Western media prefer fiction

One of the most important lessons we can gain from the much-discussed "Chongqing incident" is the fact that no matter how much access the Chinese government gives the foreign media and how many facilities and briefings various departmental spokespersons provide, they seem incapable of viewing events in China without jumping to preconceived conclusions.

Even though the Chinese authorities are investigating the suspected murder of a foreign national and serious violations of Party discipline by a number of Party officials - not just Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun - every foreign media report I have read of these events seems to refer to it as a political power struggle within the government and ruling party.

Rather than basing their reporting on the facts surrounding the Chongqing incident, most of the foreign media have told a story that has more in common with the American soap-opera Desperate Housewives combined with elements from a James Bond movie, than the events that seem to have unfolded in Chongqing over the past few years.

Ross Grainger, via e-mail

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(China Daily 04/27/2012 page9)