(Jenifer’s note: Below is the full English translation of the speech by Zheng Roulin, Researcher, Institute of China Studies, Fudan University, Former France correspondent of Wen Wei Po published by Guan Video on April 22, 2021 at https://youtu.be/y7covSzZ6yE. The original title is “How to Prevent Patriotic Media Professionals from Being ‘Silent Lambs Abroad When Western Public Opinion Is Overwhelmingly One-sided?”)
（曾錚注：以下是中共復旦大學中國研究院研究員 、《文匯報》前駐法記者郑若麟在2021年4月22日《觀視頻》中所做演講的文字稿及英文翻譯。原中文視頻題爲《 西方舆论一边倒，如何让爱国媒体人在国外不做“沉默的羔羊”？》，發表在https://youtu.be/y7covSzZ6yE）
Greetings, viewers of Guan Video.
Recently there has been a lot of discussion about “Wolf-Warrior Diplomacy ”. One of the themes is that the Chinese media, which should be vocal, has been silent in response to the West’s all-out attack on us. Our diplomats had to come forward and speak out. As a result, others describe this as “Wolf-Warrior Diplomacy”.
Now the question is, why our media are silent (overseas)? This is a field in which I seem to have some expertise, because I have spoken out, and loudly, and been heard by some Western media.
It was around 2007-2008, before and after the Beijing Olympics, and before my return to China, before 2013, when I was more vocal in the French media. I even eventually published a book about China, called “The Chinese People Just Like You” (Les Chinois sont des hommes comes les autres). In a sense, I could even say that I had taken the place of some anti-Chinese Sinologists in the French media.
But after I returned home, no one continued to speak for China in the French media after me. So it seems like that all that I had done at that time just disappeared. Today I believe it is necessary to tell my story, to see why our media is not involving in this fierce international public opinion war. What on earth is the problem?
Let me first briefly recall how I spoke out in the French media, and then explore how our media should respond to the West.
It was March 14, 2008, the day of the riots in Tibet, and I was on a flight back to France, just after my vacation. It was clear to me from that moment that the riots had a purpose and were closely linked to the Beijing Olympics. What I did not expect, of course, was that I would directly involve in this sacred fight to defend the torch of the Beijing Olympics.
Soon after I arrived in Paris, I was approached by TV5 Monde, a French international television station, which invited me to participate in a Sunday show on Tibetan issues. This television station was a joint venture of many French-speaking countries, including France, Belgium, Switzerland, and even Quebec, Canada, to broadcast to French-speaking regions of the world. I was invited to this program called “Kiosque”. The host was a famous journalist, Philippe Dessaint. For every show he invited four journalists from all over the world to discuss a topic.
It was one of the first one-hour live TV debates I participated in.
At that time, from the host to the three other journalists, they all took a firm stand against China and launched an attack on China. “Free Tibet” was their principled position, while I defended China alone.
At that time, our Ambassador in France, Mr. Kong Quan, personally sent me a text message after the show finished, expressing his appreciation for my performance and full support for my efforts. This started the prelude to my speaking out for China in France.
Later on, in the French Internet and brochures introducing TV5 Monde and its host Dessaint, my name was included as the voice of a Chinese journalist, in an attempt to prove that the station’s sources of thought were very broad.
After that, other TV stations started to invite me to participate in their programs after they saw my participation in the TV5 Monde.
It should be mentioned that there were very few voices for China in the French mainstream media at that time, and I was one of the very few.
It is understandable that no French people were speaking out for China. After all, the number of French people who understand China is very small. But why are many Chinese in France silent?
We have more than 50 Chinese journalists in France, plus other Chinese media, there are at least a hundred Chinese who can express themselves smoothly and fluently in French, why don’t they speak up?
To date, there are many reasons, but I think the following are the most fundamental.
First of all, journalists and scholars who speak out for China are not paid anything. They have only risks. You can imagine a Chinese journalist talking about how good China is in the French media, not only does he get no money, but he will be hunted, tortured and questioned by almost all other French media and journalists. Without a strong patriotic heart and strong mental capacity, it is indeed very difficult to persevere.
Secondly, Chinese journalists and scholars who speak out for China do not have the support of the state, except, of course, for those who work in professional foreign propaganda agencies. They have the support of the state.
For example, I was once the host of CCTV’s French channel for a while.
But ordinary scholars and journalists not only do not have support from the state, on the contrary, if you inadvertently make a wrong remark, you may be criticized, and I will not cite such examples.
Under this kind of circumstance, you can imagine why journalists and scholars often prefer to remain silent, because the risk is too great.
Of course, this is not my style, I will be standing up and speaking out.
Third, we need to understand that journalists and scholars who speak out for China need support, mainly in two areas.
On the one hand, they need professional training, and on the other hand, they need a certain degree of freedom.
Professional training means that they need to have a very good level of a foreign language to speak in foreign media. The ability to speak a foreign language needs to be cultivated and nurtured, from listening, understanding, expression, to vivid expression. It is not easy to have foreigners easily understand what you want to express.
On the other hand, they need training in specialized areas of knowledge, including, in particular, the knowledge, understanding and mastery of how to speak in a politically correct (Western) context, and only the state can afford such training.
On the other hand, journalists and scholars who speak out for China need a certain degree of freedom. By “freedom” I mean, first of all, allowing them to have their own ways and means of expression, rather than having to express everything about China in the official tone, official style, and official terms.
Secondly, they should be given the freedom to make mistakes, the freedom to say the wrong things, and the freedom to criticize to a certain extent.
We all know the principle of “small cursing, big help”, and it is surprisingly effective in practical application.
The question is whether we can tolerate a little bit of “scolding”.
But, of course, the most important point, and the last one, is that we in the media ourselves must have a strong sense of service to our country, and the will and courage to speak out for our country in any context and under any circumstances.
From the current point of view, this is exactly what is most lacking.
Therefore, in order for our media to speak out in this public opinion war between China and the West, and to take up the task and responsibility of confronting Western public opinion, the state must truly assume responsibility in many aspects and individuals must truly make selfless contributions.
When will this day come? We will have to wait and see.
4/22/2021
A screenshot from the video of Zheng’s speech showing the debate about the trade war between Fox Trish Regan and CGTN(China Global Television Network)’s Liu Xin on May 29, 2019.
CCP Scholar: China Should Offer Special Training to Win the Public Opinion War with the West 中共支招：如何贏得與西方的輿論戰？
(Jenifer’s note: Below is the full English translation of the speech by Zheng Roulin, Researcher, Institute of China Studies, Fudan University, Former France correspondent of Wen Wei Po published by Guan Video on April 22, 2021 at https://youtu.be/y7covSzZ6yE. The original title is “How to Prevent Patriotic Media Professionals from Being ‘Silent Lambs Abroad When Western Public Opinion Is Overwhelmingly One-sided?”)
（曾錚注：以下是中共復旦大學中國研究院研究員 、《文匯報》前駐法記者郑若麟在2021年4月22日《觀視頻》中所做演講的文字稿及英文翻譯。原中文視頻題爲《 西方舆论一边倒，如何让爱国媒体人在国外不做“沉默的羔羊”？》，發表在https://youtu.be/y7covSzZ6yE）
Greetings, viewers of Guan Video.
Recently there has been a lot of discussion about “Wolf-Warrior Diplomacy ”. One of the themes is that the Chinese media, which should be vocal, has been silent in response to the West’s all-out attack on us. Our diplomats had to come forward and speak out. As a result, others describe this as “Wolf-Warrior Diplomacy”.
Now the question is, why our media are silent (overseas)? This is a field in which I seem to have some expertise, because I have spoken out, and loudly, and been heard by some Western media.
It was around 2007-2008, before and after the Beijing Olympics, and before my return to China, before 2013, when I was more vocal in the French media. I even eventually published a book about China, called “The Chinese People Just Like You” (Les Chinois sont des hommes comes les autres). In a sense, I could even say that I had taken the place of some anti-Chinese Sinologists in the French media.
But after I returned home, no one continued to speak for China in the French media after me. So it seems like that all that I had done at that time just disappeared. Today I believe it is necessary to tell my story, to see why our media is not involving in this fierce international public opinion war. What on earth is the problem?
Let me first briefly recall how I spoke out in the French media, and then explore how our media should respond to the West.
It was March 14, 2008, the day of the riots in Tibet, and I was on a flight back to France, just after my vacation. It was clear to me from that moment that the riots had a purpose and were closely linked to the Beijing Olympics. What I did not expect, of course, was that I would directly involve in this sacred fight to defend the torch of the Beijing Olympics.
Soon after I arrived in Paris, I was approached by TV5 Monde, a French international television station, which invited me to participate in a Sunday show on Tibetan issues. This television station was a joint venture of many French-speaking countries, including France, Belgium, Switzerland, and even Quebec, Canada, to broadcast to French-speaking regions of the world. I was invited to this program called “Kiosque”. The host was a famous journalist, Philippe Dessaint. For every show he invited four journalists from all over the world to discuss a topic.
It was one of the first one-hour live TV debates I participated in.
At that time, from the host to the three other journalists, they all took a firm stand against China and launched an attack on China. “Free Tibet” was their principled position, while I defended China alone.
At that time, our Ambassador in France, Mr. Kong Quan, personally sent me a text message after the show finished, expressing his appreciation for my performance and full support for my efforts. This started the prelude to my speaking out for China in France.
Later on, in the French Internet and brochures introducing TV5 Monde and its host Dessaint, my name was included as the voice of a Chinese journalist, in an attempt to prove that the station’s sources of thought were very broad.
After that, other TV stations started to invite me to participate in their programs after they saw my participation in the TV5 Monde.
It should be mentioned that there were very few voices for China in the French mainstream media at that time, and I was one of the very few.
It is understandable that no French people were speaking out for China. After all, the number of French people who understand China is very small. But why are many Chinese in France silent?
We have more than 50 Chinese journalists in France, plus other Chinese media, there are at least a hundred Chinese who can express themselves smoothly and fluently in French, why don’t they speak up?
To date, there are many reasons, but I think the following are the most fundamental.
First of all, journalists and scholars who speak out for China are not paid anything. They have only risks. You can imagine a Chinese journalist talking about how good China is in the French media, not only does he get no money, but he will be hunted, tortured and questioned by almost all other French media and journalists. Without a strong patriotic heart and strong mental capacity, it is indeed very difficult to persevere.
Secondly, Chinese journalists and scholars who speak out for China do not have the support of the state, except, of course, for those who work in professional foreign propaganda agencies. They have the support of the state.
For example, I was once the host of CCTV’s French channel for a while.
But ordinary scholars and journalists not only do not have support from the state, on the contrary, if you inadvertently make a wrong remark, you may be criticized, and I will not cite such examples.
Under this kind of circumstance, you can imagine why journalists and scholars often prefer to remain silent, because the risk is too great.
Of course, this is not my style, I will be standing up and speaking out.
Third, we need to understand that journalists and scholars who speak out for China need support, mainly in two areas.
On the one hand, they need professional training, and on the other hand, they need a certain degree of freedom.
Professional training means that they need to have a very good level of a foreign language to speak in foreign media. The ability to speak a foreign language needs to be cultivated and nurtured, from listening, understanding, expression, to vivid expression. It is not easy to have foreigners easily understand what you want to express.
On the other hand, they need training in specialized areas of knowledge, including, in particular, the knowledge, understanding and mastery of how to speak in a politically correct (Western) context, and only the state can afford such training.
On the other hand, journalists and scholars who speak out for China need a certain degree of freedom. By “freedom” I mean, first of all, allowing them to have their own ways and means of expression, rather than having to express everything about China in the official tone, official style, and official terms.
Secondly, they should be given the freedom to make mistakes, the freedom to say the wrong things, and the freedom to criticize to a certain extent.
We all know the principle of “small cursing, big help”, and it is surprisingly effective in practical application.
The question is whether we can tolerate a little bit of “scolding”.
But, of course, the most important point, and the last one, is that we in the media ourselves must have a strong sense of service to our country, and the will and courage to speak out for our country in any context and under any circumstances.
From the current point of view, this is exactly what is most lacking.
Therefore, in order for our media to speak out in this public opinion war between China and the West, and to take up the task and responsibility of confronting Western public opinion, the state must truly assume responsibility in many aspects and individuals must truly make selfless contributions.
When will this day come? We will have to wait and see.
4/22/2021
A screenshot from the video of Zheng’s speech showing the debate about the trade war between Fox Trish Regan and CGTN(China Global Television Network)’s Liu Xin on May 29, 2019.