China Public Relations

Come have a look, the Chinese government proclaims to the world. Come see for yourself how things in China aren't so bad. Come observe how our country is changing. This is the misleading message China puts out whenever it wants something from abroad--in the past, when its trade benefits were in doubt in the U.S. Congress, and now when it is trying to land the 2008 Summer Olympics for Beijing. It would be a fair enough offer if China extended it equally to everyone.

Come have a look, the Chinese government proclaims to the world. Come see for yourself how things in China aren't so bad. Come observe how our country is changing. This is the misleading message China puts out whenever it wants something from abroad--in the past, when its trade benefits were in doubt in the U.S. Congress, and now when it is trying to land the 2008 Summer Olympics for Beijing. It would be a fair enough offer if China extended it equally to everyone.

When Fred Zandpour's flight was delayed in Hong Kong, the plane sat on the runway for two hours. Yet no one announced to the restless passengers what was going on or how long they would be stuck there. Later, when some luggage was lost in Shanghai, "we didn't get much in the way of customer service," Zandpour said.

President Clinton's defenders have said that we should ignore private morality and focus on public performance. The facts suggest otherwise. Not only has the president's personal life completely captured the public's attention, lowered respect for political leadership and threatened his hold on office, but his penchant for deception and double talk has bled over into our relationship with foreign powers, with fatal results. "Compartmentalism" is this year's Big Lie and its deadliest deception.

In some ways, bringing the public relations business to China is like bringing chopsticks to Peking. In its rudimentary aspects, at least, the Chinese are already masters of the art of public relations. When it comes to putting the best face on things, to making the proper gesture, to organizing a ceremony and to making the right seating arrangements, China was in the public relations business long before the invention of the press release.

China went on the public relations offensive this week, intent on convincing the world it is serious about fighting corruption. During a carefully controlled trip marked by long, statistics-laden speeches and limited opportunity for questions, foreign and Chinese journalists were led through a series of provincial and local offices in Jiangsu province on China's prosperous east coast. The central message: We're a clean, green, corruption-fighting (single-party) machine.

The image of a catastrophic natural disaster that humbled a powerful leader may have stalked Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao as he made rapid-fire visits last week to areas devastated by snowstorms, but it probably wasn't Hurricane Katrina. Try going back a few centuries. In a country where history is never far from the surface, the events back in 1351 and 1644 may weigh on leaders' minds.

  The India-China relationship, relatively well managed for years by the two governments, is under growing pressure in the face of insensitivity and nationalism on both sides, India's hyperactive broadcast media and the growing autonomy of Chinese ministries, analysts say. Irritants that have spurred distrust recently between the two Asian giants include a series of reported incursions along their disputed 2,500-mile border. In one case, an Indian warship off Vietnam received an apparent Chinese naval radio transmission in July telling it to "leave Chinese waters.

In late November, Disney announced that, despite Chinese threats, the company would go ahead with plans to distribute Martin Scorcese's coming film on the Dalai Lama, titled "Kundun." Since then, Disney has earned kudos from the U.S. media for standing up to Beijing. By putting principle ahead of potential profits, the Magic Kingdom ended up triumphing over the Middle Kingdom.