Jack Ma Emerges! Can the West Learn to Judge China without Bias and Double Standards?

Thoughts from an American Expat

Each day I log into my YouTube creator studio and scan the comment section. I try my best to spend time engaging with supporters of my channel and answer as many comments as I can. However one comment from earlier this week really surprised me:

“How can you promote China to our youth? I can’t believe you were invited to give a TEDx speech, how do you sleep at night doing what you are doing?

- Random YouTube Comment

This comment was left on the following Youtube video:

Here are 4 interesting facts regarding that comment and my TEDx speech:

1. I recorded the speech in advance (it has not been released to the public yet)

2. No one (including myself) have seen the final version of the speech

3. Besides myself and the TEDx team, no one else knows the content of the speech

4. This person wrote me off and judged me before even watching the very speech he criticised

Unfortunately comments like this are far too common from many people who don’t like China or maybe simply just don’t understand China. It made me sad to see such a comment, most importantly because I wasn’t even given a chance.

I’m essentially at the starting line of a race getting ready for the gun to go off, when the referee blows a whistle and disqualifies me for a lane violation!

Wait…Don’t I need to start running before I can be disqualified? How did this happen?

Will China always fight double standards and bias?

Too often the West judges China without truly understanding the entire situation. The result? China is often subject to an incredible amount of double standards":

For example my TEDx speech will debut later this month on the TED Youtube Channel, but I will give you all a preview of the 5 lessons I’ve learned from 10 years in China (the title of my speech):

1. Work hard at something you are passionate about

2. Discipline yourself to save money and invest at a young age

3. Challenge your mind by learning a foreign language

4. Approach all things in life with an open mind

5. Our cultures may be different, but we are more similar than you think

Now the lessons might seem simple, and they are. This speech was intended for an audience under the age of 21. It was designed to be a speech of advice and life lessons for youth as they are getting ready to go out in the real world. Unfortunately for the person who left this comment, they’ve closed their mind off from potentially learning something new.

There is nothing political in this speech, this was my exact intent, because I wanted to give a motivating speech. I stated in the behind the scenes video that even if someone dislikes China, or dislikes the work I do on YouTube, they would be able to gain something from this speech.

Last year I started my YouTube channel to help more people around the world understand China. As the channel has grown, I’ve received countless number of emails of support from both Chinese and non-Chinese to thank me for my efforts.

Do I get frustrated by comments like this?

To be honest the biggest emotion I feel is sadness. But not a personal sadness, a sadness for a person that lives a life so closed off from other cultures. In the long run, a person who operates with this mentality has a very limited path for future self-growth.

Ironic because if he would have listened to my speech, he would have learned the 4th lesson….Approach all things in life with an open mind.

JACK is BACK!

Last week I released a YouTube video answering the question: “Where is Jack Ma"?”

I was very confident to predict that Jack was simply “laying low” after his speech caused the derailing of the Ant Group IPO. It is so important to understand Chinese culture and how the country works, but for most Western media publications this was a chance to write something bad about Jack. Here were some of the headlines:

- Jack Ma was China’s most vocal billionaire. Then he vanished
- Chinese tech billionaire Jack Ma VANISHES from his own reality show
- China regulators target Alibaba as Jack Ma goes missing
- Jack Ma missing: Role of opaque Chinese state

By far the most ridiculous headline I saw was this one from Newsweek that of course was only intended as clickbait:

-As Jack Ma Goes Missing, Video Predicting He Will Either Die or Go to Jail Resurfaces

Jack has now resurfaced in the best possible way: helping to improve education in poor rural China.

Qingqing_Chen @qingqingparis

Ma, who used to be an English teacher and founder of #Alibaba, also gives wishes to village teachers via a video on Wednesday, saying usually the activity is held in Sanya in southern Hainan but this year, due to #Covid19 it has to be done via video conference.

Thank you all for the continued support and we will see you in next week’s newsletter!

Cyrus