Western perceptions of China continually evolve with images of Mao Zedong quickly replaced by staid bureaucrats fattening themselves on the labours of the masses, and Alibaba’s Jack Ma who recently debuted the largest IPO on the NYSE.

These larger-than-life caricatures can be attributed to how the Western media shapes our perception of China and we gladly lap it up. But take a moment to imagine how the Western world would appear through Chinese eyes. Though international travel is getting more and more affordable to the Chinese these days, the vast majority still rely solely on the media for their view of the outside world.

State media vs. independent reporting

Before getting down to how the Chinese view the outside world, it must first be understood that the media in China is hardly a homogeneous entity but rather an unlikely marriage between the state media and unofficial sources. Official media, as a vital propaganda tool, state media is heavily censored in China, right down to what appears in news reports. Recently, concessions have been made for allowing the party to appear more “transparent” or objective, especially in the exposure of corrupt officials. This “transparency” has not materialized into greater press freedom however; on the contrary, with Xi Jinping’s drive to clean up the reputation of the Communist Party has also come a clamp down on free speech, tightening controls over China’s media and internet.

Apart from exalting the ruling powers, the state media has another role to discredit other forms of government life overseas. Perhaps a harkening back to insecurities of the days where China was brought to her knees through the Opium War and Japanese oppression, there is a need to rid the West of her identity as an “arrogant overlord, democratic foe and subversive instigator”, according to TIME’s Hannah Beech. This kind of reporting tends to be judgmental in tone and replete with loaded vocabulary.

Social media platforms

Apart from the official “voice”, the online world is a virtual free-for-all; well, for those able to circumvent the great firewall. Sina Weibo, once the voice for the otherwise voiceless, has since lost many of its most influential opinion leaders and whistleblowers. Harsh new laws that threaten to jail “rumour mongers” has dampened the vigor and life of a social media platform once known to blow off the lid on domestic scandals and social problems that would otherwise have been left unreported.  Instead, the population has begun a gradual migration to WeChat, which doesn’t yet have the same whistle-blowing abilities as Sina Weibo.

Despite increased circulations of articles from public WeChat accounts, direct access to unbiased reporting on the West is more difficult on WeChat, especially if one doesn’t know which accounts to follow. While an increasing number of Chinese buy VPNs to access blocked sites like Facebook, Twitter and the New York Times, these people are generally well-educated urban dwellers – the majority of people in China however, must make do with state-media reports.

Effects of clampdown on media

But how has Xi’s clampdown on media affected Chinese reporting on the West, if at all? One could argue that China’s reporting on the West is actually more inward-focused that outward. Top headlines often focus on China’s achievements vis-à-vis Western nations. A good example of this type of reporting is the World News section of China Daily’s website. Right below the tabs for world regions are sub-tabs for China-Japan, China-US etc. Indeed, once you scroll down the short “general” world news section, the vast majority of the page is dedicated to China’s interaction with the rest of the world. Moreover, front pages of state newspapers are usually overwhelmingly China-focused, as demonstrated in the front page shot of this recently published People’s Daily newspaper below: the front page is entirely taken up with China-related news. 

However, despite China’s inward approach, one could also argue that Chinese media has played a role in propagating a number of stereotypes of the outside world; just as Western media tends to shape views of China with one-sided reporting. Below, are some of the more obvious examples of this:

1) There are countries in the world that are poorer than China
China has indeed arrived, on the world stage, or so the state media would have their citizens believe. Taking pleasure in airing news about how the government is doing “charitable” work – massive projects constructing power plants, roads and the like are benefitting the local economy. Scenes of Chinese official benefactors and local government officials shaking hands are interspersed with that of barren countrysides in other developing countries and starving waifs. This seems to work as many Chinese are of the opinion that other developing countries are much worse off in terms of standard of living. A recent example of this is the Ebola crisis, where the Chinese media has reported taking to helping those who are worse off.

Unfortunately, this strategy did backfire recently when an overcrowded school bus got involved in a fatal accident in Gansu. Netizens helpfully dug up photos of luxurious school buses donated to Africa and that were comparatively luxurious when looking at pictures of the Gansu schoolbuses.

2) There are guns everywhere (in America) and gun crimes and school shootings are common
Whenever there is any news of gun crime or school shootings in America, the state media radar would go into high alert. Blow-by-blow accounts of the event will be furnished, along with detailed analyses condemning gun ownership. Documentary clips of gun exhibitions where consumers finger guns like smartphones will be included as background information. Moral of the story? Everyone has a gun in America, and as citizens living in China, we should be grateful that we have such good gun control regulations. China is relatively safe, and other countries are dangerous.

3) Westerners are rich, the quality of life is good and state welfare is excellent (unemployment benefits encourages laziness though)
The Chinese do genuinely envy state welfare as there is always a saying that one can’t afford to get hospitalized in China. However, they frown upon unemployment benefits, thinking that it promotes laziness. Developed nations are also perceived as having higher levels of hygiene, air quality and food safety. The Chinese also consider the western world to have a more level playing field, as most young people there seem to be able to afford their own house and car after some years in the workforce. Most Chinese youth can only afford these assets on their parents’ bank accounts.

4) But China and the Chinese are fast catching up
All this may be set to change, though as state media was quick to pick up news that on the lavish spending habit of Chinese tourist overseas. This gives rise to views that Chinese are catching up, or even surpassing citizens of the developed world in terms of income. Sure, all this newfound wealth does bring reports of obnoxious behaviour among Chinese tourists, but the Chinese take it in their stride. The glory of conspicuous consumption will never be overshadowed by behaviour that is considered “normal” back home anyway.

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Keywords: Chinese media stereotypes Chinese media Chinese Media Perception of Outside World