The New York Times (3/29/21) produces a new installment in its ongoing project of demonizing China (FAIR.org, 1/29/21): “As President Biden predicts a struggle between democracies and their opponents, Beijing is eager to champion the other side.”
You know you’re in for a hard sell when the New York Times (3/29/21) publishes an article under the headline “An Alliance of Autocracies? China Wants to Lead a New World Order.”
And Times Beijing bureau chief Steven Lee Myers doesn’t disappoint. He asserts:
China hopes to position itself as the main challenger to an international order, led by the United States, that is generally guided by principles of democracy, respect for human rights and adherence to rule of law.
“Generally” is doing a lot of work in that sentence. I don’t think I have to spend too much time reminding you that the United States is a massive supporter of coups and undemocratic governments; has an ongoing history of torture, detention without trial and extrajudicial killing; and asserts the right to invade and coerce countries in defiance of international law. But it’s what Myers does with this deceptive summary of US policy that I find most striking; he immediately follows with:
Such a system “does not represent the will of the international community,” China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, told Russia’s, Sergei V. Lavrov, when they met in the southern Chinese city of Guilin.
Wang, like the New York Times, defines the US-led international order as one based in democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and says that doesn’t represent “the will of the international community”? That doesn’t seem likely. When you search for the part of the quote that’s actually in quotation marks, you find this release (3/26/21) from the Chinese government:
Wang Yi said, the so-called “rules-based international order” by a few countries is not clear in its meaning, as it reflects the rules of a few countries and does not represent the will of the international community.
So what Wang actually said China was challenging is the “rules-based international order”—which he suggested doesn’t deserve its name, since only a handful of countries get to make the rules. He didn’t mention democracy or human rights in the statement; as for the rule of law, he said, “We should uphold the universally recognized international law.”
It’s an article of faith in US establishment media that they represent an independent watchdog press, whereas China’s news outlets propagandize the official positions of the state. Articles like this one make you wonder what they’re talking about.
ACTION ALERT: You can send a message to the New York Times at letters@nytimes.com (Twitter: @NYTimes). Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective. Feel free to leave a copy of your communication in the comments thread.
Repeating the Western line
Rewriting its rivals’
Good article, thank you.
This is fairly typical of mass media pushing an agenda, and, unfortunately, many major newspapers (but I’d like to single out NYT, because it used to be better, and WP, because it’s just outrageously bad) fall under that category.
Do you really think that contacting NYT with an objection is going to change anything? They damn well know what they are doing, this is not some typo or minor factual mistake.
Maybe there should be more publicity about Substack, where there are journalists to choose from that are not MSM.’
The NYT has become more flagrant in its support of imperialism….it is doing fine, why cant it be honest? It shares the establishment paranoia?
Well not really. The NYT is imperialism. They have long worked to bolster CIA operations like the Bay of Pigs. They are a Fortune 500 megalopoly which is how they got the monikers “paper of record”..They are indeed the capitalist paper of record. And truth be told they are the best source of information among all corporate media. “Fear and Favor in the Newsroom” pretty much sums it all up. It’s old, of course but every budding journalist should be required to watch and discuss it.
Why can’t it be honest? Follow the money.
Do I have to remind you that China murdered 75M of its citizens? You can certainly find fault in our government, but if you were honest, you would point out more fault in many other governments. Will all the power we have, we haven’t abused it to the extent China has. Making a pact with Iran (the government that prays to wipe out Israel every day) certainly doesn’t put China in good light.
No, no, no…. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. China is so much better than the west with all its lies and imperialism. Who cares if the type of media analysis that Fair conducts would be illegal in China?
You seem to be stating that reporting should be biased, based on the subject…why then bother visiting a site like this?
Yep. China murdered its own citizens and the U.S. went out and kill other countries’ citizens. That makes US much better, of course. Why don’t you go fuck yourself?
Unfortunately, your argument here is irrelevant to the subject of the article. Naureckas is not defending China or its form of government or its past history. The article is about the NYT, where the writer in a country that he purports lauds democracy, fed readers a piece of manufactured propaganda in the form of a misquote. What is your opinion about that?
Tim watches too much television and swallows too much government propaganda.
So that’s why the NYT should knowingly and flagrantly lie to us?
What a lot of squid ink you throw.
So sad to see the defenders of imperialism try to muddy the waters here. This is what money purchases, contempt for what is factual and what is true.
FAIR is obviously irritating the right-wing ideologues. Thank you, FAIR.
I just finished a great class with Noam Chomsky, Consequences of Capitalism, in which we took a hard look at the NYTimes and other money-driven news sources. I also just contacted the Times to cancel my $4/mo trial subscription and told them why. I sent them your article. Thanks you so much. I’ve spent a good deal of time in China and appreciate hearing the truth.
Now we are nearing the end of the “Great American Century”. (How long did it last ?) Next, we will have the Chinese Centuries (Plural intended). Will it be better or will it be another era of colonialism/imperialism ?
“Be respectful” to an organization that knowingly tries to lie us into war? More like, “die, choking on your own vomit, you evil jerks”.
Alas, someone willing to fact check the great NYT. Along with the BBC it seems to be drawing on the reservoir of inertia of the steeple. Good work.
The Times, busy demonizing Cuba as its imperial ideology requires, wrote a long obit on the very popular actor Ed Asner, mentioned some of his social justice activities but pointedly excluded his strong support for material aid to Cuba bypassing the US 6-decade embargo/blockade/hybrid war on that country. The NYT wouldn’t want to confuse Asner’s well-deserved acting accolades in such a way that counters the Times’ own propaganda.