任何关注西方媒体的人都会注意到从拥有高流量的媒体，如美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）、英国广播公司（BBC）、卫报，至较小的报纸，是如何大肆报导中国网球名将彭帅（指控前中国国务院副总理张高丽性侵）的新闻。自11月3日，新闻首次出现后，世界各地的读者每天都被大量彭帅的文章所淹没。与此同时，这些文章试图将其与中国被指控在新疆涉嫌种族灭绝、“强迫劳动”、对港台镇压政策，以及要从控制南中国海开始走向称霸世界的指控等相关问题联系起来。
电视上的报导，除了充满彭帅的图像外，也有一些评论，这包括来自著名网球员的谈话，以及一些闭门造车的评论家写的“深入”分析，让广大观众对这个新闻保持热度和活力。
当然，彭帅事件是有一两天的新闻价值的。但有至于用超过3周或更长时间不断的来报导吗？
其实，西方媒体最重要和最隐密的议程是，利用并操纵这新闻，将公众的注意力转移到真正的目标上——中国政府。从新闻篇幅和热度日益增加来看，西方媒体这种持续的反华叙事目标似乎已成功。
同时，从美国、英国、澳洲，甚至欧盟国家的政府利用彭帅事件，进一步抹黑中国在人权和媒体自由方面的表现，以及中共的领导层，反映了这手法是成功的。除了丑化中国政府外，此事件也被用来作为外交手段和抵制北京冬奥会的理由。
很明显，无论发生什么事，丑化中国的行动会持续下去。如果奏效，抵制冬奥会可能对北京的国际形象造成沉重打击。
中国政府克制反应
尽管，最近发布了彭帅出席各种公共活动的照片和视频，以及国际奥委会主席托马斯巴赫也发表声明，称其与彭帅在视讯通话了30分钟，并指彭帅平安无事，也希望外界尊重她隐私，但这无阻事件持续大肆宣传报导。
对于西方媒体对彭帅事件的过度报导，中国政府的反应是非常克制的。最初指出这不是外交课题，而北京最新声明则呼吁“某些人”应停止对彭帅课题“恶意炒作”和“政治化”。
尽管中国冷静的应对，但西方媒体将继续利用一切的机会深入破坏中国的形象。
无论如何，这场通过炒作彭帅事件来煽动反华、反中情绪的宣传战，对国际社会没有带来任何好处。
实际上，如果要炒作新闻，这些媒体可有许多国际和本土课题。在英国，除了本土的丑闻外，在国际课题上，彭帅事件曝光后，就有澳洲板球队长蒂姆潘恩因涉及色情短讯事件而辞职，其X等级的短讯和图像，肯定会引起世界各地读者兴趣并畅销。
在英国本土，数千名政治移民被拒进入英国和欧洲；未解决的英国退欧问题、约翰逊领导层和英国议会的接二连三丑闻，以及最近揭露的由英国白人主导体育组织中根深蒂固的种族主义情绪和结构，都是无比重要和具有新闻价值的。
应关注更重要议题
或许，炒作彭帅事件目的就是要激起中国官方媒体的敌对反应，从而使西方媒体能够进一步以负面报导反击。这种发展虽有利报份销量，但无助于国际的和平或公共利益。
尽管，在意识形态分歧下，中国也可以同样的手法反击，但中国并没有做出针锋相对的回应。这推测可能是中国宣传机关与极具创造力和经验的西方宣传机关相比，显得处于下风。
事实上，中国对这些事件的处理不仅是拙劣的，也暴露了其僵化的政治制度的局限性，即在处理此类事件时不应该害怕以公开透明方式面向世界。尽管采取了不同的路线，但中国在女性赋权方面的总体成就，实际上不比西方自由民主国家差，甚至有过之无不及。
无论如何，西方媒体都应该从彭帅的事件转移到本国和国际上更紧迫、更重要的事态发展。
如果BBC和《卫报》的编辑有意报导中国的大事件，西方新闻机构不应错过对美国海军“康涅狄格”号核潜艇在10月时，于南中国海发生“撞击”事故展开调查式的报导。
其中的一个尚未得到证实的说法是指，有关意外是“康涅狄格”号在中国海域附近与中国海军发生“相撞”。这样的意外不仅会导致南中国海面对著核潜艇因撞击带来的核泄漏污染风险，而且还可能会在本区域引发一场潜在世界大战风险。
炒作和虚伪往往是西方的两个面向。公众应该要求西方媒体证明，他们报导中国新闻时，不仅仅是丑化中国推手和种族主义的帮凶。
林德宜《彭帅事件：西方媒体VS中国》原文：Peng Shuai Story: Western Media Vs China
Anyone following the western media will have noticed how the largest circulation news channels such as CNN, BBC, The Guardian and even the smaller papers have hyped the Peng Shuai story. Since 3 November when the story first broke, readers around the world have been flooded with daily articles focusing on her case. At the same time the articles have attempted to tie it up with associated issues such as the charges of China’s alleged genocide in Xinjiang, use of slave labour, repressive policies in Hongkong and Taiwan, and efforts to dominate the world beginning with the South China Sea.
Television coverage of the story with pictures of the tennis star and interviews with commentators including famous tennis players, and ‘in depth’ analysis by armchair critics have kept the story hot and alive to a large audience.
To be sure, the plight of Peng Shuai is newsworthy for a day or two. But over 3 weeks or more?
The most important and hidden objective is to leverage on it and to manipulate it to deflect public attention towards the real target - China’s government. And from the number of inches - now reaching feet - of news columns given to it, the objective of this sustained western media anti-China narrative appears to have succeeded.
Confirmation of ths success can be seen in the way the US, British, Australian and even EU governments have used the Peng Shuai case to further blacken China’s record on human rights and media freedom and the Communist Party leadership. Besides making the Chinese government look bad, the case is being used to justify a diplomatic and larger boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympic games.
It is clear that this campaign to tarnish China will continue whatever happens. If effective, the boycott of the winter games could serve as a body blow to Beijing’s international image.
Thus recent publication of photos and videos of Peng Shuai at various public events and the most recent statement by the International Olympic Council president, Thomas Bach, that she had spoken to him for 30 minutes and assured that she is safe and well and would like her privacy respected, have had no effect in stopping the propaganda onslaught.
China’s Restrained Response
The Chinese government response has been remarkably restrained on the western media overkill on the Peng Shuai story. Initially noting that it was not a diplomatic matter, the latest Beijing statement called on “some people [to] stop deliberately and maliciously hyping [the issue] up, let alone politicise [it].
Notwithstanding Beijing’s calm reaction, Western media will continue to be deeply engaged in damaging China’s image at every possible opportunity.
This propaganda war is not doing the international community any favour or good by sensationalizing and spinning stories aimed at arousing anti China and anti Chinese sentiments.
If the justification is the need for news stories to sell, there are many international and domestic concerns that they can cover. In Britain, besides home grown scandals, the Tim Paine story which broke after the Peng Shuai story with its graphic X rated messages and images of parts of the anatomy is guaranteed to titillate and sell well to readers all round the world.
In Britain, coverage of news relating to the plight of thousands of political migrants refused entry to the UK and Europe; unresolved Brexit issues, the new sleaze exposed in Boris Johnson’s leadership and the British parliament, and most recently the revelations of entrenched racist sentiments and structures in the white dominated sporting organizations of Britain, are incomparably more important and newsworthy.
Perhaps the objective is also to provoke a hostile response from China’s state media which can then enable western media to retaliate with further negative reporting. Such a development, while useful in terms of selling the papers, will not serve the cause of peaceful coexistence or international public interest.
China’s reaction in a tit-for-tat battle has not come about although both sides of the ideological divide can play the same game. It has been postulated that the relative absence of a response from Beijing’s state media is due to the weak and poor quality standards of China’s propaganda machinery as compared with the highly creative and experienced one of the West. In fact, the Chinese handling of the story is not only ham-fisted. It has also exposed the limitations of a rigid political system that should not fear opening to the world in its handling of cases such as this. China’s overall achievements on women empowerment in fact is as good if not better than those found in western liberal democracies, despite the different roads taken.
Whatever the reason, western media should move on from the Peng Shuai story to more urgent and significant developments in their home countries and abroad.
South China Sea: Potential World War III Battle Ground
And if it is a big China story that the BBC and The Guardian editors are intent on reporting, Western news agencies would do well to undertake an investigation and report on what really happened with the alleged ‘collision’ of the USS Connecticut in the South China Sea.
One recent version provides an as yet unconfirmed account that relates the USS Connecticut’s engagement in an encounter with China’s navy near China’s coastline. Such an incident raises not only the possibility of nuclear discharge which will pollute the South China Sea but also runs the risk of precipitating a larger and potential World War beginning in our part of the world.
Hype and hypocrisy are often two sides of the same western coin. The public should demand that western media prove that they are not just being media and racist dogs of war in their China coverage.
