Charles Custer: Trying to Hide China’s Dirty Laundry from Foreigners a Futile Task

Charles Custer, of ChinaGeeks, writes an opinion piece in Global Times about Chinese efforts to present their best face to foreigners:

On April 23, the Global Times ran a piece about four books Chinese people didn’t want foreigners to read. After noting that some Chinese look down on expats because they “don’t understand” China, reporter Lin Meilian spoke to several Chinese people (students, journalists and columnists) about what books they thought foreigners shouldn’t read.

…Putting on a smiling face when the neighbors are around isn’t a new concept to most foreigners. The traditional Chinese saying “Don’t tell outsiders the ugly things that happened at home” reflects Chinese perceptions that they shouldn’t expose the negative aspects of China to foreigners, but it also has a traditional English equivalent – “Don’t air your dirty laundry in public.”

But whether dirty laundry is aired in public or not, everyone knows that it’s there.

…Chinese and foreigners alike are right to bemoan the lack of people who really “understand China.”

But without candid honesty from Chinese people, what hope do foreigners ever have of understanding anything? If they only “understand” the good things about China, then what they’re understanding is not truth.

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