you can also check out ESWN for more whitewashing of the CCP violence by blaming the media and blogs.
In the end, the fact that the CCP again resorts to violence to work against the masses and maintain corrupt local cadres says that Hu and Wen have some work at the Politburo Standing Committee level to do to save the CCP from itself. Luo Gan must go.
The point here is that facts like that one - and worse - happen every day in China. The difference is that this time a foreign witness was present. So the instructions are: fire the witness, not the Party thughs. Déjà vu.
It's this overturning that won't help democracy movements in China, not a reporter's "exaggerated" story. Fire the thugs, not the witness.
I can't even believe that some people get so angry about an honest mistake in reporting. It was obviously a stressful situation.If the story had been about a foreigner beating a Chinese, these people would still be believing it was true.
But this is how things operate here. Distract people's attention from the truth (i.e. hoodlums cooperating with the govt, beating people, denying the people of taishi their rights), and meanwhile these people are busy getting angry over "the bias in the western media." why not stop blaming foreigners for everything, and think about the fact that Lu really was beaten? Maybe he still has his eye, but he was beaten. The situation in Taishi is still the same. Are people really that ignorant and xenophobic that they get off on saying "oh look at the west and the western media, blah blah blah." As if that's a plus for the world's largest manufacturer of BS, Xinhua.
when by doing so, they change the subject, diverting all the attention away from what lies at the heart of the matter (corruption, thuggery, attempted murder) to the very least important aspect of the story. But it deflects attention from the crime, and that's exactly what some parties want to see happen
I think it seems beyond dispute that a gang of thugs with a mandate from the local government dragged Lu out of his car and beat him in an attempt to intimidate local activists. If people decide it's no big deal because, well, the guy isn't dead - that's pretty sad.
Once I heard that this guy was still alive, I knew right away that "certain forces" would jump on this to say "oh look at the bias in the Western media" blah blah blah.
Please, give the guy a break and don't go around celebrating the fact that Lv is "alive and well." According to an eyewitness, it sounds like he got the royal shit beaten out of him. We haven't seen any pictures of him, but I am assuming it wouldn't be very pretty. On top of that, the situation in Taishi remains the same, and the fact stands that people who are trying to get in are getting beaten. So, really, try not to use the fact that Lv is alive to support your "go China" prejudices.
Sometimes bad stories get printed. Even People's Daily has posted things that weren't true, believe it or not. But I suspect it is a case of the reporter being too close to the danger and letting himself be overcome by emotion. It's too bad, because it will damage the credibility of the media with Chinese people, as you say. And, of course, it totally shifts the focus away from the CCP's sins and places it on the reporter's. How lucky for the CCP! Let's see if they try to play it up. Anyone taking bets?
You do seem, however, to be trying to change the topic from a discussion of Benjamin Joffe-Walt to a discussion of the Western media's "anti-China bias", that China's media is "not shut down or censored" in any way, and that local governments having "free and fair elections" in China are par for the course.
All of it adds up to one message: "The West is always trying to keep China down".
No, I think Chinese officials and thugs do that well enough without our help.