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My Take | Only bad news is good news about China
- How the global news media completely missed China’s full recovery from Covid-19 and why it matters that their citizens are not properly informed about the true state of the world
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In my line of work, only bad news is real news, and good news is no news. This is especially so when it comes to reporting on China. I submit to you that’s why the world has been astonished by the nation’s rapid recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Quite simply, if all you read about were terrible things happening in China, how could it have suddenly rid itself of the pandemic while major Western countries are still desperately struggling to contain its spread?
As an illustration, let me do an impromptu test. Do you recognise these names: Dr Zhang Yongzhen, Dr Li Lanjuan and Dr Li Wenliang?
Most of us have heard of Li Wenliang because of non-stop reporting and commentaries on his supposed heroics and martyrdom in China’s domestic social media and foreign news outlets. But most medical experts would agree that it was the actions of Zhang and Li Lanjuan that ultimately saved millions of lives in China and alerted the world to the pandemic danger.
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I did several quick Google searches on all three: “Dr Li Wenliang” yields 1,610,000,000 results; “Dr Zhang” 447,000 and “Dr Li Lanjuan” 60,200. Time magazine did name Zhang as one of 100 most influential people in 2020. But why the disparities?
Bad news is real news: Dr Li Wenliang
In late December 2019, Li, an eye doctor, sent a private message to several colleagues warning them of a possible Sars-like outbreak. That message was leaked to the public. He was then warned, not punished, by officials to be more discreet in communicating about the then little-known disease. He subsequently caught Covid-19 and died in February.
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