If you would like to see a video version of this article please watch on YouTube:
Last month the NY Times published an article entitled “How Beijing Influences the Influencers”, it was an article that took many months of research as the authors contacted dozens of Western social media influencers living both in China and abroad asking them a variety of questions related to their work on YouTube. The overall goal of the article was very simple. Discredit the work of these foreigners who are sharing their stories and genuine insights from China and make sure the American public continue to have a negative impression of China.
In today’s article I would like to share with everyone my perspective on this article and how western media outlets like the NY Times change your perspective on China. Don’t forget, fear and hatred are powerful emotions. Traditional media outlets like the NY Times are becoming less and less influential in this ever-changing world of social media. As a result, they have no other option but to resort to any tactic they can in order to get views.
I’d like to start today’s analysis by highlighting one of the influencers mentioned in the article. Raz is an Israeli national who runs a channel called YChina. Raz speaks Mandarin and quite frankly makes some pretty amazing content, interviewing both Westerns and local Chinese and offering an interesting perspective into life in China. However the authors of the NY Times article took an issue that Raz personally traveled to the Xinjiang region and shared his insights into the highly controversial cotton industry in Xinjiang. Western media continuously says that cotton sourced from this region is done with forced labor. When Raz visited local cotton farms in Xinjiang and interviewed local farmers, he discovered many of the farmers were using cotton harvesting tractors.
Earlier this year I decided to make a video about this topic and addressed an interesting perspective that no Western media has addressed to this point. The fact that John Deere, America’s iconic tractor brand for years has maintained an office in the Xinjiang region and through May 2020 saw sales increase over 4000% as local Xinjiang farmers wanted access to the best farming technology. My goal with this video was not present Xinjiang as some utopia. However if we are going to understand China, it’s important to look at the situation from all angles. John Deere stockholders are making money from Xinjiang farmers. This absolutely has to be presented in this discussion. Yet Western media outlets like the NY Times would like to make sure it’s readers never see videos like this of John Deere cotton machines operating in China.
In his response video to the NY Times, Raz goes on to state that of the 85 most recent articles the NY Times posted about China over the last 12 months. 79 of the articles have been negative, 5 unbiased, and 1 positive. There is a huge bias against China in Western media. Let’s go back and visit one of the most famous moments in NY Times coverage of China that occurred in March 2020.
When China began its now famous countrywide lockdown, the NY Times came out and made sure American readers viewed the Chinese government as an oppressive regime that was denying citizens basic freedoms. However, Italy’s government made the exact same decision, on the exact same day. Literally 20 minutes after slamming China, the NY Times published an identical article about the Italian government. Did they slam the Italian government for denying Italians freedom to travel and move around? Of course not, they praised the Italian government for prioritizing its citizens lives. If you read both of those articles on the exact same day your brain would have subconsciously been trained to think. China is bad, Italy is good. As most Westerns identify closer to Italy than they would China, the next logical thought is Western countries like Italy are doing the right thing. China is doing the wrong thing.
The majority of the NY Times article focuses on foreign vloggers who have worked with Chinese state media on sponsored trips. I of course have never been on a state sponsored trip in China as long time viewers of my YouTube channel know that I’ve been based in Vancouver, Canada ever since I started YouTube.
Now since I have never personally conducted a state organized trip in China I only had a minor appearance in this article. When the author used one of my quotes.
“No one in the West could possibly imagine that China would be this successful. And this is the big reason why Western media is always attacking China.”
I stand by those words today and would like to actually further elaborate. Not only did no one in the West possibly imagine China’s success and growth over the past 50 years. I would say that most Chinese citizens, including those serving in the government also didn’t know how successful or fast China’s rise to the #2 economy in the world would be. Talk to the older generations of Chinese nationals, anyone above the age of 50 and you will hear an amazing amount of pride in their voices. They have seen first-hand China’s historic rise and its ability to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. But even this fact is being questioned by Western journalists. This was a tweet sent from outspoken China critic Melissa Chan and she states:
There are two main issues with this tweet. The first is the assumption that lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty is “propaganda”. 50 years ago, China was one of the poorest countries in the world. It is now the 2nd largest economy in the world and the only way you can accomplish this is by lifting people out of poverty and building a middle working class. Let me clear, I’m not saying that China has eliminated poverty. Even Chinese Premier Li Keqiang admitted in June 2020 that over 600 million people in China still earn about 1,000 RMB/month.
The second issue is the claim that it’s easy to go from the bottom to the top. Really? If that’s the case, why do we see dozens of countries in Africa continue to be enslaved with poverty for decades? Why is Haiti still the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere despite being located only 700 miles from the United States and having received over $13 billion in foreign aid over the past 10 years. The reality it’s not easy to go from the bottom to the top.
You may not like China, but I think we need to give credit where credit is deserved.
Several months ago, I received an email from the Shannxi Tourism board, who invited me to Shaanxi to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year. In this email you can see exactly what is being offered and what the exact goal of this project is. Shaanxi is interested in inviting foreign KOLs (Key Opinion Leader) or influencers to come to the region and produce a variety of videos related to culture, travel, and the Chinese New Year. In exchange for the videos, I would be offered a salary, accommodation, and a travel allowance. But here is the question that I would like to ask you: Is this ethical for me to accept this offer?
There are really two ways one can look at the situation. Let’s first show you the road the NY Times reporter would take. The Shaanxi Tourism Bureau is an official tourism bureau in China. All tourism bureaus in China are under the jurisdiction of the Chinese government. Therefore by accepting this opportunity and traveling to Shaanxi, you would be accepting money from the Chinese Communist Government. How should we present this to Western audiences?
Americans are being paid by China’s government to produce propaganda.
Or we could use a bit of common sense and rational thinking and look at the situation in a more logical way. Cyrus runs over 8 different social media platforms with a fan base of over 1 million subscribers. He is a content creator and it is common practice for online creators around the world to work with official tourism bureaus. The videos that Cyrus would produce would be related to travel, culture, and celebrating China’s most important holiday Chinese New Year. Nothing in these videos would be political, again we are talking about China the country, its people, language, and culture. In addition, Cyrus is an American that speaks fluent Chinese so his videos could appeal to both a local and international audience. There is nothing wrong with Cyrus accepting this opportunity.
Let me give everyone a fantastic example, Rick Steves, one of the most well-respected and accomplished American travel content producers recently traveled to Iran to film a travel series. worked with the Iranian government to produce a series of travel videos. That’s quite amazing considering the United States currently has trade sanctions with Iran. Do we have a double standard that exists here? It’s ok if we work with other tourism agencies from other countries but no one can work with a tourism agency from China?
To be clear, I have declined this opportunity to travel to Shaanxi as many of you know that I am based in North America and have no timeline to return to China. I brought up this email as a pure example and to have a thought experiment. What is your opinion? Would it be ok for me to accept this deal with the Shaanxi tourism bureau or do you think it would be wrong? I would love to hear your thoughts. Please drop me a comment down below and share your thoughts.
As I conclude this article, I’d like to share some of my final thoughts. Unfortunately, we are living in a world today where you can't say anything positive about China without being looked at as "CCP sympathizer" by the media and subsequently the public. This causes us to have a very one-sided view of the world and certainly impacts those who want to express a different opinion.
I’m a former China expat that enjoyed my life in China and want to give my independent view of the country based on my own experience. This is rarely seen in western MSM and I would like to fill that gap so we can see China from all angles and foster a better and more peaceful relationship. American politicians and media paint China as a threat to take over the world and that communism must be stopped. As I mentioned in a previous YouTube video this narrative is very similar to the “domino theory” hype that preceded the Vietnam war.
I’ll end today’s article with one final quote from Caitlain Johnstone, a fantastic independent writer that I highly recommend following.
The United States passed the Strategic Competition Act of 2021 which is allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to combat the rise of China. Please don’t forget the US and China have enjoyed a prosperous relationship for over 50 years that has benefited the lives of both nation’s citizens. The world needs the US and China to work together, and this is something I will continue to strive for.
Cyrus
To your qeustion - I do not think it would be WISE to accept the offer from the Shaanxi tourism bureau. Doing so would give anti-China propagandists material they could turn into persuasive lies. I think that you should turn down any such offer so as to maintain your credibility.
However, it would NOT be MORALLY WRONG to accept such an offer. You would just have to be careful to clearly state at the beginning and end of each piece you produce on such a trip (written or video or audio) that you were paid by the Shaanxi tourism bureau to produce the content.