Letters | What China needs to win hearts and minds in the West: a change of tone
- Government spokesmen should break free from the script, and adopt a more open approach – like professor Zhang Weiwei or late Singaporean statesman Lee Kuan Yew
The Chinese would do better to engage with the West with some degree of intellectual openness. With some courage they should break free from the official script, and adopt an exploratory approach. They could even agree with their critics when they deserve it.
That also means getting less personal in rhetoric. They should view international relations from a wider perspective of humanity. China’s top leadership has demonstrated such maturity. It is a matter of time before more people come to appreciate it.
But while being less personal, one should appeal to the emotion of one’s audience, by using language that visualises details and consequences. Prof Zhang does this exceptionally well.
Once, discussing the hypothetical scenario of electoral democracy in China during an interview, he said the country would end up with a nationalistic, “peasant government” which would want to invade Japan. That was a thought-provoking answer to give even your most presumptuous opponent. This kind of free thought and exploration is what endears you to others. They feel the human side of you.
China’s spokespersons should speak with the polite assumption that their Western counterparts and critics mean them well.