It all started with Locke’s arrival in Beijing in economy class on Aug. 12 with his wife and three children. At the stopover at Seattle Airport, he tried to use a coupon at a Starbucks and was declined. He ended up paying for the coffee by credit card.
At the Beijing airport, his family carried their own luggage and all sat in a shuttle bus to go the embassy. This simple and self-reliant trip to Beijing caused waves of Chinese media reports.
Wave One: ‘Role Model’
Chinese media were impressed and praised him immediately. The following from the state-run newspaper Guangming Daily on Aug. 16 is representative of heaps of local media reports.
“In the past two days, it was quite obvious that Chinese netizens held Locke in high esteem. … The reason is simple. Locke came to Beijing to report to his position of ambassador. He brought his entire family. He carried his own bags and luggage. No special assistants were along his side.
“He squeezed into the bus together with his family. It makes us feel warm. It was said that he even stayed in line when buying coffee, without seeking preferential treatment due to his ‘high-ranking’ position.
“All of this is so inconceivable in the eyes of the Chinese public and media who are used to the ostentation and extravagance of the Chinese officials. Some commented that Locke is well-versed in public diplomacy—no speeches and no grandeur. [A] few words speak louder than thousands of words.
According to Nanfang Daily, a Chinese netizen, user name Hang Yiwei, blogged: “Chinese leaders, please follow the Locke standard when you are on an inspection trip. … It is normal that high-ranking officials do not have the air of high-ranking officials. Locke can do it. Why can’t our Chinese officials?” Within days, the blog had 510,000 hits.
And Locke as role model was taking an effective toll in China immediately. The same Nanfang Daily article reported, “Director of Shenzhen Bureau of Civil Affairs Liu Runhua responded in his real name: ‘Frankly, for people like me, low civil service officials, if I travel as a tourist, of course, I carry my own bags. If it is such an important moment as traveling to report to a new position, I would certainly be accompanied by colleagues who help get some luggage. Shame, shame! Learn from Ambassador Locke!’”
The Nanfang Daily article was republished on the state-run Xinhua and Huanqiu news websites.
Wave Two: ‘U.S. Colonialist’
But soon the wave of admiration for Ambassador Locke turned in the opposite direction. The Chinese media, especially the state media, has a mission to safeguard the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) interests. Comparing a positive U.S. role model with the official corruption in China is not acceptable.
It was hard for the Chinese media to debate the merit of Locke’s actions, but there was a convenient label that could be applied: the U.S. conspiracy to undermine China. The media also suggested another theory, that the U.S. officials are performing a “show” for their debtor (the Chinese) because they want to borrow more.
The state-run Guangming Daily, which had published an article praising Locke on Aug. 16, on the very same day also published an article titled “Be on Guard against the US as Locke Brings ‘Neo-Colonialism’ to China.” The contradiction between the two articles suggests the newspaper was struggling between expressing true feelings and serving the Party.
The article sharply criticized Ambassador Locke and his family for intentionally carrying their own luggage to Beijing without any assistants, security guards, or a grand welcome. The article claimed that the low-key approach was designed to win the Chinese people’s hearts and destroy China’s broken ideology: “Gary Locke’s arrival demonstrates the climax of neo-colonialism in the information age. The ideological conflict between China and the U.S. has been revealed completely.”
The article compared Locke to a wolf in sheep’s clothes. “Though its appearance has changed, the predatory nature has never changed.” “This Chinese-descendant U.S. ambassador is here to serve the United States, not the entire interest of humankind.
“Being a Chinese descendant attracts attention from Chinese all over the world, and thus leads and influences public opinion. It will help him foster affinity with common people in China. But who would know that this actually exposes the ulterior motives of the United States to use Chinese against China and to incite political unrest in China?”
On Aug. 25, Huanqiu, which had republished the favorable Nanfing Daily article, published an article written by Zhu Bingyuan, the chairman of the Marxist Research Institute at Soochow University, with the title “It Is More Difficult to Deal with a Friendly and Gentle America.”
Zhu stated that the United States is going through a tough time and very much hopes that China will continue to buy U.S. treasury bonds. The diplomatic purpose of being “low-key” and “close to ordinary people,” as demonstrated by Biden and Locke, is to “show” their “democratic” and “common people’s” style in front of the people of their creditor so as to avoid public criticism and reshape the American image.
Next...Wave Three: ‘Role Model’ Again
Wave Three: ‘Role Model’ Again
On Sept. 10, Ambassador Locke visited children of migrant workers at a Beijing charity art show, two weeks after Beijing authorities shut down nearly 30 schools for over 30,000 children of migrant workers. That event was widely reported in the Chinese media and apparently added fuel to the debate over Locke.
On Sept. 14, at the World Economic Forum in Dalian, Rui Chenggang, a China Central TV (CCTV) host asked Locke, “I hear you flew here by economy class. Is that a reminder that the United States owes China money?”
Locke replied by saying that economy class was standard practice of the ethics rules for all diplomatic staff of U.S. embassies and consulates, as well as for members of the U.S. president’s cabinet. Rui later posted on his microblog, “Gary Locke is always making use of whatever opportunities he has to promote American values.”
Many Chinese media disapproved of Rui. A Guangming Daily editorial came to Locke’s support, saying Locke’s reply did not even show the slightest hint of being embarrassed.
“Maybe Locke’s reply dimmed the reporter’s limelight. Later, the reporter accused Locke on the Internet: ‘Locke is always making use of whatever opportunities he has to promote American values.’ … This way of thinking, this kind of behavioral decision making— labeling whatever the United States has accomplished first as American values, then drawing a line with these values and practicing the opposite—must have been the result of either having no brain or his having a brain that doesn’t work.”
Local media also responded quickly. A commentator on the Zhujiang Evening News said, “Locke’s explanation about flying coach class taught a government ethics lesson to those Chinese officials who love to travel on public funds.”
The Dalian Daily joined in: “The rule on flying economy class is the rule allowing no special privileges. … Only when everyone is treated equal before the rules can the public respect the rules.”
A commentary from China Youth Online stated: “Locke flying coach is not the problem. … The problem is that everything must be open to the public and must stand scrutiny and investigation.”
Wave Four: ‘Moral Show’
On Sept. 22, Huanqiu returned again to the subject of the U.S. ambassador with an editorial titled “We Hope Gary Locke Can Focus on His Work as Ambassador to China.” The timing of this article is interesting: China had just started a campaign criticizing the United States, as the Obama administration had just approved a $5.8 billion arms sales package to Taiwan.
The editorial implied that Locke may have intentionally stirred up the Chinese media hype and seemed to enjoy the limelight. “For Mr. Locke’s part, he should purposely avoid being a ‘star’ in the Chinese media,” warned Huanqiu.
“Whether it was due to his personal preference, or because of his new mission as the U.S. ambassador, he seemed to enjoy his ‘moral show’ very much, though actually he knew better than anyone else that he is not as ‘moral’ as the Chinese Internet praised.
“The U.S. ambassador should focus on the development of Sino-U.S. relations and resolve misunderstandings, not play a character in the internal conflicts within China’s media so as to interfere with Chinese media in a sneaky (but really smart) way and increase the misunderstandings and suspicion between China and the United States. ...
“Those Chinese media that actively report Gary Locke’s ‘moral show’ should also have more self respect and dignity. They can find other angles for criticizing the corruption and bureaucracy of China’s government officials. To overly beautify a foreign ambassador in China, particularly when his China task is ‘quite complicated,’ is very inappropriate. … We hope Gary Locke can focus on his ambassador’s job in China. To those Chinese media, don’t have any illusions about [Mr. Locke]’s identity.”
As time passes, the Chinese media may continue flip-flopping over Locke. But one thing will not change: China’s state-run media, being the mouthpiece of the CCP, will do whatever it needs to do to serve the Party’s interests, even if that means flip-flopping on its previous positions.
The author wishes to gratefully acknowledge relying on research done by Chinascope (Chinascope.org) on the Chinese media’s coverage of Gary Locke.
