【专栏】西方媒体漠视了中国理想（中英双语）

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编者按：环球时报英文版第42篇“变局”专栏，作者中国人民大学重阳金融研究院执行院长王文透过北京郊区的一些细节，体会到人类文明的现代化特质已在中国不断生长，而这些都被西方媒体集体漠视了。人大重阳君为您推荐英文版、中文译文。

本文英文版在Global Times的版面截图

周末，与许多北京居民一样，我常常驱车一小时到北京郊外的山区里租一间民宿，既休息，又体验乡下生活。疫情爆发五个月，北京郊区的游客只有过去的1/20。然而，我惊讶地发现，道路、景点、民宿、农田仍井井有条，清洁、有序，没有任何破败感。

这让我想起几年前与美国前国防部长科恩的一次争辩。那是一次中美智库对话，这位据说到过中国100次以上的美国学者型前高官对我说：“别老说北京、上海、广州开车一小时后就是穷农村。你从纽约、芝加哥驱车一小时外，看到的穷地方才多呢。”

科恩先生的话后来被一本美国畅销书《乡下人的悲歌》（Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis）所证实。2020年，因弗洛伊德被警察跪杀而引起的美国骚乱，再次证明了美国的不平等与社会民众的愤怒。斯蒂格利茨教授最新的著作《美国的真相》里透露，40%美国人无法负担400美元的意外开支。许多美国人在贫困线上苦苦争扎，美国已经是一个金玉其外、败絮其中的“富国”。

我不想重复美国自由派们的批判，而是想对关心中美关系的读者说，疫情或许正在颠覆人们对这两个世界最大的发达国家与发展中国家的传统认知。

美国一般被视为富裕、强大、秩序、民主、平等、人权，但这些标签都被新冠病毒给撕毁了。西方媒体的长期偏见是，中国城市即便高楼矗立，实质却是贫穷的农村、丑陋的官员、肮脏的社会以及压迫民众的体制。其实，他们落伍了。

除了经济、贸易、制造业、军事实力等国家发展的外化实力，中国社会这些年的内核发生了巨大变化。这种内核包括但不只限于人们的奉献精神、社会的自觉意识、农村的自治结构、青年的平等价值、生态的优化趋势、城市的治安秩序、企业的创新欲望、百姓的实干劲头等等。

20世纪初发生在美国的“扒粪运动”、“进步主义运动”也曾在中国发生过，这是许多西方媒体未曾报道过的。10多年前的微博时代，中国社会批判成风。人们反思中国的政治腐败、不自由的市场、受污染的环境、拉大的贫富差距与社会的其他黑暗面。

2012年以来，中国决策者致力于全面深化改革的方向，正是努力根治此前人们所痛恨的事情。这些年，中国反腐与扫黑运动，优化了社会风气。中国全力解决民生，95%以上国民实现了医保与社保。中国掀起环境保卫战，迅速解决了北京等诸多大城市的雾霾。中国振兴农村，让城镇之外的农民拥有更高的生活品质。

美国学者雅各布·尼德曼在《美国理想》（The American Soul）的话说，人类永远都有两部同时发生的历史，一部是罪恶的，包括凶残、屠杀、侵犯、欺骗等，而另一部则是善良的，包括智慧、真理、艺术、建筑等等。书写历史的哪一面，在于写作者的偏好。但创造怎样的历史，在于创造历史的人民是否朝着自己希望的方向不断追求，并努力实现那些理想。

中国当然不可能没有负面的事情。不公的事情仍时常发生，减贫与就业的社会压力仍很重，为防疫人们过得相当不易。用显微镜观察任何东西，都能看到细菌与污垢，惶论14亿人口的大国。不同的是，我们需要体会到这个庞大国家的善与恶、好与坏、积极与消极、进步与退步的比例变化与结构趋势。

从这个角度看，人类文明的现代化特质在中国近年来的不断生长，包括民主、自由、平等、公正，的确是被西方媒体集体漠视了。这些可视为新时代的“中国理想”（The China Soul），或称“中国梦”。

近期有一个调查很有意思。德国民调机构Dalia Research在访问了12.4万人的基础上，发布了《2020民主认知指数》（Democracy Perception Index）。在中国，73%认为中国是一个民主国家，只有13%认为，政府只为一小部分人的利益服务。很有反差感的是，在美国，49%认为美国是民主国家，高达52%认为，美国政府为一小部分人服务。

由此看，中国是怎样的国家，中国人自己说了算。建议西方媒体人可以更包容、更开放地报道中国的变化。也可以多到北京郊区的怀柔、密云、延庆走走看看，或许会有新的感悟。

以下为英文版

West should modernize its minds about China

By Wang Wen

During weekends, like many other Beijing residents, I often drive one hour to the mountain areas in Beijing's suburbs. I would rent a home-stay where I can relax and experience a suburban life. It has been five months since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, and the number of Beijing tourists bound to suburbs is only one-twentieth in ratio compared to the past. However, I surprisingly found that everything remains in order.

This reminds me of a debate I had with former US secretary of defense William Cohen a few years ago. It was a dialogue between Chinese and US think tanks. Cohen, who was said to have come to China more than 100 times, told me that it is not correct to say places which are one-hour drive from metropolises like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are all poor rural areas. He said there are a lot of poor areas which are one-hour drive from New York or Chicago.

In 2020, the riots in the US triggered by the death of George Floyd once again prove inequality in the US and reflect simmering public anger. In his new book People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent, American economist Joseph Eugene Stiglitz wrote that 40 percent of Americans could not afford an unexpected $400 out of pocket expense. Many Americans are struggling at the poverty line.

The ongoing pandemic is perhaps overthrowing people's understanding of the world's biggest and most developed country and of the world's biggest developing country.

The US has been viewed as a rich, powerful and orderly country which boasts of democracy, equality and human rights. But these labels have been torn down by the coronavirus. The long-term prejudice held by Western media is that even if skyscrapers are built in Chinese cities, the cities are still impoverished rural areas with corrupt officials, dirty communities and a political system that suppresses its people. These mind-sets are way outdated.

Besides national strengths including economics, trade, manufacturing and military, the core of Chinese society in recent years has undergone profound changes. This includes, but is not confined to, people's spirit of devotion and consciousness, the autonomous structure of villages, the youth's sense of equality, the optimization of ecology, the order and security in cities, the innovative entrepreneurship, and people's strength and energy.

The muckraking movement and the Progressive Era that the US experienced in the early 20th century has also taken place in China - which Western media did not report. 

When Weibo became popular over a decade ago, there was a wave of criticism across Chinese society. People reflected on political corruption in China, strained markets, environmental pollution and deterioration, widening social gaps, and other dark sides of society. 

Since 2012, decision-makers in China have devoted themselves into comprehensively deepening reforms in attempts to rectify what the Chinese people detested. China in recent years has made progress in combating corruption and crime. China has spared no effort in improving its people's livelihoods. For example, a majority of the Chinese have had basic medical insurance today. China has attached greater importance to preserving the environment as exemplified by improving Beijing's air quality. China also has paid sufficient attention to rural revitalization, and has progressively upgraded rural residents' quality of life.

It is unrealistic to think that there aren't negative things happening in China. Unfair even evil deeds do take place from time to time. The burden to reduce poverty and increase employment remains heavy. The Chinese people have undergone a difficult time in fighting the novel coronavirus. When observing anything under a microscope, bacteria and dirt will always be spotted. It has to be understood that China's great changes and structural trends have varying degrees of good and evil, positive and negative, with progress and setbacks.

From this perspective, the modernization of human civilization, including democracy, liberalism, equality, fairness and justice, has in recent years ramped up in China. This has collectively been ignored by the Western media, unfortunately. 

The Dalia Research, a German media company, carried out interviews between April and June with 124,000 participants from 53 countries and regions to monitor their attitudes toward democracy. It released its founding in Democracy Perception Index - 2020. The results show only 10 percent of Chinese believe there is "not enough" democracy in their country, and 13 percent of them say the Chinese government serves only a minority. However, the figures for US respondents are much higher: 36 percent of Americans think that democracy is insufficient in the US, with 52 percent of them believing their government serves only a minority. 

The Chinese have the final say of what kind of a country China is. Western media might well be reminded that they should, and need to as well, report on China's changes with a more inclusive and open manner. Indeed, they might find inspiration and fresh understandings of China if they travel to Beijing's outskirts, to such suburban districts as Huairou, Miyun, or Yanqing.

（The author is professor and executive dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, and executive director of China-US People-to-People Exchange Research Center. His latest book is Great Power's Long March Road.）

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人大重阳

中国人民大学重阳金融研究院（人大重阳）成立于2013年1月19日，是重阳投资董事长裘国根先生向母校捐赠并设立教育基金运营的主要资助项目。

作为中国特色新型智库，人大重阳聘请了全球数十位前政要、银行家、知名学者为高级研究员，旨在关注现实、建言国家、服务人民。目前，人大重阳下设7个部门、运营管理4个中心(生态金融研究中心、全球治理研究中心、中美人文交流研究中心、中俄人文交流研究中心)。近年来，人大重阳在金融发展、全球治理、大国关系、宏观政策等研究领域在国内外均具有较高认可度。

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