AuthorPeter Man Archives
March 2022
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When I say that China has failed to promote its image, I speak from experience. I worked in the television business in Canada throughout all of the 80s and 90s. I produced the most popular Chinese language program in Toronto and later built and operated a national Chinese language TV station. The studio that I built in the mid 90s is still up and running. I knew that the Chinese government did not spare any efforts to improve their image abroad. Their failure could not be avoided because it’s a systemic problem. It is the same reason that they to this day cannot build a decent soccer team (read my Quora answer). Throwing 3,000 foreign journalists and a ton of money into the pot doesn’t necessarily solve the problem. It’s not like they haven’t tried using money before. The person in charge of dispensing the money usually is not qualified and has no idea how the money should be spent. It unerringly goes to someone who is related to the clueless and is similarly clueless. The money is usually wasted and more likely than not creates the opposite result. Even today, I believe that many foreign ‘journalists’ working in the English media of China have not been properly vetted. Why? Because some of the people in charge are very likely clueless. After living and working in China for twenty years, I have recently returned to Toronto for family reasons. If possible, I hope to go back to China someday and spend more time there. China has opened my eyes and I am fully cognizant of the Big Lie of the Western world. I am therefore quite disappointed when I discovered that the image of China has in fact deteriorated in Toronto after all these years. Judging from the mainstream press, the situation can’t be any better elsewhere in America. The Chinese officials here has been promoting business and trying to improve its image top-down (since the Huawei arrest debacle, there has been a freeze). Any community activities sponsored by Chinese government agencies are basically all-mainland Chinese. It’s an echo chamber that sounds nice to the singers, but no one else hears the songs. Aside from the numerous Falungong members distributing anti-communist pamphlets and the free Epoch Times ‘newspaper’ that smears all things from China, I know of nothing that gives me the impression that China even cares about its image in Canada. When the Confucius Institute sponsored free Mandarin classes for the Toronto Education Board, they had to cancel it because of protests that the classes might corrupt young minds with insidious communist messages. The Chinese representatives have not engaged with the society at large, has no idea how to do it, does not understand the society here, and does not speak their language. Despite its great success at home and elsewhere, it has failed spectacularly in promoting its image properly in Canada. It fails by trying to defend itself based on the wrong narrative; it fails by not having a narrative; and it fails by giving up because it has no idea what to do. Many people say that China does not need to promote itself, as long as it continues to work towards its goal and succeeds. Let me remind everyone that the Chinese Communist did not win the Chinese Civil War because it had support from foreign powers, superior armies, or more resources than the Nationalists. One of the biggest factors of their success was that they had gained the support of the peasants. Gaining hearts and minds is a most important strategic objective. In my opinion, China has failed to do that at least in Canada (but likely in many other places as well), and I don’t think hiring 3,000 foreign ‘journalists’ will change anything if you don’t have a convincing narrative. Rest assured that these ‘journalists’ once hired back by the MSM will turn around and bite you with ten fold ferocity. It is also disappointing that China continues to lack direct channels of communications with their Canadian counterparts. The Huawei arrest really should not have happened. I have worked in the television business and used to be engaged in public hearings and licence applications, etc. It’s quasi-judicial, political, and economical. In other words, it’s serious business. A good friend on the inside who can have a timely coffee with you will make a world of difference and spare everyone a lot of heartache. Don’t believe the lie that politicians keep repeating everyday about their own virtuous morals. Poor Jody believed it, and she is now kicked out of the Liberal Caucus, looked upon by her erstwhile colleagues as a devious turncoat, and will be avoided by the corporate sector like the plague. What is to be done? Read "The Unconquered" to find out.
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