Chinese Sphere: Interested But Cautious
As is the case in Europe and many other parts of the world, the U.S. presidential election has attracted great interest in the Chinese-language media. Every major newspaper in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore provides daily updates of the race, virtually tracking and explaining whatever the American press is focusing on including poll numbers, campaign contribution hauls, and even Joe the Plumber. Xinhua and the People's Daily, the Chinese government's official news agency and newspaper, as well as Ming Pao, one of Hong Kong's leading dailies, have entire websites devoted to news and analysis of the presidential race.
As alluded to in Nicholas Kristof's latest column, the race element in this year's election is an area of fascination. Many Chinese have a perception of American society as fraught with racial tension. When I was working in Taiwan, one of the most common questions I would be asked was whether as an Asian-American I had ever encountered racial prejudice. In Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore's largest Chinese-language daily, Zhong Bu writes that in the remaining days of the election, three factors will determine the winner: turnout of new voters, how undecided voters cast their ballots, and the Bradley Effect. Zhong states, "American race relations will be tested by whether the Bradley Effect reappears." In the China Times, a pro-China paper in Taiwan, Kuo Chenlung is even more pessimistic, arguing, "The race factor that this election has inflamed will leave a deep scar in American political history. Even if Obama gets elected, it would not eliminate racial prejudice in white people once and for all. And if Obama loses, black people would certainly not accept the results quietly."
In China, the government-controlled media's views of the candidates and the overall democratic process are tepid at best. In the China Youth Daily, the official paper of the Communist Youth League, Li Hongwen complains about how a Reuters article stated that since the only experience Chinese people have with democracy is through a homegrown version of the American Idol singing contest, they do not understand American elections. Li responds, "The writer is the one who does not understand. Chinese people approach serious issues with a trivial attitude, and sometimes they have a serious attitude when handling trivial issues. ... It is not that Chinese people do not understand the American election, it is that they do not want to waste time on other people's affairs." Li concludes with, "Elections are not always about making the best choice. It's more often about making what appears to be the least worst choice. That is what this election is all about."
Earlier this month, the Chinese Communist Party's official biweekly magazine, China Comment, ran a piece written by Feng Ju, a Chinese national working in Silicon Valley. Feng gives a blistering critique of Western democracy with a focus on how it is done in the U.S. Some arguments could find themselves right at home in McCain or Obama talking points -- outsized influence of special interests, irresponsible fiscal policies, and the absence of gun control. However, the author reserves the sharpest criticism for the American judicial system: "The failure of the American judicial system stems from the flaws of American-style democracy: it overemphasizes process at the expense of results; it overemphasizes fairness for the criminal and neglects fairness for the victim; it overemphasizes the rights of the criminal and neglects the rights of victims and their family members. Radical U.S.-style democracy has only resulted in absolute inequality." The writer concludes, "Western democracy is not a silver bullet. Pick the system that works best for you."
It is telling that in this condemnation of the judicial system Feng uses the term "criminal" instead of "defendant" or "the accused."
