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max81 · Joined: 26 Sep 2010 Posts: 59

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/world/asia/chinas-president-pushes-back-against-western-culture.html?_r=1&ref=china

�We must clearly see that international hostile forces are intensifying the strategic plot of westernizing and dividing China, and ideological and cultural fields are the focal areas of their long-term infiltration,� Mr. Hu said, according to a translation by Reuters.

�The international culture of the West is strong while we are weak,� he said

At the same time, China has been making a push to increase its cultural influence abroad, or its �soft power.�

steve b · Joined: 31 May 2011 Posts: 293 Location: China

And the job-related part is?

max81 · Joined: 26 Sep 2010 Posts: 59

steve b · Joined: 31 May 2011 Posts: 293 Location: China

Ha-ha - don't know who this buzz chap is but I thought I might have been missing a deep meaning.

Cyberkada · Joined: 04 Dec 2011 Posts: 306 Location: Xi'an, China

Cyberkada · Joined: 04 Dec 2011 Posts: 306 Location: Xi'an, China

Shouldn't this be in the non-job-related posts anyways?

edit: I do see the relevance to of teaching jobs though.... as...

FTs are now really one of the few ways to get Western culture to these students (I teach in a foundation program, and these students plan to go to Australia, Canada, or the US) - as other avenues are being closed by the government.

steve b · Joined: 31 May 2011 Posts: 293 Location: China

I think you will find that has already been established.

SahanRiddhi · Joined: 18 Sep 2010 Posts: 267

I think they should take one step further. Clearly when government officials' kids go to western countries for university, they bring too much western influence to China. That should be banned. Their spouses also should not be allowed to reside or shop in western countries.

Cyberkada · Joined: 04 Dec 2011 Posts: 306 Location: Xi'an, China

I think things might be getting a little rough for us FTs here. China's open-society policy of the last 20 years is rapidly changing. Whats next, a party minder in every classroom, outside of the cameras (4x!) in the main FT classroom and the classroom monitor as it is?

I got in big trouble once by mentioning overseas business in SE Asia. and accidentally rattled off Taiwan in that list.

auchtermuchty · Joined: 05 Dec 2009 Posts: 344 Location: Beijing

choudoufu · Joined: 25 May 2010 Posts: 3325 Location: Mao-berry, PRC

excellent. i'm sure mr. H will lead by example by taobao'ing
his collection of western cars, and buying a lovely chang'an 面包车。

Cyberkada · Joined: 04 Dec 2011 Posts: 306 Location: Xi'an, China

[quote="auchtermuchty"][quote="Cyberkada"]

They have so far kept their word. With Internet and media crackdowns and increased censorship - such as the edict virtually banning of anything Western-influenced on TV.

auchtermuchty · Joined: 05 Dec 2009 Posts: 344 Location: Beijing

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

dean_a_jones · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 1151 Location: Wuhan, China

Yeah, I have to agree with auchtermuchty. I am sensing the usual amount of hyperbole, misinformation and hysterics regarding the reality of access to information in China.

Is stuff censored--certainly, and annoyingly at times. Does that mean only rich Chinese living in western compounds or 5 start hotels get to see Western programmes. No, not at all.

Sorry Cyberkada, but its seems as though you have not really opened your eyes since arriving, and are leaving with the same preconceived notions (and to some degree, western media bias*) as when you arrived. This place is far from perfect, but access to western (or western style) culture on TV, in the cinema etc. is not really much of a problem here.

As for the 'announcement', it is a lot of rhetoric and propaganda. When I read things like this, I can almost hear my students eyeballs rolling backwards. Especially since, as others have pointed out, those at the top of the pile take full advantage of their positions and wealth to stick their kids in international schools or western universities etc. People know this, particularly younger ones, and can see through the BS.

That doesn't mean they don't want to see China grow in wealth and (hard and especially soft) power, but I think many would laugh at some of the claims being made regarding how much information they are supposedly missing out on due to censorship.

* [edit] Lest I be called an apologist or whatever is thrown around, what I mean by this is the fact that, generally the media in the west tends to focus and push more negative stories on China (which might be perfectly true) due to the fact that these sell papers or create web hits, as does negative news generally. But this does create, particularly in the US (it seems to me anyway) but also throughout the west, a pretty unclear picture of the reality of China for the average Chinese person. While the place is certainly bad for some, in particular those who are trying to cause or create change from within, this idea that the average Chinese person lives in some CCP mediated bubble seems to me to be one of the knock-on effects of a media bias. It suggests that the party is prying into people's lives and arresting/imprisoning regular people who don't buy the party line, and that real information (rather than party propaganda) is hard to come by. This just isn't true.