It has become common some news about China appear on Spanish media, especially on the TV. Information about natural disasters like damages caused by typhoons or floods is often shown among other curious images of the country. For instance, a person who often watches the news on Spanish television TVE can be aware of the discrimination some Chinese graduates are being supposed to endure on their job interviews because of their zodiac. No, this is not a joke at all. A public television like Televisión Española, the Spanish offiicial TV, broadcast such information on 24th July 2013, only a day before the information about the imminent trial against Bo Xilai became official. However, the same television silenced the report that Bo's lawyer has not been allowed to legally represent him on the upcoming trial, as appeared last week in foreign newspapers like The Guardian. But no word about this issue was said neither in Spanish nor in Catalan or Basque media though the trial will be determinant for the political stability of China and the CCP. In addition, the denial of legal representation to Bo Xilai proofs that his trial is determined in advance so he is very likely to be convicted.
The last case which drew the attention of every Spanish media was the order to demolish a luxury mansion which had been built by a Chinese millionaire on the top of a skyscrapper in Beijing. Such information was brought to the televisions and newspapers for several days, where as the latests reports on the lawsuit against Bo Xilai, the conviction of Liu Hui (the brother-in-law of jailed Chinese Nobel Prize Liu Xiaobo) amid a political trial or on the current tensions in Tibet have been silenced. Thus a Spaniard with no knowledge in English language or a person who is not used to read foreign media is unlikely to be aware of such important events. Instead, they would know a lot of features and figures about China's economic growth and the existence of several millionaires with an extreme love for luxury. Nevertheless, such anecdotes are seldom accompanied by other serious informations on the country like the accusations of bribery against GSK or some natural disasters which might take place there, as well as the case of Tang Hui, a woman who won a trial against the re-education through labor camp in which she was jailed for denouncing the rapist of her daughter.
Such situation provokes severe misunderstanding of the Chinese reality by the Spanish public opinion. For example, only a few Spaniards are aware of the ethnic and cultural diversity in China or the diplomatic and military conflicts which involve the country. Furthermore, many people do not know that Han ethnic group is only the main of the 55 nationalities which populate Chinese territory or that dozens of languages are spoken there. Instead, they think that the Empire of the Centre (the literal translation for 中国, China in Chinese) is only populated by Han Chinese, all of them speaking the same language and having the same culture. Thus, many clichés abound about them whereas the media contribute to promote them by publishing anecdotal informations such as those mentioned above.
Therefore, lots of Spaniards actually ignore that current policies by Chinese Communist Party officials are conducting to a spate of political detentions and trials which reminds the worst years of Maoist rule. This is even more evident in territories like Tibet (not only the TAR but also parts of other provinces which have been historically Tibetan: Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan), Inner Mongolia (an Autonomous Regions which shares its boundaries with the Republic of Mongolia and where the majority of Mongolians live) and East Turkestan (the Muslim-populated Xinjiang Uyghur Automous Region), where the government encourages a flooding of Han migrant workers to exploit the richness in natural resources of those regions. In addition, migrations bring blatant discrimination to the local population and inflicts huge damages to their environment, language, culture and traditional ways of life. Moreover, both the police and the People's Liberation army severely crack down on anyone who dares to protest against injustices they endure on their daily life, even beating and torturing people to death. The situation is even worse in Tibet, where authorities have even issued a death penalty against relatives of self-immolations, acusing them of encouraging those extreme acts of protest. The latest to be given such a harsh penalty has been Dolma Kyab, a man who was sentenced for allegedly murdering his wife Kunchok Wangmo and then burning her corpse to show that she had self-immolated requesting freedom for Tibet.
In addition, very few information is avalaible in Spain about territorial conflicts led by China. The standoff at the border between China and India in the region of Ladakh, including two incursions by the PLA into Indian territory, only appeared briefly at some newspapers like the right-wing La Razón. Moreover, the little news on this issue are never treated giving their historical or political background, but only treated superficially as is they were isolated facts. Thus, the viewer has not the ability to relate some standoffs like this and the rise of military budget in China with the aggressive foreign policy led by the Communist Party and President Xi Jinping.
Given all the circumstances mentioned above, it is clear that Spanish media offer a very biased information on China, trying not to show any information which could go against the ruling Communist Party or question the territorial integrity of the country. Because of that, the general public from Spain may not be aware of the deep implications that China's policies might have even in their own country.
Therefore, lots of Spaniards actually ignore that current policies by Chinese Communist Party officials are conducting to a spate of political detentions and trials which reminds the worst years of Maoist rule. This is even more evident in territories like Tibet (not only the TAR but also parts of other provinces which have been historically Tibetan: Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan), Inner Mongolia (an Autonomous Regions which shares its boundaries with the Republic of Mongolia and where the majority of Mongolians live) and East Turkestan (the Muslim-populated Xinjiang Uyghur Automous Region), where the government encourages a flooding of Han migrant workers to exploit the richness in natural resources of those regions. In addition, migrations bring blatant discrimination to the local population and inflicts huge damages to their environment, language, culture and traditional ways of life. Moreover, both the police and the People's Liberation army severely crack down on anyone who dares to protest against injustices they endure on their daily life, even beating and torturing people to death. The situation is even worse in Tibet, where authorities have even issued a death penalty against relatives of self-immolations, acusing them of encouraging those extreme acts of protest. The latest to be given such a harsh penalty has been Dolma Kyab, a man who was sentenced for allegedly murdering his wife Kunchok Wangmo and then burning her corpse to show that she had self-immolated requesting freedom for Tibet.
In addition, very few information is avalaible in Spain about territorial conflicts led by China. The standoff at the border between China and India in the region of Ladakh, including two incursions by the PLA into Indian territory, only appeared briefly at some newspapers like the right-wing La Razón. Moreover, the little news on this issue are never treated giving their historical or political background, but only treated superficially as is they were isolated facts. Thus, the viewer has not the ability to relate some standoffs like this and the rise of military budget in China with the aggressive foreign policy led by the Communist Party and President Xi Jinping.
Given all the circumstances mentioned above, it is clear that Spanish media offer a very biased information on China, trying not to show any information which could go against the ruling Communist Party or question the territorial integrity of the country. Because of that, the general public from Spain may not be aware of the deep implications that China's policies might have even in their own country.
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