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Let's go through a few of the more recent ones: Beijing subway tunnel collapses trapping workers and the story goes unreported to authorities for hours, daily coal mine 'accidents', AIDs epidemic, fake food exports, SARs, bird flu, Songhua River poisoning, etc.
Whatever happened to compassion, mercy and care for fellow human beings? Is Chinese society really this screwed up? Should we ever trust what the Chinese government has to say? Am I being too negative as many (Chinese) people say I am?
If it makes you feel any better, I'd say you're not being any more negative than the situation itself. It's rough out there.
If there was a wreck in National Waters of China, then I'm sure China would always try to make a propaganda event out of it.
But because this ship was Chinese is it actually any different? Maybe.
Was the collision deliberate? I could hardly say, but I'd doubt it would be so obvious. I doubt it would be a Centrally planned collision at all. Too obvious.
These two factors: propoganda event and making it clear it was not a Chinese plot conjegating. And China is 'saving face' but probably no more than if a Birtish trawler hit a Spanish trawler in the Bay of Biscay, fled, then reported the matter later. I'd imagine the RN would try to launch a few helicopters and the media (The Sun to The Times) would latch onto it as a rare positive hope which would still grab eyes.
The actions strike me as the usual: nation pretecting reputation in a matter where they want to mimalise nationalist feeling against their own nation.
I don't think it's immediate mass-media reaction which has to be questioned, but publications after an event which may arise in the West but may not do so on the Mainland. I think internal disasters are a different kettle of self-protection and based in manipulation much more.
Yes, there were heavy winds last night.
And maybe I'm cynical, but if a US ship ran into and sank a Chinese ship, CCTV and the media would be practically frothing over the story. The more muted response is, perhaps, par for the course.
Great post. PLEASE keep covering this. Two reasons:
1. You are doing a great job of pulling in the info and I find this story fascinating.
2. I am going to do a post telling my readers to look to you on this topic.
I'm pretty sure the British press would be all over it if a UK freighter nailed anything. There's no one who could tell them otherwise.
Jeremiah,
Agree on both points. Sad state of affairs...
CLB,
Thanks. Will do.
If it were a freighter that hit something, it would be all over the news, because it would be unexpected (and a bad thing).
But if it were a fishing boat it would envoke recent images of clashes in the Bay of Biscay, and harking back to the Cod Wars with Iceland (a bad thing, but striking a certain jingoism/nationality).
The difference that, I feel, populations identify with bad actions as bad, but not if those bad actions are masked by some sense of being the underdog. (If we're the underdog, how are we to blame?)
And nationality is a dangerous tool to play with. An example of the British Media pushing it too far being The Sun's 'Gotcha' caption on the front of the paper, above a picture of the sinking Belgrano where 1000 were lost.
The short term frenzied reaction is chaotic, but the long term reaction is the true test of what can be published.