Roland Soong of ESWN translates a blog post by Guangzhou-based blogger and online novelist Yang Hengjun on the importance of having a critical eye towards the media and China:
With the Internet, the Chinese people have a platform for expression to expose the problems around us. So we began to change. This is not a case in which the overseas media began to misunderstand China and “distort” their reports on China. Rather, we understand our nation better and we become aware the inadequacy of the foreign media in achieving a full and in-depth understanding of China.
This is the biggest progress that I have seen in China. This progress came as a result of criticisms and not because of the effusive praises. The true wonder of America and other western countries is that all their flaws and ills come from the facts that are exposed by their people and even the government itself.
I have thought about the day when all the problems in China were dug out by the people themselves. We may not have become rich or strong overnight, and we still lag behind the west by a far distance. But we will catch up or even surpass them sooner or later. Let us now review the history of the People’s Republic of China over the last 30 years. We ask ourselves which advancement did not depend on the efforts (or even sacrifices) of Chinese people who dared to expose and criticize problems …?
