China story partly based on fear and ignorance – Zhang Lijia

Zhang Lijia by Fantake via Flickr

Author Zhang Lijia often describes the growing freedom in China in a rather positive way, while Western media regularly take a more critical approach, the reporter of the Dutch website OneWorld.com asked her during a recent visit to Amsterdam. (Here in a translation from Google.) How does Zhang Lijia explain the difference?

“The criticism is not unfounded but constitutes only a part of the story, she comes largely from fear and ignorance. Of course, in the field of human rights and democracy is still very much to be done in China, but you must understand where we come from come a few years ago we lived in a completely controlled state, the word was not even human rights. I want to show the world that the Chinese are not perplexed and oppressed people, as is often thought, but we work hard with our deployment and development.”

More at OneWorld.
You can download a BBC documentary with Zhang Lijia here.

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Zhang Lijia is represented by the China Speakers Bureau. Do you want her at your conference or meeting? Do get in touch.