South China Morning Post, a beacon of balanced pro and anti-China reporting
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) was purchased by Alibaba owner in 2016. Alibaba is a very large Chinese internet company. The ongoing question after the acquisition is if the SCMP is still unbiased, or will it bend to the views of China. This NY Times article highlights the concerns about the paper.
I am here, not to comment on the article, but to comment on the bias nature of the SCMP. Yes, there have been some very pro-China articles from SCMP, but they are more the minority and are equally balanced with anti-China articles. SCMP does find the right balance between the two. But for how long, is a question.
There is no question that Hong Kong is becoming less British, with their free speech, and more repressive China. It is creeping up on those in HK and they are not happy about it. I do not think it easy for anyone to go from free speech to ‘do not criticize China’ within a short period of time. The SCMP also treads the fine line of allowing the pro-China, repressive side to balance with the pro-democracy side of HK. We all know that China rules HK and this will never change, but the daily war of words happens at the crossroad that is the SCMP.
In a couple of years, possibly, all free speech will be lost in HK and the SCMP will be permanently muzzled. Until this end date, The struggle between the two sides continues daily. Nowhere else in China does this happen, so the SCMP is very special. Yes, the Chinese Communist Party could crush HK like a flea, as well as the SCMP, but they somehow restrain themselves. HK, with a population of 7.4M, or twice that of Toronto, as a colony, is exceedingly small when compared to any of China’s third tier cities. And maybe this small and insignificant size has been HK’s and the SCMP’s saving grace. HK is too small to matter.
That a fair debate can happen at the SCMP is special in itself, and readers should appreciate that this simply does not and cannot happen within China. Any paper within China would be banished, its reporters and editors charged and jailed. Yet here we are, reading daily the SCMP.
The comments for each article, which are censored, are also balanced between the two sides. Here in Canada our national newspapers will not allow Canadians to comment on articles, but the SCMP encourages and engages readers to comment. It is obvious that some pro-China posters are paid by the Chinese government, or maybe they are simply ardent pro-China? On the other side are the pro US or EU commenters. Of course there are many in the middle.
That the debate, in articles as well as commenters, can happen is very surprising at the SCMP. We should enjoy this balance while it lasts, because sooner or later the Chinese government boom will rush down and cut off all debate. Free speech within China has a short shelf life.
Addendum 2018 April 04
Mainland Chinese companies currently import about US$200 billion worth of microchips a year, most of them from South Korea, Japan and the self-ruled island of Taiwan. source
Here is an example of the subtle changes that I see in the SCMP. While other media would just state ‘Taiwan’ in the list of countries, SCMP brings up the fact that Taiwan is not an independent country, but a self-ruled island. SCMP does not want to anger China by putting Taiwan’s name beside two other countries? This is ridiculous.
