tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post8081915910469396841..comments2024-03-04T10:20:10.154+00:00Comments on Anna Chen: Madam Miaow Says: Anatoly Karlin's Top Ten Sinophobe MythsMadam Miaowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-27671755525462071802011-07-13T02:07:56.491+01:002011-07-13T02:07:56.491+01:00Hello, I'm Anatoly Karlin.
Thanks for the pro...Hello, I'm Anatoly Karlin.<br /><br />Thanks for the prop. Just to be clear, I don't consider that political repression in China is comparable to that of the West (or indeed most other countries). <br /><br />I'd also estimate that overall corruption is worse than in the US and Japan - e.g. the incidence of bribe giving may be low (at least according to the Global Corruption Barometer figures), but higher level corruption seems more prevalent in China (though we can't really know because the judiciary and mass media are not independent, and budget transparency is very low).<br /><br />That said, I agree with you that the Western media coverage of China is very slanted and basically (1) exaggerates everything, or invents things outright - e.g. the export dependency myth, and/or (2) latches on to anything it can that could conceivably "prove" that China will collapse soon (e.g. China's bad loans, whereas the situation in the West is far worse in that respect). In this respect it has many similarities with the way the Western media covers Russia, constantly ranting on about how Putin is a dictator who is bringing the country to collapse any day now.<br /><br />This is why I was motivated to write the Sinophobe myths article. In a way it's as one-sided as the media coverage I (we?) rant about but as that same mass media proves "balance" doesn't win you mass readership. It's a diametrical response to the MSM's biases.akarlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08322298490656235467noreply@blogger.com