“灰色地带”记者谈新疆、新冠肺炎和西方媒体
时间:2020-05-18 | 来源:CGTN | 作者:

Grayzone reporter talks Xinjiang, COVID-19 and western media

灰色地带记者谈新疆、新冠肺炎和西方媒体

In recent years, the U.S. and China have wrestled on several major international issues - from human rights to international trade - that reflect as much about their differences in political philosophy as the latter's rise.

近年来,中美两国在从人权到国际贸易的几个重大国际问题上进行了角力,这些问题既反映了两国政治理念的差异,也反映了中国的崛起。

The majority of western media have largely taken the official U.S. view toward China - an "authoritarian" country opposed to the values of freedom, democracy and human rights. Meanwhile, other views that don't fit into this narrative have been effectively excluded from public discussion.

大多数西方媒体基本上都持美国官方对中国的看法,中国是一个反对自由、民主和人权价值观的“独裁”国家。同时,其他不符合这种说法的观点被有效地排除在公众讨论之外。

This lack of a real alternative voice is what prompted the creation of The Greyzone, an independent news website started by American journalist Max Blumenthal in 2015. Last year, the site broke several groundbreaking investigations related to Xinjiang that shattered the previous "human rights abuse" narrative accepted almost universally across western countries.

正是由于缺乏真正的另类声音,美国记者马克斯•布卢门撒尔(Max Blumenthal)于2015年创办了独立新闻网站“灰地带”(Greyzone)。去年,该网站打破了几项与新疆有关的开创性调查,粉碎了之前西方国家普遍接受的“侵犯人权”的说法。

CGTN's Zeng Ziyi recently talked to Ajit Singh, a journalist and contributor at The Greyzone, about what he learned from reporting on Xinjiang, the role of western media, as well as what he calls the U.S.' new "Cold War" with China. 

中国国际广播电台记者曾子怡音译最近采访了灰色地带记者兼撰稿人阿吉特·辛格(Ajit Singh),谈论了他从对新疆的报道中学到的东西、西方媒体的作用,以及他所说的美国与中国的新“冷战”。

Note: The interview transcript found below have been edited for clarity purposes. To read Singh's answers on Xinjiang, click here

注:为清晰起见,以下访谈文字经过编辑。要阅读辛格关于新疆的访谈,请点击这里。

CGTN: Do you think the pandemic has shifted official U.S. policy toward China in any major way?

中国国际广播电台记者:您认为这次疫情是否在很大程度上改变了美国对中国的政策?

Singh: There's certainly been a noticeably intense escalation in hostility from both Republicans and Democrats, which have sought to blame China for their own failures in responding to the pandemic, and redirect the rightful outrage of ordinary Americans onto China. I think it's important to understand this trend in a broader context. The pandemic and the current crisis is being utilized by the U.S. establishment to advance its long-term, already-existing agenda of promoting a new Cold War with China. In order to understand this we need to talk a little more about U.S. history.

辛格:共和党和民主党的敌对情绪明显升级,他们试图将自己应对疫情的失败归咎于中国,并将普通美国人的合理愤怒转向中国。我认为在更广泛的背景下理解这一趋势很重要。这场流行病和当前的危机正被美国当局用来推进其长期的、已经存在的与中国进行新冷战的议程。为了理解这一点,我们需要多谈谈美国历史。

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. has sought to establish sole, global supremacy. It has pursued endless, regime-change wars against far weaker countries in order to squash anything that threatens this agenda. With China's rise as the world's second largest economy, and as an alternative source for financial and diplomatic relationships, this ascendance caused the U.S. foreign policy to shift from the so-called "War on Terror" to a "China containment" strategy or what is effectively a new Cold War against China.

自苏联解体以来,美国一直寻求建立唯一的全球霸权。它对实力较弱的国家发动了没完没了的政权颠覆战争,以粉碎任何威胁这一议程的东西。随着中国崛起为世界第二大经济体,并作为金融和外交关系的替代来源,这种优势导致美国的外交政策从所谓的“反恐战争”转向“遏制中国”战略,或实际上是对中国的新冷战。

This originated under the Obama era with the "Asia Pivot" which has sought to militarily encircle China in the Asia Pacific. It's what the Secretary of State called "necessity to ensure American leadership into the 21st century." This agenda has become more explicit and hostile under the Trump administration. We've seen official rhetoric regularly refer to China's ascendance as a "threat." National security documents have identified "Great-Power Competition" identifying China alongside Russia and Iran. We've even seen U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo openly refer to China and the Chinese Communist Party as "the central threat of our times" and has called on NATO partners to address this "threat."

这起源于奥巴马时代的“亚洲再平衡”战略,该战略寻求在亚太地区对中国实施军事包围。这就是国务卿所说的“确保美国领导进入21世纪的必要性”。在特朗普政府的领导下,这一议程变得更加明确和充满敌意。我们已经看到官方经常把中国的崛起称为“威胁”国家安全文件将中国与俄罗斯和伊朗列为”大国竞争”对象。我们甚至看到美国国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥公开称中国和中国共产党为“我们时代的核心威胁”,并呼吁北约伙伴应对这一“威胁”。

So, through the Trump administration, we've seen the trade war and intense diplomatic campaigns to discourage and disrupt China's relations with developing countries through this narrative of "debt-trap diplomacy" as well as discouraging U.S.' own allies from engaging with China. Most noticeably, we've seen the campaign against Huawei. While certainly there's been an intensification of this agenda during the COVID-19 pandemic, it's important to understand it as a long-term trend and within this context.

此,通过特朗普政府,我们看到了贸易战和激烈的外交活动,通过这种“债务陷阱外交”的说法,阻碍和破坏中国与发展中国家的关系,以及阻止美国自己的盟友与中国接触。 最引人注目的是,我们看到了针对华为的运动。 虽然在冠状病毒大流行期间,这一议程肯定有所加强,但重要的是要将其理解为一种长期趋势,并在此背景下加以考虑。

CGTN: How would you describe western media's reporting on China during the COVID-19 pandemic?

中国国际电视台记者:您如何评价西方媒体对中国疫情的报道?

Singh: It's been consistently hostile and antagonistic. It's interesting. It seems not long ago in January, when the outbreak was first emerging in Wuhan, the overwhelming representation in the western media was that China was behaving over the top, that it was behaving in an "authoritarian" and "draconian" manner - it was doing too much and repressing the human rights of its people with the lockdown measures. But this has shifted as the U.S. struggled with the novel coronavirus and as other Western countries have struggled to contain it. A lot of these wealthy, Western countries have emerged as the world's worst COVID-19 outbreaks.

辛格:这是一贯的敌对和对抗。很有趣似乎不久前1月,当疫情在武汉首次出现时,西方媒体的压倒性报道是中国行为过激,表现“专制”“严苛”——它做得太多,用封锁措施压制人民的人权。但随着美国与新型冠状病毒作斗争,以及其他西方国家努力遏制新冠疫情这种情况发生了变化这些富裕的西方国家中有许多已经成为世界上最严重新型冠状病毒爆发地。

Now, the [western] media shifted from saying China did too much, to China didn't do enough. The Chinese government engaged in a cover-up, that it was too slow to act, that it colluded with the World Health Organization, and ultimately China is to blame for the disastrous situations in these countries with tens of thousands of people dying. This shift also coincides with the Trump administration's launch of a PR campaign to shift blame onto China for their inadequate response - we know this from leaked [U.S.] government cables which have outlined this strategy to accuse China. We've seen similar memos from the leadership of both the Republican and Democratic parties seeking to attack each other as being soft on China, and enabling it to cause this situation in the U.S.

现在,(西方)媒体不再说中国做得太多,而是说中国做得不够认为中国政府掩盖事实真相对抗疫情行动过于迟缓,与世界卫生组织串通一气,最终导致这些国家出现灾难性局面,导致数万人死亡。这一转变也与特朗普政府发起的公关活动不谋而合,将应对不力的责任推到中国身上我们从泄露的(美国)政府电报中了解到这一点,这些电报概述了指责中国的策略。 我们看到共和党和民主党的领导层,都发表了类似的备忘录,试图攻击对方,认为他们对中国态度软弱,从而导致美国出现这种情况。

One can't help but come away from this experience with the opinion that mainstream western media's primary concern with China doesn't appear to be balanced and honest reporting but crafting an anti-China narrative useful for the U.S. and its allies. This unfortunately isn't surprising. We've seen this dynamic play out time and time again. Anytime there's a country that's so-called enemy, they are targeted by the U.S. foreign policy whether it's Iraq, Libya, Syria, Venezuela, Iran or elsewhere. This is a long-term trend that happens time and time again with the media.

人们不能不从这段经历中得出这样的看法:西方媒体的重点似乎不是客观、公正地报道中国情况,而是为美国及其盟友打造一套反华说辞。不幸的是,这并不令人意外。我们一次又一次地看到这种情况上演。任何时候,只要有一个国家是所谓的敌人,他们就会成为美国外交政策的目标,无论是伊拉克、利比亚、叙利亚、委内瑞拉、伊朗还是其他国家。这是一个长期的趋势,在媒体上一再发生。

CGTN: Why does U.S. media always adhere to the official narrative in critical times?

中国国际电视台记者:为什么美国媒体在关键时刻总是坚持官方说法?

Singh: I think it's a reflection of the structure of U.S. and western political and economic systems. The ruling establishment of these countries by and large represents the interests of the elites and wealthy corporations. We've seen skyrocketing inequality throughout the past four decades of neoliberalism, which has caused so much upsurge in populous movements in the re-distribution of wealth in these countries.

辛格:我认为这反映了美国和西方政治经济体系的结构。这些国家的统治集团大体上代表了精英阶层和富有企业的利益。在过去四十年的新自由主义中,我们看到了不平等现象的急剧上升,这导致了这些国家财富再分配中人口流动的急剧上升。

If you look at the so-called "free press," it's run by a very small number of wealthy corporations. There's an overlap between the interest of the media and the government. Structurally, this tends to produce an alignment of narratives. The so-called "free press" functions like a state media in the United States, for example. Then, there is also the "revolving door" between so-called "independent think tanks" in places like Washington. Between major newspapers like The New York Times, Washington Post and government apparatus policy analysts, even with the military. When you have a "revolving door" between all of these institutions, it produces an echo chamber of the same opinions.

那些所谓的“自由媒体”只不过是由极少数富有公司经营的媒体。媒体和政利益之间存在重叠。从结构上看,这往往会产生一种叙事的一致性。例如,那些所谓的“自由媒体”就相当于美国的官媒。此外,在华盛顿等地,所谓的“独立智库”之间也存在着“旋转门”,包括《纽约时报》、《华盛顿邮报》等主流报纸,以及政府机构政策分析师,甚至包括军方。当所有这些机构之间都存在“旋转门”时,就会产生相同观点的回音室。

And then there's a trend of them (western media) being unwilling to pushback on government narratives, especially with respect to foreign policy. For example, with the coronavirus media coverage this conspiracy theory claiming the virus originated from a lab in Wuhan. Essentially, the headline will be "U.S. intelligence community says" or "State Department cable says." Well, is it possible they may be biased? Or do they have an interest in how China is presented? They are just presented and taken as "impartial." So, you have a situation where there's collaboration between so-called "free media" and the government.

他们(西方媒体)不愿反驳政府的说法,尤其是在外交政策方面。例如,媒体对中国新肺炎疫情的报道上充斥着阴谋论声称病毒来自武汉的一个实验室。 基本上,报道使用的标题是“美国情报部门说”或“国务院电报说”至于这是否对中国偏见?是否是客观的中国现状? 不重要!它们只是呈现出来并被认为是“公正的即可。因此,在所谓的“自由媒体”和政府之间存在协作的情况。

CGTN: What makes western propaganda so effective?

中国国际电视台记者:是什么使西方的宣传如此有效?

Singh: There's a couple of important factors. A lot of times when the U.S. and western countries engage their foreign policy with countries like Iraq or Vietnam or Venezuela, they usually cloak their language in a noble intention. Today, we often hear "human rights" or "humanitarianism" or "democracy" being invoked whenever there's a need to advance their foreign policy agenda. This creates a great deal of confusion among ordinary people, who are of course interested in the wellbeing of other people around the world. People may not share their government's agenda but they do care about things like human rights. So, if they are told over and over and over again that there's some great human atrocity happening here, say in Venezuela or Iran, it does shift their perception of the issue.

辛格:有几个重要因素。很多时候,美国和西方国家伊拉克、越南或委内瑞拉实行外交政策,通常会用一种高尚的意图来掩饰他们的语言。今天,在需要推进其外交政策议程时我们经常听到“人权”“人道主义”或“民主”被提及。这给普通人造成了极大的困惑,他们当然关心世界各地其他人的幸福。人们可能不会分享他们政府的议程,但他们确实关心像人权这样的事情所以,如果他们一遍又一遍地被告知这里发生了一些重大的人类暴行,比如在委内瑞拉或伊朗,这确实改变了他们对问题的看法。

It's related to the media situation we've been talking about. There's basically no substantial alternative voice presented in the U.S. media ecosystem. The vast majority of news that people are exposed to every day - the newspaper, TV or internet or Twitter - are from these massive media outlets that essentially push the same narrative. So, people are getting the same message thrown at them day after day after day.

这和我们一直在谈论的媒体情况有关。在美国媒体生态系统中,基本上没有其他实质性的替代声音。人们每天接触到的绝大多数新闻——报纸、电视、互联网或推特——都来自这些庞大的媒体机构,它们本质上都在推动同样的叙事。因此,人们日复一日地收到同样的信息。

These very powerful media outlets that control the discourse, or at least dominate it, will never invite someone like me to speak and will never invite someone with an alternative perspective. You are really presented with one opinion over and over and over again. Unfortunately, this does shift the way people perceive the situation and prevents any opposition to these nefarious foreign policy of overthrowing foreign governments or imposing devastating sanctions on countries from the Global South like Venezuela or Cuba or Iran.

这些非常强大的媒体机构控制着话语权,或者至少支配着话语权,它们永远不会邀请像我这样的人发言,也永远不会邀请有不同观点的人。 你会一次又一次地听到同一观点。 不幸的是,这确实改变了人们对局势的看法,阻止了对这些邪恶外交政策的任何反对,这些政策旨在推翻外国政府,或者对南半球国家实施毁灭性制裁,如委内瑞拉、古巴或伊朗。

This isn't a new modern phenomenon, it is built on a lengthy history. For centuries, western countries have had imperial, colonial relations with the majority of countries in the world, in the Global South, with indigenous peoples. It also was built upon this "noble intention" of "civilizing the savage people" or "barbarian people." This "human rights" ideology is really built on this long term western exceptionalism or superiority.

这不是一个新的现代现象,它建立在漫长的历史之上。几个世纪以来,西方国家世界上大多数国家,包括南半球国家土著人民都有着帝国主义的殖民关系它也建立在“教化野蛮人”的“崇高意图”之上这种“人权”意识形态实际上是建立在长期的西方例外论或优越论之上的。

CGTN: How do you think the current pandemic will impact world order?

中国国际电视台记者:您认为当前疫情对世界秩序有何影响?

Singh: It's very difficult to make any predictions, let alone in a world that seems to be as dynamic and quickly-changing as ours. But it seems to be clear what needs to happen.

辛格:很难做出任何预测,更别说是在一个像我们这样充满活力和瞬息万变的世界里。但我们似乎很清楚需要做些什么。

For about four decades, the U.S. and its allies have proclaimed that there's no alternative to neoliberal capitalism. With the fall of the Soviet Union, we've been told this is the end of history, this (neoliberalism) is all there is and it's the only system that works. This crisis has really highlighted the complete inability of this system to protect the wellbeing of the vast majority of ordinary people, even in the wealthiest countries in the world. This is after decades of drastic cuts to public and social spending - healthcare and social welfare measures. It has produced severe inequality and a very hollowed out public sector. This has created the situation where the wealthiest countries in the world have the worst coronavirus outbreak.

大约40年来,美国及其盟友一直宣称,除了新自由资本主义,别无选择。随着苏联的解体,我们被告知这是历史的终结,这(新自由主义)是唯一可行的制度。这场危机突显出,这个体系完全无力保护绝大多数普通民众的福祉,即便是在世界上最富裕的国家。这是在数十年来大幅削减公共和社会支出——医疗和社会福利措施之后的结果。它造成了严重的不平等和一个非常空洞的公共部门。这造成了世界上最富裕的国家爆发最严重的新型冠状病毒疫情的局面。

It's quite clear what's currently needed is social and economic transformation - a system which foregrounds the wellbeing of ordinary people and the public sector. Second, this crisis has really highlighted necessity of moving away from destructive unilateralism in countries like the U.S. which even during a global health emergency, is imposing sanctions on countries like Venezuela, Iran and Cuba, and impeding their ability to import health and medical supplies. This destructive behavior needs to be replaced by strengthening and building international, multilateral institutions.

显然,当前需要的是社会和经济转型——一个着眼于普通民众和公共部门福祉的体系。其次,这场危机确实突出表明,美国等国必须摆脱破坏性的单边主义即使是在全球卫生紧急情况下,美国也在对委内瑞拉、伊朗和古巴等国实施制裁,阻碍它们进口卫生和医疗用品。 这种破坏性行为需要通过加强和建立国际多边机构来取代。

This coronavirus outbreak has really highlighted how interconnected the world is - a problem somewhere can affect all of humanity. It is necessary for all of humanity to cooperate and ensure collective wellbeing. We need to move away from this "one country does whatever it wants, whenever it wants," to an international order that's more democratic, where actions of countries are determined in a multilateral, cooperative manner.

此次新型冠状病毒疫情确实凸显了世界的紧密联系——某个地方的问题可能影响到全人类。全人类有必要合作并确保集体福祉。我们需要摆脱“一个国家想做什么就做什么,什么时候想做什么就做什么”的局面转向一个更加民主的国际秩序,在这个秩序下,各国的行动是通过多边、合作的方式决定的。

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