‘Unworthy’ victims? Human rights and Chinese suffering in Western media

Abstract

"In conversations with Chinese people living in the diaspora about how their homeland is depicted in Western media, perspectives are polarised. Some accuse American media of overstating human rights issues while overlooking positive developments in an attempt to humiliate China. Others fault the foreign press for downplaying oppression in favour of upbeat, pro-business portrayals. Are there discernible biases in Western coverage of Chinese abuses? How are these related to geopolitical issues? Are Chinese abuses being used to distract from American ones? Analysis of thousands of English-language articles about human rights in China produced answers simultaneously surprising and expected. Anglo-American media have been downplaying the scope, severity, and systemic nature of abuses in China. As a result of looking for change in the wrong places, journalists scour official manoeuvres while often discounting shifts in political culture and grassroots civil action. Thus, under the current climate in which both Western and Chinese elites are content with the exploitative status quo, Chinese people are, effectively, ‘unworthy victims’."