Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Ridiculous for Foreign Media to Compare China, Venezuela
By Li Qingqing
Global Times
2019/2/25 19:43:39

The New York Times released an article headlined "China's entrepreneurs are wary of its future" on Saturday. The opinionated article used the story of Chen Tianyong, a Chinese real estate developer who chose to leave China, to declare that China's economic environment is "tightly controlled." According to the Times reporter, some businesspeople are comparing China's future to that of Venezuela "where the government seized control of the economy and didn't ease up."

It is ridiculous to compare China with Venezuela. Venezuela is too dependent on oil, and is now in economic crisis and political turmoil. Can't the Western media recognize the difference between the two countries?

The Western media do not understand China. They have no idea how China accomplished today's achievement after 40 years of reform and opening-up. How can Western media always make such irresponsible remarks on China's economy and system? In the 21st century, it is a shame that Western people still view China in such an obsolete way. Instead of trying to observe China more objectively, they narrow-mindedly stick to their own ideology. Many Chinese people are confused: Why are some Western countries so stubborn in distorting facts and blackening China?

Because some Western media's always tend to smear or even subvert China's political system. Take Chen Tianyong's story. With ulterior motives, the New York Times tells stories of certain Chinese individuals and then exaggerates the fact, thus declaring that there are serious problems in China's economy and political system. This is their consistent practice and some foreign people who do not understand China will fall into the Western media's trap. Chinese people always need to be on the alert for such ill-intentioned articles.

The article has attracted much attention. Many Western scholars agreed with it on Twitter. But there are also many articles that tell people how China successfully resolved its economic problems. Some Western media are selectively deaf, intentionally choosing to misread China. This has led to many wrong judgments and predictions about China.

But one thing is true: Some Chinese entrepreneurs do have concerns about China's future economy. They are worried about China's GDP in 2018 - the lowest annual growth rate since 1990 - and they are afraid of China's downward economic pressure.

However, all these concerns are because China is now undergoing a great economic transition. There are indeed some problems with China's current economy. But if the Western media put these problems all together and exaggerate them, the problems will make the reader feel like China's economy is breaking down. To objectively analyze the whole picture, people shouldn't ignore China's economic transition. These problems will be gradually resolved as the Chinese economy develops steadily. Don't all countries need to go through economic downturns and upturns? People cannot correctly understand China's situation if they see only a part of the problems.

The most important thing is that Chinese entrepreneurs need to seize the opportunity. Compared with other countries, China provides more opportunities for private enterprises. China will open its door wider and optimize its business environment and this explains the continued influx of foreign investment into China.

No comments: