Quote: Howard French on China-Obama Press

“It may have made certain people in this society feel better about themselves, but if the goal is changing behaviors in China…”

“…or obtaining political or diplomatic results with China, I think the evidence is the contrary,” criticizes Howard French, associate professor at Columbia University and former senior foreign correspondent for the New York Times, of the premise underlying the negative conclusions the American press have made of United States President Obama’s recent diplomatic visit to China:

…the problem with the way the press has covered this is there’s a kind of implicit premise [that...] is misleading, I think. Maybe disingenuous is even a better word, because it seems to suggest that if Obama had pulled a Khrushchev and banged his shoe on the table on these [human rights] issues and really jumped up and down and made a lot of noise, then this would have achieved a markedly different result for the better. I don’t think there’s any evidence of that. It may have made certain people in this society feel better about themselves, but if the goal is changing behaviors in China or obtaining political or diplomatic results with China, I think the evidence is the contrary.”

The above comes from an interview with Mr. French in the Columbia Journalism Review, by way of James Fallows and his excellent coverage on “how badly the mainstream American press distorted the picture of what happened during Barack Obama’s just-ended tour of Asia.” In short, the American media and thus many Americans feel Obama disappointingly failed to accomplish anything in and with China.

Naturally, a part of this is hardcore politics, which I won’t comment much on here, but the reason French’s comment stands out is because of how poignant a reminder it is that so much — not all — of the commentary, suggestions, and demands (mine likely included) critics of China make of China are often exasperatingly divorced from reality. I say this because too often — not always — these efforts are premised upon amplifying the complaints instead of considering feasible solutions to very real challenges. Too often, these efforts seem more about assuaging selfish consciences (and moralities) or sending messages to audiences back home instead of really communicating with the Chinese that actually hold any real power in driving change. It’s more about “look at me, this is what I stand for”. It’s about “we need more outrage and more outside pressure on China”. It’s about “we need to get them to change for us now!”