美国国家公共电台 NPR Chinese Leaders Leverage Media To Shape How The World Perceives China

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Let's continue our series on how China is trying to influence the world. This is being felt across the globe today in many ways. But what China's leaders really want is to shape how the world perceives their country. They've devoted¹ massive resources to this. And the center of these efforts to shape perceptions is China's supreme² leader himself Xi Jingping. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Beijing on Xi's message and his media.

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE³: The China Daily is the country's biggest English-language newspaper by circulation. I met with some of their young journalists recently at a cafe outside their headquarters. They asked to be identified only by their English first names, as they weren't authorized⁴ to speak to foreign media.

One of them, Gary, said that no matter what's going on, President Xi Jinping is always at the top of the news. In fact, he says, that's a rule of the government's mobile news app, which China Daily runs.

GARY: (Speaking Chinese).

KUHN: "News of President Xi Jinping always comes first," he says. "And Premier⁵ Li Keqiang always comes second." That's not to say that they make news every day. But even if they don't, their news stays in the top two positions.

Another journalist named Miranda says that news about Xi is edited with extreme caution.

MIRANDA: (Through interpreter) If we can possibly avoid using his name, we do, because an error in an article related to Xi would have very serious consequences.

KUHN: Chinese state media depicts⁶ Xi as both a forceful visionary leader but also a down-to-earth man of the people. One minute, they trumpet⁸ Xi's achievements in building China into an economic powerhouse. The next, they show him holding an umbrella for his wife Peng Liyuan. Meanwhile, Xi himself has embraced social media and used it to broadcast simple, earthy messages. Here he is delivering a characteristic line in a New Year's address in 2015.

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PRESIDENT XI JINPING: (Speaking Chinese).

KUHN: "Meat pies don't just fall from the sky," he observes. He adds, "we've all just got to roll up our sleeves and get down to work." Miranda says some of it seems to work on a domestic audience.

MIRANDA: (Through interpreter) The elder generation of my family and my classmates all have pictures of Xi and Peng on their walls. From what I see, there's a lot more reports on his family life compared to previous leaders.

KUHN: But behind the feel-good coverage⁹, Xi's use of the media has helped him to consolidate¹⁰ his own political power to a degree not seen in China for decades.

DAVID BANDURSKI: The party controls the media. And of course, that means it controls the message. And basically, Xi Jingping is the message.

KUHN: That's University of Hong Kong media expert David Bandurski. He argues that the media's obsessive¹¹ focus on Xi Jinping is displacing or erasing¹² other important news, contributing to an information vacuum about China just when the world can least afford it. But Liu Xiaoying, a media scholar at Communication University of China in Beijing, argues that China needs to focus on a main character to tell its story effectively, and Xi is that character.

LIU XIAOYING: (Through interpreter) We call our leader the promoter in chief of the nation's public image. He himself takes this very seriously.

KUHN: China began taking its image-building very seriously before Xi Jinping became president. Liu traces this back to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He says that many Chinese felt that foreign media criticism of their pollution and human rights record spoiled their moment in the world's spotlight¹³.

LIU: (Through interpreter) We felt our ability to transmit our views was inadequate¹⁴. We were unable to speak up.

KUHN: Since then, China has poured billions of dollars into its state-run media, hiring journalists and public relations firms. For example, the official New China News Agency, or Xinhua, has expanded its overseas bureaus from 100 to 180 in less than a decade. State broadcaster China Radio International, meanwhile, has expanded to allow it to put out 2,700 hours of programming a day in 61 languages. The message to its audiences, says David Bandurski, is that China's rise is a boon¹⁵ to all nations. China portrays¹⁷ itself as a provider of public services and solutions to global problems.

BANDURSKI: This is all about China's position in the world - in a sense, China's rightful position in the world; a kind of return to centrality for China. And this is all tied up with this important new foreign policy effort Belt and Road.

KUHN: More than 70 countries have signed on to participate in Xi Jinping's signature policy aimed at building infrastructure¹⁸, ports and roads linking the world to China.

Of course, China is hardly alone in its focus on its leader and his policies. Maria Repnikova, a media expert at Georgia State University, says Xi Jinping has a lot in common with other leaders, from Russia's Vladimir Putin to Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan to even U.S. President Donald Trump⁷. All of them, she says, use social media to portray¹⁶ themselves as political strongmen and to put out nationalist and populist messages.

MARIA REPNIKOVA: There's kind of the highlight on the leader himself - like his style, his personality, humor and the communications though various channels kind of in addition to the communication of the system at large.

KUHN: Repnikova argues that China's story and its example of high-speed economic growth has found more receptive audiences in many developing countries.

REPNIKOVA: We should think about the broader picture that many other countries would still probably continue to see China as this strong global actor and potential partner and investor¹⁹ and all of those things.

KUHN: But independent analyst²⁰ Wu Qiang says that China is having a harder time coming up with ideas that appeal to Western audiences. That's partly because, Wu says, the Communist Party has publicly rejected universal values, which it argues don't fit China.

WU QIANG: (Through interpreter) China's leader publicly opposes everything from civil society to freedom and democracy. That gives him very little room to express himself.

KUHN: If China has an alternative to what the West considers universal values, it hasn't been clear about what those are. Despite this, China appears to have put influencing foreign perceptions high on its agenda. One of the young China Daily journalists, named Bridget, suggests that this shift is apparent in her newspaper's slogan.

BRIDGET: (Through interpreter) Our motto used to be, let China go out into the world, and let the world understand China. Now it's report on China, and influence the world.

KUHN: This motto doesn't make it explicit²¹. But it's clear from China's media policies that their intent is not just to shape the world in a way that suits China's interests but also to leave President Xi Jinping's indelible mark on it.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Beijing.

(SOUNDBITE OF ANATOLE'S "LIKE DEEP WATER (FEAT. OLAFUR ARNALDS)")

1 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

5 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

6 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

7 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

8 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

11 obsessive   

adj. 着迷的, 强迫性的, 分神的

参考例句：

• Some people are obsessive about cleanliness.有些人有洁癖。
• He's becoming more and more obsessive about punctuality.他对守时要求越来越过分了。

12 erasing   

v.擦掉( erase的现在分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He was like a sponge, erasing the past, soaking up the future. 他象一块海绵，挤出过去，吸进未来。 来自辞典例句
• Suddenly, fear overtook longing, erasing memories. 突然，恐惧淹没了渴望，泯灭了回忆。 来自辞典例句

13 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

14 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

15 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

16 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

17 portrays   

v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The museum collection vividly portrays the heritage of 200 years of canals. 博物馆的藏品让运河200 年的历史再现眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The film portrays Gandhi as a kind of superman. 这部电影把甘地描绘成一个超人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

19 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

20 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

21 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。