Chinese media, netizens ease up on Scarborough Shoal standoff

BEIJING – China’s media and its netizens, or those who frequently use the Internet, have become more relaxed in discussing the unfolding impasse at the Scarborough Shoal involving vessels from China and the Philippines.

Speaking before journalists attending the “Seminar on Press and Publication in Developing Countries,” Shi Anbin, a journalism and communication professor at the Tsinghua University, said that as compared to the “Manila hostage crisis” two years ago, China’s media and netizens have now become “more rational.”

Hosted by the State Council Information Office (SCIO), the 21-day seminar is being attended by 36 journalists from 22 countries, including the Philippines.

“As we know more of the Philippines, this irrationality has been defused. This nationalist attitude has been eased because of communication between the two countries,” Shi said.

“Although this incident (impasse) has been on the Internet, it has not become politicized. For this occasion, it has not been politicized,” he added.

Shi admitted that during the 2010 Manila hostage incident, media and netizens in Hong Kong were enraged but the incident had little effect in mainland China.

The August 2010 hostage incident strained relations between China and the Philippines for a time after a disgruntled former Manila policeman took hostage a bus filled with four Filipinos, 20 tourists and a tourist guide from Hong Kong.

The police assault that followed ended in the death of the hostage taker Rolando Mendoza and eight of the hostages.

“When the Hong Kong tourists were killed in the Philippines, there was an overreaction from the people of Hong Kong. The people in the mainland did not react in a very strong way,” he said.

According to figures given by the SCIO, China now has 20 percent of the world’s total number of media consumers with 816 daily newspapers; 9,000 magazines; 450 million Internet users and 300 million bloggers.

Although social networking sites that originate outside of China (a country of 1.3 billion people) such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter cannot be accessed in the mainland because of a strict firewall policy, the country’s netizens are actively using their own versions of Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

Shi said the Chinese government should foster better communication with the Philippines through media.

“We should have more communication with the people in the Philippines. To build a more positive image of China,” he said. 

“Our soft power products have not become popular in South East Asian nations. People fear China simply because they lack knowledge about China. The government should expand its media outlets in the world,” he added.

Shi said this approach has proven effective for countries like the United States which is actively using its “soft power” or persuasive approach to international relations using economic or cultural influence.

“The United States is doing a great job by using its soft power like Hollywood. Even countries like Vietnam are being conquered by this soft power. By removing the memories about the Vietnam War,” he said.