I was totally oversold! my goodness!
such high expectations I'll be shivering with nervousness
but anyway I am here, I have to answer the call
so on it's a great pleasure to be here
since I joined CCTV 20 years ago
I have been doing one thing
actually since I entered Nanjing University to study English in 1993
I has set the goal for myself
to be a bridge between China and the rest of the world
and for the past 20 years after I joined CCTV
I've been doing just that
Now China has entered a new era
what does this mean to me?
now a host of an opinion show on CGTV
formerly known as CCTV news or CCTV International or CCTV 9
in all the international TV of CCTV
before I give you my answers
I would like to share with you a personal story
about my serendipity with China Daily
In 1995, I won the first ever national public...
English public speaking competition organised by China Daily
the first of its kind in China, I won and then I represented China
to participate in the International public speaking competition
I won again and there was being received by Prince Philip
the Duke of Edinburgh as part of Horner
and thank you (Lao Huang Li)
Anyway he asked me jokingly: "So you also speak Chinese?"
Anyway, my topic, 20 years ago was about choice
and you know China was undergoing reform
and opening-up for about 15 years
so we Chinese for the very first time in history
had the abundance of choice in our daily lives
what did choice mean to me back then as a college student
and I divided my answers in three parts
opportunities, challenges and responsibilities
20 years later, or over 20 years later
I'm standing on this main stage
facing a very similar question
what a pleasure and what a coincidence
and I think it is only fitting
that I give the answers in a similar structure
but this time I'm going to talk about challenges first
then the opportunities and finally my responsibilities
as I become more confident of Who I am
and how the future will be looking like
so, let's go China into a new year challenges
China enters the new year with greater confidence
but with a certain image deficit and trust deficit
I call it this way
because of the ideological differences between China and the West
China has always been the subject or target of Western mediacriticism or scrutiny
sometimes downright bashing based on false hoods for instance
this is the kind of a political cartoon
you will be reading on the Western press about China's ambition
words number one: Crushing
the US along the way that was John in December 2014
and now China has defied all kinds of predictions of it
I shall go back yeah
Now that China has defied all kinds of predictions
of a regime collapse or economic hard landing
Western observers and commentators are at a loss of words
to explain the China phenomenon the one-party dictatorship
how come it can make it
and the resulting feeling among the general public in the West
I describe it like this could be a superiority complex
mixed with the well durmand possibly
iced with envy and jealousy on the other hand
China has also been a stick scapegoat
for some domestic policy failures in Western countries
In the US for instance
that the loss of jobs has been blamed squarely on Chinese competition
In the mainstream US media again
A Western political cartoon: China Currency
So have you moved away yeah
politicians they would put unfair pressure China
to score domestic political games reinforcing the generals
the public Jenthe general public's skepticism
and Mr.misunderstanding about China by the way
that, that picture reminded me of asentence in Kung Fu Panda
Does anybody know what I'm talking about
that famous line was when the Jaguar was telling the Panda
what can you do sit on me did a ring at home
Anyway, so that was the kind of the kind of scapegoating
China had to suffer
as a result, we're looking at the kind of trust deficit and image deficits
In the Western general public
A survey conducted by the committee of 100 last year for instance
found that the majority of Americans responding to that survey
73 percent think that China's growing military power
and 63 percent of the respondents think that China's growing economic power
is a potential - a serious threat
Last October in the asia-pacific region
the mixture... the picture is also mixed
Last October right before the 19th National Congress of the CPC
The Pew Research Center, a leading US survey company
did a survey to find out, uh,
find out about how China was viewed in the eyes of eight asia-pacific countries
and the survey found little consensus
as to whether or not China's economic growth
was more of a good thing or a bad thing
For their country, most people in that region
thought that China's growing military power was worrying
and many in the region thought that China's growing power and influence
in the asia-pacific was a key concern
greater than their concern about the United States
but the picture is not all doom and gloom
As we say in Chinese, in every crisis we see an opportunity
let's look at the opportunities we're faced
with in the international media, in the near future
Now the world's impression, as I said about China
although mixed in some parts in some regions
Generally have been positive
let's look at a survey carried out jointly
by the China internet foreign languages publishing administration
and the global research firm Cantor MillwardBrown and Lightspeed
what they found out after talking to people aged 18 to 65
in 20 countries is that
in general, people have a positive view about China
the score is six point two two out of a total of ten
G cooler but still in the positive territory
and the survey also shows that
China's image in developing countries people's eyes
is much better than in the eyes of people in developed countries
there you have the comparison in developing country 6.9
and in developed countries: five point six
so there's a difference there
and the trend has actually been reinforced over the past year
according to a Gallup poll released last Thursday
we all know this company very famous
The world's population are more approval of China's leadership
than the leadership of the United States in 2017
and we can look at the figure,
the median approval of the USA's leadership has dropped to 30 percent
whereas their approval of China's leadership has increased to 31 percent
the difference is really small by the way
but still we are head ahead than the United States
which is good news
so looking at the numbers, I wonder why China have been able
has been able to win more hearts in the eyes of the world's people
especially in developing countries
President Xi Jingping gave his answers
in his research to the 19th National Congress of the CPC
he said, China's transformation offers a new option
for other country and nations who want to speed up their development
while preserving their independence
and it offers Chinese wisdom and a Chinese approach
to solving the problems facing mankind
I think that is a very significant paragraph for decades
the words: developing countries
had a very very limited choice when itcomes to their development path
Economically they were given that Neel liberalized prescription
you have to take it is good for you
but in the end, they were exposing themselves
they were opening up their domestic market and industries without prudence
exposing themselves to financial crisis or economic crisis
before they could build up a solid economic foundation outside aid
and assistance often came slowly with low efficiency
and with many strings attached
politically, most countries had to take side
in order to get their protection or safety
the world was either friends or foes and when this when the Cold War ended
the Cold War mentality stayed on nowadays
still countries developed ones and developing ones
have to cede part of their sovereignty for their safety in international affairs
we also see a gloomy picture
one or two countries candictate how things are run
the fundamental values and principles that have been enshrined
in the UN Charter have been ignored together with the, for instance
the ultimate prudence against the use of force
the importance of peaceful solutions to the issues
We're faced with the importance of cooperation
together with solidarity and unity
since the Trump administration came into power last year
the trend has become even more worrisome
national interests have been put to a level
higher than our joint commitment to this world
and to... I'm not going to say mankind, going to say humankind
I learned my lesson and major country's responsibilities to the world
is beingturned into calc... carefully calculated bargaining chips
I don't like that, so, the world is being poured into two different directions
one is based on ideology and conflict driven
the other is inspired by the inspiration for common prosperity and cooperation driven
I think the words people are making up their mind about where they want to go
that is the historic responsibility we are faced with
in this, in this new and new day and age
and this is in my eyesthe soul of CGEN in this new era
our mottle see the difference is just right to the point
so while china has a great story to tell
the media marketplace is also shifting in profound ways
and here lies the second opportunity I want to talk about
Traditionally, traditionally people have relied on TV
relied on a few Western correspondence
or commentators expertson information and opinions about China
but now it doesn't have to be like that
We are here, CGTN is there, China Delhi is there
so people have a lot more information according to some statistics
statistics over the past year the international recognition
of the brand of CGTN has increased from 13 percent to 30 percent
the 12.8% of international viewers when they want to find out about a China related story
they were tuned tous an increase of 4%
also in some parts of the world for instance
in France, in the Philippines and in five African countries
our viewership has jumped by three quarters, extremely considerable
and on the new media platform, the, the growth has been Xnancial
within one year the followers, the total number of followers of CGTN
on all international platforms and domestic collapse platforms
totaled over 95 million, CGTN is now the world's number one news account on Facebook
and it's the same picture across the board
for Chinese media, for Chinese international media
so indeed, by the way, we have a lot of people watching us
on their mobile devices real-time, unedited
this was just not possible a couple of years ago
so indeed another great opportunity for all of us here
However let's not forget our international counterparts
are also vying for greater influence
they are also doing the same thing
and the fight for the international microphone is set to become uglier
so in this day and age
how can we in the international media of China make a real impact
what is my responsibility there you go
95 million, yes, thumbs up to ourselves responsibilities
ok the point, we are a weeknight opinion show on average during each episode
we'll talk about two topics, we'll invite two to three guests
to come and express their opinions
and have adebate or agree with each other
and they come from different parts of China and different part of the world
topics are indeed wide ranging, from hip-hop music to blockchain
from environmental protection to nuclear non-proliferation, you name it
it's like a fast food restaurant town say within less than 15 minutes
I have to bring out enticing dishes for the audience
for them to consume before we move on to the next course
so, there you go, I see myself sometimes right so
there are different ways to do it
you can throw some raw ingredients together
heat it up in the microwave oven and then just serve it carelessly
or you can think about it, design the recipe
I designed the, the menu, yes!
find the most original and fresh ingredients cook in a way
to bring out the most natural flavor
and present with warmth and a touch of style
I choose the second approach, it sounds simple but is not easy
because everystep in that process counts
first you have to find facts and fact-finding is essential for us
because facts is what opinions are based upon
if you get the facts wrong or incomplete
you risk forming the wrong conclusion
a good example was this piece of video
I think many of you have watched this
this went viral on the social media
even many mainstream, international media edits
it's about US President Donald Trump feeding the fish
the idea was people were laughing at him
for not respecting local customs or in jeopardizing the fish's life
because he...after a fused boom fall
he just dumped the whole bowl of fish feed into the pond
people say, look you're trying to kill the fish
because the fish will keep eating
however if you take the entire piece of video
you would see that he was simply following the example of his host
Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe
because of Abe did that first and then he did that
but people purposely cut out the first part and try to make fun of him
a lot of people fell for the trap
it's very very slippery ground
Secondly, how do you organize the discussion
so that people can most easily follow you
how do you lay the groundwork, where do you start, where do you finish
how do you give every... let's not watch that
how do you give every guest an equal amount of time
to speak whether or not I agree with what they say
this is the usual lineup of an average discussion
there, nobody is speaking yeah! we have absolute equality and tranquility
there, but on adaily basis you have to give everybody a fair amount of a talk
and let me tell you there live, you know, nobody tells them what to say
so they come and say I don't agree with what China is doing
and you have to let them finish their sentence and you have to do that
if you, if you, if you call yourself in international media
if you want to be credible
Finally there are the technical aspects
the, the camera work, the lighting, the makeup, the, the wardrobe
behind every single aspect, real work has to go in
to really make the show a professional production
some of you might say professionalism is important
but is that going to be enough to give China a stronger voice
what about the bias that China has been suffering
is this weapon powerful enough?
Well, I understand the desire to be more assertive
and I want to be assertive sometimes when I'm supported by facts
but I believe, believe we always face the danger
of putting our feelings in front of our reason
putting our opini...opinions in front of the axe, the facts
while China is offering the world
a new option, a new approach or the Chinese wisdom
let's not forget it is something that is unprecedented in human history
China has never done it, the world has never seen it
it is likely that we might have detours, we might make mistakes
we might bump into problems
and it's natural that the world is going to misunderstand us
is going to be critical of us, it's going to be afraid of us
our responsibility is not to oversell the China wisdom
but to document and explain the journey of China's rise
let history be our judges
President Xi Jinping said not angling, that is our team by the way
President Xi Jinping said and I love the sentence
not angling for compliments
I would be content if my integrity fills the universe
well, the Chinese people working hard to make China a stronger country
and help building a community of common future for humankind
my job is to tell China as it is, not more, not less
one topic at a time, one show at a time
it is not only a challenge, but also a pleasure
as it has been speaking with you about it today
as I always wrap up at the end of my show
follow me on facebook or twitter
using the handle, the @pointwithlx
today, I'm adding one: follow me on Weibo using @Liuxin CGTN
download the application called CGTN to watch our show
on our own mobile devices or go to youtube and look for "CGTN The Point"
Thank you very much!
