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The Internet and China-US Relations

By providing an alternative to mainstream media, the internet can increase mutual understanding.

By Yang Hengjun

May 17, 2014

Although today China-U.S. relations are not bad, the relationship remains very complicated. There are many factors affecting China-U.S. relations, some of which are very serious. This is why President Xi Jinping proposed the establishment of a “new model of major country relationship” …

This is a government level-affair. But regardless of how governments interact, it will not prevent civil organizations and writers from using whatever platforms they can to promote people-to-people exchanges and increase mutual understanding between the two peoples. This is the most important kind of “public diplomacy,” and in the long term, it may be the most meaningful. In the era of globalization, open societies and open information, it is public knowledge and opinion that ultimately decides the direction of the bilateral relationship.

Over the past ten years, I have witnessed the ups and downs of China-U.S. relationship… The “married couple” of China and the United States began to stumble, especially after 2008. The U.S. media was blunt in criticizing China, and the Chinese official media also began to highly publicize the conspiracies and evil deeds of America. As a result, some young people who couldn’t even find the U.S. on a map grew passionately angry towards the U.S. You would think the forced demolition of their homes, their low salaries, and even Chinese government corruption was all part of a CIA conspiracy. Some people were even dying to sail to the U.S., occupy Washington D.C., and attack the White House.

But the media tides quickly changed again. The “married couple” weren’t arguing anymore. I’m not sure whether they’re sleeping in the same bed, but they’re sitting on the same bench and starting to dream — both the “Chinese Dream” and the “American Dream.” The “married couple” of the U.S. and China had made peace, but the media could not be idle. In a strange coincidence, another evil neighbor turned up at just the right time. This time, it was Japan. The official media got riled up again, and accused the United States of supporting Japan… The United States was attacked just for existing. It got so bad that the sushi lovers didn’t even dare to go to Chinese-owned Japanese restaurants, for fear of being called a traitor.

Discerning people can easily see that the media, which always speaks with one voice, failed to report impartially on the mistakes and ulterior motives of politicians. The media also failed to publish different viewpoints. Truthfully, the media’s role was harmful. The rise of the internet made up for this deficiency. Although China has no independent non-profit organizations engaged in “public diplomacy,” we have “non-paid” writers to provide some positive energy for foreign relations. Over the past decade, I have mostly focused on China’s domestic political reform and democratization process, but I’ve also written hundreds of thousands of words about international relations.

When China-U.S. relations were at their most tense, I wrote that China’s only choice is to have a good relationship with the United States, which is in line with China’s national interests. While China and Japan were quarreling, I wrote a number of articles to remind them not to let things get out of hand. Of course, most of my articles were written to introduce what I have seen and heard to those young people who may never have a chance to travel abroad to see for themselves. Any strong bilateral relationship between two countries must be established on people’s knowledge and understanding of each other. Ignorance, misunderstanding and misguidance will only lead to prejudice and antagonism.

I’ve written a lot of blog pieces to increase the average Chinese reader’s understanding of the United States, reduce misunderstanding and ease hatred. After China-U.S. relations hit some bumps in 2008, a lot of young people were led by the mainstream media to believe that America’s democracy and freedom of expression were fake. They thought that the public had no right to protest, that criticizing or making fun of Obama would lead to punishment. So during a visit to the U.S., I put on some clothes that were clearly printed with cartoon images making fun of Obama and I walked in a circle around the White House. During my time in Washington, I wrote an article protesting the U.S. government bureaucracy. I posted the pictures and articles on my blog that same day, hoping some young Chinese netizens would gain a better understanding of the United States. Chinese netizens live in a place where making fun of even a mayor is likely to result in punishment or even time spent in a “reeducatation through labor” camp (thankfully, such camps have been abolished). I have to apologize to Obama — it’s not that I actually dislike him. I just used him, a bit carelessly perhaps, but I know that the American president is fair game for being “used” or criticized.

Later, the retired U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote a book commenting on the political figures in the U.S. He had some words of criticism for everyone in the administration, from the president to the secretary of state. This was well-covered by China’s mainstream media. There’s nothing wrong with reporting on it; it’s in line with the facts. However, some attempted to conclude from Gates’ book that U.S. democratic system is fake, and the U.S. government deceives the people. This was too much, and would give the wrong impression to those Chinese readers with incomplete information and limited thoughts. At that point, as someone with a blog and a microblog, I had an obligation to remind everyone: Have you seen a retired Chinese defense minister be allowed to expose the inner workings of the incumbent administration and directly criticize the president and secretary of state?

Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened, heed only one side and you will be left in the dark. Watching CCTV’s daily news program Xinwen Lianbo can make you happy, but if you don’t combine it with reading blogs you may soon become a happy fool. Over the years, hundreds of internet writers have all helped ordinary Chinese people understand the outside world. With the new platform of the internet, it will be harder for those people trying to manipulate public opinion to arouse hatred or to divert attention to achieve other purposes. “Public diplomacy” is not only doing things that the government cannot do. It also means taking steps to prevent the government from doing unsavory things.

Compared with China, the views of the American people have a more direct impact on foreign policy decisions. Sadly, although some Chinese internet polls show that positive perceptions of the U.S. are increasing, in America, unfriendly or even hostile attitudes towards China are increasing. China has some plans for overseas publicity, and has invested a lot of money in this, but they either don’t understand the environment overseas or they’re unwilling to understand and have no way to change the workings of the bureaucracy. For whatever reason, China’s overseas publicity often doesn’t get good results, and sometimes gets things completely wrong, which actually creates negative publicity. To increase the American understanding of China, I think it would be better to rely on the local Chinese-American community as well as NGOs like the National Committee on U.S.- China Relations and the older generation of China experts and U.S. diplomats. The U.S. media should be comprehensive when viewing China and try not to demonize China.

In China, we bloggers are on the grassroots levels. We are impacting a large number of ordinary people who don’t have much influence themselves. However, I believe that when thousands of ordinary people learn the truth, embrace diversity, and begin to learn how to express their views through the internet and new media, they will not only be able to affect those influential policy-makers, but will be a great force that cannot be ignored. So I think that the China-U.S. “new model of major country relations” needs one more clause: Society should be open and information should flow freely, in order to ensure that people of the two countries can move from knowledge to understanding and finally to mutual respect. Let’s work together.

This piece srcly appeared in Chinese on Yang Hengjun’s blog. The src post can be found here.

Yang Hengjun is a Chinese independent scholar, novelist, and blogger. He once worked in the Chinese Foreign Ministry and as a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC. Yang received his Ph.D. from the University of Technology, Sydney in Australia. His Chinese language blog is featured on major Chinese current affairs and international relations portals and his pieces receive millions of hits each day. Yang’s blog can be accessed at www.yanghengjun.com

原文：

互联网与中美关系

文 | 杨恒均

虽说现在中美关系还不错，但还是很复杂的。影响中美关系的因素很多，有些还很严重，所以习主席提出了要建立中美“新型的大国关系”。一开始美国方面不冷不热，这段时间发现中国的崛起势不可挡，北京也确实有诚意要建立新型大国关系，试图避免历史上不同政治制度大国之间的权力更替一定会有热战或者冷战的历史宿命，美国这才从政府到智库开始关注“新型大国关系”，想搞清楚“新型大国关系”的内容。

中方摆在“新型大国关系”最重要位置上的就是互相承认和尊重各自的核心利益（coreinterests）。但恰恰是这一点，目前还没法达成共识。对北京来说，最大的“核心利益”就是政局稳定与执政党的领导地位不动摇（one-partsystem），可在外交与国际场合，直接说出这样的国家“核心利益”颇令人难堪，于是就有些含糊其辞，希望美国人心领神会，可美国人偏偏假装听不懂。当然，我能理解，要让美国公开承认和尊重这种“核心利益”同样是强人所难，不但违背了美国230年来的立国理念，也有背他这些年在世界各地打拼的目标。所以，“新型大国关系”要想落到实处，还有相当长的路要走。我希望不是“不可能的任务”（mission impossible）。

上面说的是政府层面的事，但不管政府之间做什么，并不影响我们这些民间机构与民间写作者利用力所能及的平台，增进民间的交流，增加普通民众对对方的了解，这也是最重要的一种“公共外交”，从长远老讲，恐怕更有意义。在全球化时代，在开放的社会与信息公开的时代，真正决定两国关系走向的，最终还是取决于民众的认知与公共意见。

过去十几年，我亲眼见证了大陆和台湾关系、中美关系与中日关系的风风雨雨。1997，两岸关系剑拔弩张、一触即发，怪吓人的，后来几乎是一夜之间，风平浪静，啥事都没了。我从那时开始意识到不报道真相、不允许不同意见的媒体实际上起了推波助澜的作用，是很危险的。但我们什么也不能做，当时五千多个电视台、报纸几乎都是官办的，报道的口吻千篇一律，弄得所有的人（除了北京和李登辉之外）都认为两岸这对“兄弟”肯定要再打一仗，好像不弄死几百万中国人就对不起列祖列宗似的。

不久，两岸这对“兄弟”就如胶似漆了，倒是被喻为“夫妻”的中美两国开始磕磕碰碰，尤其是2008年后，美国媒体对中国不客气，中国官媒也开始大张旗鼓地宣传美国人的阴谋和邪恶，弄得一些连美国在地球上哪个方位都不清楚的年轻人开始热血沸腾，一说起美国就咬牙切齿，好像他们的房子被拆、工资太低以及政府的贪污腐败都是中央情报局的阴谋，恨不得立马渡海到美国，占领华盛顿，血洗白宫。

很快，媒体的风向又转了，中美这对“夫妻”不吵架了，我不能确定他们是否已经“同床”，但已经坐在同一张板凳上开始做梦了——中国梦同美国梦是相通的嘛。“兄弟”不闹了，“夫妻”和好了，可媒体不能闲着，巧的是这时正好又跳出一个一衣带水的恶邻——日本。官方背景的媒体又起劲了，用当初指责“美国支持台湾”的一模一样的口吻与句式指责美国现在又在支持日本……美国真是躺着也中枪啊。最后弄得一些喜欢吃生鱼片的人都不敢去中国人开的日本餐厅，担心被扣上“汉奸”的帽子。

明眼人一下子就能看出，只能发出一种声音的媒体，没有能够在政治人物失误或者别有用心时坚持公正的报道，刊登不同的意见，实则扮演了很坏的角色。互联网的出现，弥补了这方面的不足。我们虽没有非盈利（non-profit）机构从事“公共外交”工作，但我们有“非盈利”（no-paid）写作给外交提供一点正能量。过去十年，我主要关注中国国内政治改革与民主化进程，但也写了几十万字的国际关系评论文章。

在海峡两岸紧张时，我写了大量的呼吁两兄弟坐下来谈，主张北京通向台北的路不必绕道华盛顿；中美关系最紧张的时候，我认为同美国搞好关系是我们唯一的选择，符合中国的国家利益；中日大闹时，我写了多篇文章提醒他们别玩过了……当然，我更多的博文，还是向那些也许一辈子都没有机会出去看看的青年人介绍我所有见所闻、所思所想，我认为，任何牢固的双边关系，必须建立在两国民众对对方的认知与理解上，无知、误解与误导只能导致偏见与对抗。

我有很多这类旨在增加中国普通读者对美国的了解、减少误会、缓解仇恨的博文。例如2008年时中美关系出现了一些问题，大量青年被主流媒体引导认为美国的民主和言论自由都是虚假的，民众没有抗议权，针对奥巴马的批评和丑化行为会遭到打击报复。于是在不久后一次访问美国时，我穿上一件明显印有丑化奥巴马漫画图像的衣服，绕着白宫走了一圈，还在华盛顿期间写了一篇抗议美国政府官僚机构的文章。我当天就把图片和文章发在博客上，很多年轻的中国网友通过图文多少增加了对美国的一些了解，要知道，他们可是生活在一个“丑化”乡长都有可能被打击报复甚至送去“劳教”的地方——谢天谢地，在网友的鼓噪下，“劳教”好像已经废除了。不过，我得对奥巴马说一声对不起，我不是真不喜欢他，我只是利用了一下他。有点不地道，但我知道，美国人的总统就是用来“利用”和批评的。

再如，前段时间美国的退休国防部长盖茨写书点评美国政坛人物，几乎把从总统到国务卿的所有白宫人物都批评了几句，这件事在中国的主流媒体上被报道的比较多，这当然没什么，也符合事实，但一些试图由此引申出美国的民主制度虚假，以及美国政府在欺骗民众等等的做法，就过了，会给信息不全甚至连思考都被限制的部分中国读者留下错误的认识，这个时候，作为博客和微博作者，就有必要点醒一下：你没看到人家一个退休的国防部长都可以揭露现任政府的内幕，直接批评总统和国务卿吗？

兼听则明，偏听则暗，看新闻联播可以增加幸福感，但如果不结合老杨头的博文看，你可能很快就变成幸福的傻子。这些年，像我一样的成百上千的网络写作者，多多少少对中国普通人理解外部世界做了一些贡献。有了互联网这个平台，一些人试图靠制造舆论来激起仇恨、转移视线达到其它目的做法，恐怕都不会那么顺利了。“公共外交”不仅仅是做政府无法做的事，还要设法避免政府做一些不太好的事。

相比中国来说，美国民众的意见对当局的外交决策具有更加直接的影响，但我们痛心地看到，就在中国的一些网络民调显示中国人对美国人的好感在上升时，美国人对中国的不友好甚至敌视的比例却在增加。中国有一些外宣计划，也投入了不少钱，但由于他们不理解海外的生态，或者不愿意去理解，也无法改变自己的官僚作风，效果往往不是很好，有时甚至做多少错多少，更有一些起到了反面宣传的效果。我认为增加美国人对中国了解的这种工作，还得由当地的华人华侨以及像“美中关系全国委员会”，以及老一辈中美问题专家和美国外交官来做比较好。美国的媒体看中国也应该全面，不能抱妖魔化的心态。

在中国，我们这些博客作者走的还是草根路线，影响的是巨量没有多少影响力的普通人，不过，我相信，当成千上万没有影响力的普通人了解到真相，接受到多元，并开始学会通过互联网和新媒体发声时，他们不但能够影响那些有影响力的政策决策者，其本身就是一股不容忽视的巨大力量。因此我认为，中美“新型大国关系”的内容中应该加进一条，那就是开放的社会，流通的信息，确保两国民众之间也能做到从了解到理解再到相互尊重。让我们一起努力吧。

杨恒均 2014.2.27

杨恒均 2015-08-23 08:54:16