Archive for May 1st, 2008
Hangzhou Bay Bridge opened to the public today
The bridge is more than 36 km long, the second longest bridge and the longest sea crossing bridge in the world, connecting Shanghai and Ningbo, across the Hangzhou Bay at the East China Sea. The construction took about four years to complete and the cost was $1.5 billion. Keep in mind that this is also a “made in China”.
The last two pictures are the scenery observation dock and the planned structures.
Since we are talking about media distortions
UPDATE: I find that this post published on the Spiked: Challenging China-bashing is much more scientific, detailed and convincing on the relevant issue, and you are strongly urged to check it out.
Media distortion when it comes to Chinese issues didn’t start after the recent outbreak of the Tibet issue. As I mentioned, Chinese overseas reach their conviction that western media is not much better than their counterpart in China through years and decades living experience in the west. Most who have lived in the west for less than 3 years are usually more pro-west. They are still in the period of being impressed by the freedom the western media enjoy, and about to enter the phase when they realize that invisible hands are behind the stage.
Take the Chinese toy scandal we observed not so long ago for instance. All of sudden, the topic was among the headlines of almost all American major news media. You watched them talking about China poisoning the west for hours and hours everyday, read all sorts of elaborated articles, and heard all kinds of self-justified proposals of refusing all Chinese products. “Experts” of all sorts stepped onto the stage joining the chorus bashing China and making stimulating statements.
There, you heard how many millions of toys made in China were recalled last year. Quite a scary number! Here is the one serious flaw however. What is the total number of all toys made in China during the same time? Because, without this vital piece of information, “millions”, huge numbers as they are, contain zero information. Try it and you won’t find this second number in any major news media, including CNN.
You realize why if you read Chinese forums. It was claimed there that the recall rate, the relative ratio between the amounts of the toys recalled and manufactured, was just about the industrial average. Nothing impressive. Guess why those “experts”, showing off their sincere and caring faces on CNN and the kind, didn’t think of it a news-worthy number, and therefore very conveniently ignored it? Read the rest of this entry »
