The Tribune

A trip to China provided a look at the growing technological world of one of the world's superpowers for Tribune reporter Earyel Bowleg - including questions of censorship and cultural differences in approaches to the media.

SINCE 1987, when China joined the ranks of other countries after Professor Qian Tianbai sent the country’s first email, the nation has had a technological revolution.

Now undeniably a sprawling tech hub, it has the most “netizens” in the world, with 1.079 billion people using the internet as of June this year. Meanwhile, about 1.076 billion access the internet through mobile phones.

It is a great leap since that first email sent from the Haidian District of Beijing, which read: "Across the Great Wall we can reach every corner in the world."

I took my own journey across the Great Wall recently, on a 15-day trip to attend the Seminar for Young Media Professionals from Developing Countries sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and organised by CICG Institute of International studies and Advanced Training.

The seminar was about a medium and its development in China but understanding the country's political and historical development, diplomacy, and global development.

As a participant in the seminar, I was conscious of accusations against China of media censorship and being a highly controlled state.

Facebook, YouTube, and Whatsapp are blocked and can only be accessed via a virtual private network.

Those questions came to the fore during the seminar. A video played in one of the presentations of Liu Xiu, an anchor for the English language news channel China Global Television Network, being interviewed by an Australian journalist.

Among the many questions about press freedom, the host pressed her regarding her colleague Cheng Lei, a Chinese-born Australian journalist, being detained on national security charges. Cheng has spoken publicly since, saying that the reason for her detention was because she broke an embargo by a few minutes.

After three years, she was released on October 11 and reunited with her children.

The seminar's lectures gave a strong response to the negative perception of China in the Western media, particularly the United States.

Media outlets such as CNN, BBC, and CBC are highly influential worldwide and have served as the benchmark to strive for in media excellence. Nonetheless, they are not infallible – and can spread incorrect information and create the wrong perception.

It is a complaint several countries make, especially developing countries. In fact, many of the participants shared their own frustrations over American press coverage of their country.

But to simply point to the West cannot entirely dismiss all of the allegations levied at China.

Xu Qinduo, a presenter at China Media Group (CMG), described Chinese media, saying it is not just about educating, informing, and entertaining - it is to unite.

"In China, sometimes also you need it to help create this, what you call, a mainstream commonality - the mainstream value. To strengthen the mainstream of value," he said.

He talked of how the fear of division fuels the need for unity - as he pointed to tension between Republicans and Democrats in the US.

He said: "You have a divided society and it's very difficult to manage daily affairs. It's very difficult to govern and then there is a big problem. If it's getting worse and worse then you tend to have a civil war if people can't handle their differences in the nice way. So China is very mindful of that.

"So the Chinese media they do have a role. You don't divide the nation, you don't divide the people. When we report about ethnic issues and minority issues, you do it in a way to bring people together. You don't do it in a way, you know, having them against each other. Because for the sake of national unity, for the sake of the nation.

"So that's called some Chineseness. Probably, usually, because it's sponsored by the state, but increasingly, the state is reducing that account of sponsorship or no financing. They are also getting financing from the market. So they are serving, in a sense, the government, the public interests. But also meeting the needs of the consumers' information."

Then there is the concern of whether public state-funded media can be truly critical. Xu Qinduo believed there is a delicate line between what Chinese call constructive criticism or criticism in the Western media environment.

He said: "I see that Western style media environment is sometimes the criticism from opposition parties, for example, is a zero sum. It is like the ruling party is all bad and you better help me to rule the country because they are bad people.

"We don't do that. We say, 'Oh, your policy largely is right but some of the details, they are not okay. Clear on opinions why they are not okay. They are not working well, or they are not practical enough. Here are some suggestions’."

Citizens are aware opposition parties will be heavy on rhetoric most of the time. Outside of politicians, there are some journalists and columnists in Western media who do exactly what he describes as constructive criticism.

On the second week of the trip we attended the 13th China Digital Publishing Expo in Dunhuang, Gansu province.

The expo centred around "Empowering with Digital Intelligence, Connecting the Future". At the opening ceremony, many of the speakers spoke about the predicted impact of artificial intelligence (AI) of the entertainment, gaming, and publishing industry.

Xiao Hong, CEO of Perfect World Co, said: "We know at the very beginning where AI is doing its assistant work, we actually have some expectation that in the future three or five years AI will extend its power to more and more sectors in the publishing industry. And it will influence for everyone working in the publishing industry, we have to understand how to take such challenge.

"About two years ago, I reminded my staff that AI is coming. We should be aware of this risk and try to make ourselves stronger than before. And I believe that actually we should view it as a new opportunity to progress."

The majority of the trip was filled with excursions in Beijing and Dunhuang – and for me, the outings did offer a different view of China.

The first observation when I landed in the capital was that the infamous haze floating over Beijing was nowhere in sight.

For the remainder of my stay, it rarely made an appearance - the air felt light and fresh. There was one day when there was a haze of air pollution, but the visibility was not horrendous.

Looking around, it appeared the country was experiencing normalcy after the coronavirus was discovered in Wuhan back in 2019. There were one or two people wearing face masks, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The city was heavily policed at the metro stations and major streets - certainly bolstering China's reputation of being a safe country. Before entering the station on the platform, I had to go through a scanner.

However, the police were not threatening nor intrusive.

But Dunhuang definitely broadened my view of the country.

Located in western China, Dunhuang is an oasis city near a desert. I had never really seen such a landscape in images of China and it was my delight to actually see one.

Also in Dunhuang we encountered many minority groups. A unique aspect of the trip was interacting with one group - the Subei people - at the Subei Mongol Autonomous County.

This group speaks Mandarin, but they were distinctive in appearance from the Chinese people of Hun descent (the majority of China's population).

Seminar participants were able to try on the Subei people's traditional clothing and food.

Overall, the trip to China was a wider and relevant discussion on the influence of the media in a time when the public do not trust the press and the audience wonders "who do I believe"?

I am not in a Chinese newsroom and do not know any Chinese journalist personally to truly judge, so I cannot make the most in-depth assessment on press freedom on China. Nevertheless, ideas about the future with positive advancements in technology are something I won't overlook.

When that first email was sent, few could have predicted the scale of China’s embrace of technology and the internet. As it looks to a technological future in communication and publishing today, what will that next great leap bring?