New Yorker on "Angry Youth"

I don't have time for a long post today, but there is something worth a brief note. Last week's New Yorker published a report by Evan Osnos titled "Angry Youth." This report is evidence that objective reporting about China by a Western journalist is still possible. Osnos also gives very good answers in his on-line responses to reader questions. At one point he says, "In fairness, other foreign writers I know in China profess no agenda beyond an intense curiosity about the place." I wish this were true, however in reality one does not see reporting like his very often.

It is understandable why Tang Jie's generation in Osnos' report adapts a less critical attitude toward their government than, say, people in my generation that are 20 years older. This is largely because the younger generation have benefited visibly from the economic reform during their lifetime. They certainly have a better life than I did when I lived in China, and the improvement relative to their parents is striking. Many of the people Osnos talked to are not yet "standing" (by Confucius' measure), and their views have holes and inconsistencies (whose don't?). Still they are understandable, even reasonable considering where they have come from.

One thing that they stressed again and again was the changes they have seen in terms of freedoms and civil liberties in their lifetime. I am always baffled by the failure of most Western commentators to acknowledge China's progress, economically and politically, during the past two decades. Don't they know such acknowledgment would make their criticisms more easily heard? Or, perhaps, they don't really care about results. To borrow from another writer, they may be just enjoying the sound of their thumbs on the keys.

A minor note: Tang Jie and his friends work hard to seek truth, and for this, despite the many flaws in their thinking, I do respect them. I got a real laugh, however, when Osnos quoted Grace Wang, basically an ignorant young lady, comparing herself with Deng Xiaoping. I am curious to know what Osnos was thinking when he wrote that sentence.