilling your dream in China but I have seen more people from young generation dare to live. I know people that have had traditionally-recognised-in-China occupations but they give up to pursue their own interest to run a successful business by THEMSELVES. With more and more people coming and going out/in China for travel,study and business etc., more information are exchanged between the world outside China and China, a process of comparing different culture with different points of views is inevitable and this is not only to Chinese people and I believe westerners can benefit from this comparison as well. I am from an average family in China and to me studying or living abroad is never a privilege to abuse, instead it is a duty to fulfill, a duty of learning the essence of foreign cultures, having a self-reflection of your own and redeveloping your own into a better one. James, I can ensure you that there are thousands of young people like me in China having the exactly same belief towards China and also human culture. So, open up your mind, accept the fact that China is rising and appreciate the other culture.
All the best for your next post.
At 3:41pm on 08 Jul 2009, BeijingOwen wrote:
James, cheers for your anti-china blogging all these years. I am also an Englishman living in Beijing, but to be honest I haven't felt any of the pessimistic and mocking attitude you have shown since you started reporting in China. Sorry if I offend, but it seems that you have nothing good to say about China or Beijing at all. I am pretty sure that every expat I know loves China, and regardless of wage/living conditions/etcetera (I personally am pretty poorly paid for an expat) we all love living here. Your views only help to taint the view of China I have to face when I go home. 'Journalists weren't allowed into Tiananmen Square on the 20th Anniversary'... No foreigner was! Hardly anyone was! Stop pretending China is a place where dissent is impossible! My neighbour is a CCP member, and I can air my views to him as easily as if I was at home. Why couldn't you admit the Olympics were good for China? Why can't you realise that a One Party System is what the Chinese are comfortable with? I think all self-righteous Westerners should realise that democracy and multiple parties only work in Christendom/Ancient Greece-style countries, you included. I personally love my right to vote, my right to determine my country's direction, but that's not how it works in China! For thousands of years, China (bound by Confucianism and Imperialism) has fostered a system where a ruling elite are in power. The current system is just a continuation of this. Albeit I personally don't agree that it's right, but I'm not Chinese.
I really hope that the next BBC correspondent in Beijing is impartial, fair and realistic in seeing what China is really like. If more people read your views and took them seriously, then China would be a lost cause to the British public. Damn, if I could make negative comments about China every week and get paid, I'd love your job! But the fact is that China is nowhere near as bad as you have made it out to be.
You made many relevant comments, but I feel that you made much more negative comments than positive, as do many commentaters on this thread. I wish you well on your next posting - I just hope its somewhere where you can't destroy the truth with perceived authority behind the badge of the BBC.
At 7:59pm on 08 Jul 2009, tclim38 wrote:
The 'free' of the so-called 'free press' also means you can pick and choose what you want, ignore what you don't want, to report, and how you want to report them, based on my 3 decades observation living in the west.
Talking about 'living in the west', one comment above seems to say if you choose to live in the west, you cannot disagree with James Reynolds. That's silly at best. I don't know how to describe it precisely without this comment being removed by the 'moderator'.
I would say you might not did it consciously due to your lack of Chinese language capability, and knowledge of the history and culture. But , if 'bashing the Chinese government' is your purpose or one of your purposes, you certainly have done a good job.
China is not a 'power', let alone a 'super power'. Not even close to Japan.
It is a 'developing' country (It used to be more powerful and advanced than others, by the way). Expecting China to be the same as other developed countries today is obviously not realistic. I don't disagree at all it needs to improve in many, many areas, especially 'rule of law'. Nevertheless, you know what 'developing' means. It's in the process, and you don't get there overnight. And, Chinese people know all the shortcoming of their country, they are smarter than you think they are. The world is changing. China is changing fast. I hope you have learned something in the three years in China. Sorry, if you have not.
Good luck in your next assignment.
At 12:38pm on 09 Jul 2009, fengwang wrote:
I have just read some other reader's comment about James' report in China, there are lots of blog commentor criticise James' Bias or concertrating on negative things happening in China.
I agree above, James did spend most his blogs in negative things. but I do not criticise James for this, Because most of those are ture.
as a chinese, we often hear too much about our economic prograss, hear too little about our problems, take a example of petitioners, dissidents, our China have too many problems need attention, far from perfect of justice system, enviomental problem, gap between poor and rich, lack of openness and transparenty of many areas in society, mostly government.
therefore, I welcome reporter like James write in detail in his blogs or speak in live reports in BBC news about China's problems, then public who interested can discuss how to change for better.
But I strongely disagree in BBC's coverage in some of its news coverage in May 2008, reporter talking about there is riot in China's Tibert, talking about Chinese police clash or beat demostrators, on the picture, it shows Nepal police at Nepal or Indian police at New Dehli to use their baton to beat demonstrate there. this is serious misleading BBC's viewers, a ordinary UK public would not easily recognize it is Chinese police or Nepal police. I disagree about Chinese govenment did not allow reporter to go Tibert at the time, I am glad chinese has learnt and allowing reporter to go to Xing Jiang this time, let the truth speaks itself, face the problems and slove them instead of hide them it is a step towards right direction.
Lu Xun, our famous writer in 1920s and 1930s often critise our Country at the time, but most of us today would agree Lu Xun is a patriot. James critise us, I call on every patriot do their best in their posts to change our country for better, one day, UK maybe learn a lot of better things from China,(ps, not beijing 2008 olympics, I wish Chinese made a lot profit from this game, but I don't know. I would rather government spend money on local community infrastructure, education and hospital than spending lots of money in those huge stadiums)that will be the day when James writing a lot of positive things about China if he is depoled to China again, I think this is a very long jouney, but I looking forward to it. |
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