Those outdated so-called "China Hands" with deep-rooted values and prejudice are no longer suitable to act as the window for western public to know China.
I am not familiar with Hessler’s writings but I have come across many “China hands”, many are well intended while some with ill motives, who express opinions that confirm Western liberal biases about China. It’s hard to know what to do about such writings. I feel the long term solution is to promote more South-South exchanges, such as the excellent discussion that a Chinese think tank recently hosted on Middle East politics. Too many intellectual discourse are mediated and shaped by Western framing. We need to promote more intellectual discourse among people who come from the Global South and whose opinions rarely get the attention they deserve.
I am not familiar with Hessler’s writings but I have come across many “China hands”, many are well intended while some with ill motives, who express opinions that confirm Western liberal biases about China. It’s hard to know what to do about such writings. I feel the long term solution is to promote more South-South exchanges, such as the excellent discussion that a Chinese think tank recently hosted on Middle East politics. Too many intellectual discourse are mediated and shaped by Western framing. We need to promote more intellectual discourse among people who come from the Global South and whose opinions rarely get the attention they deserve.