When I applied to work for a newspaper in China, I wasn't expecting to do any hard-hitting reporting. I was genuinely excited about putting aside the breaking news and the in-depth investigations to learn about Chinese culture from a lighthearted perspective. I did my best to take critical foreign media reports with a grain of salt and experience government-controlled media for myself.
But it's gotten to the point where it's just ridiculous.
Even though the secret's out about the opening ceremony's CG fireworks and lip-syncing little girl, I can't report on it. Media here are running stories about Chinese gymnasts defending their ages of "16," though the rest of the world knows about the 11-year-old.
I only heard about China giving NBC an edited version of the opening ceremony with the US coming in second-to-last by word-of-mouth from other foreign employees. I'm told the point was to keep Americans watching until the end, as the original clip had the US delegation walking in about half-way through. Well, it didn't work, anyway. All the friends from home that I've talked to said they still turned the TV off after seeing the US team.
The worst is banning reports on the American who was stabbed to death. There were initial pieces taking the "Hu Jinato apologizes" angle, but nothing since. It happened and it was horrible -- that can't be avoided -- but they're trying to push it aside and act like everything is ok.
The Olympics is China's coming out party -- and of course every debutant wants to look flawless in her pretty white ball gown. But there comes a point where not everything can fit to a T. I understand that China wants to put its best out, but that doesn't mean it should pretend bad things aren't happening. Even if the country is projected to be the world's next superpower, that doesn't make it superhuman.
If China really wants to prove itself as an up-and-coming nation, it needs to start dealing with reality and push aside its perfectionism.