一图胜千言。优管和其他社交媒体上有数百个由在中国的外国游客发布的视频，他们希望通过这些视频获得点赞和订阅打偿。
2024年首两个月，中国外国人出入境人数达295万人次，比2023年增加2.3倍。如果这趋势持续下去，我们可能会看到西方媒体在其亚洲盟友支持下对中国的打压进入新阶段。
在这个阶段，资源有限的一般旅行者视频与西方媒体的报导相比，就如圣经里的大卫与巨人歌利亚的对决，尤其西方媒体更因会获得中国敌人的巨额资金和阴谋举动加持而增强。
根据路透社最近报道，据掌握高度机密的前美国官员透露，特朗普就任总统两年后，就授权中央情报局在中国社交媒体上发起秘密行动，旨在鼓动中国公众舆论反中国政府。
三名前官员告诉路透社，中央情报局成立了一个小型特工团队，他们使用虚假的网路身分传播有关习近平政府的负面言论，同时向海外媒体泄露具诽谤性情报。这些工作于2019年开始，而此前从未有过相关报导。
如今的美国总统拜登和英国首相苏纳克更将有关行动进一步扩大，这可从美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）、英国广播公司（BBC）、《纽约时报》、《华盛顿邮报》、《日经亚洲》、《悉尼先驱晨报》、印度一些主流媒体和一些非西方媒体采用来自主导国际媒体市场的西方新闻机构新闻中，源源不断的反华报道佐证。一些中国媒体同样鹦鹉学舌宣扬反华路线，对习近平、中国政府和台湾课题上指手画脚。
无论如何，过去西方媒体一边倒的抹黑中国局面，已有所改变。在媒体报导的日常争夺战中，我们可看到来自世界各地的旅客对中国每个角落之“报导”──从北京、上海、广州、深圳等大城市；到二至五线城市；甚至所谓受到压制、剥削和不安全的省份，如新疆、西藏和其他拥有大量非汉族和土著人口的地区；农村和城市的贫困地区和欠发达地区、小巷和胡同。
这些预算有限的游客，配备了音频和摄影设备，以及越来越多使用无人机来捕捉中国乡村的美丽，并探索中国的禁区或最丑陋和最不发达的地区，他们提供的有关中国社会、中国政府的内容，与来自华盛顿、伦敦、东京、台北、新德里等地受制约的高薪记者，在五星级饭店进行的反华新闻报道有所不同。
与必须搜寻反华故事来证明自己的专业和获得晋升的专业同行不同，这些视频博主拥有绝对的自由去任何地方，对他们遇到的一切录制成视频和评论。他们没有任何需要履行的虚假使命。没有编辑小组来审查他们的作品。不用担心他们可能会因撰写任何被视为对中国有利的故事或新闻报导而收到对付。没有人声称他们实践了正直、诚实、公平、平衡、独立和可信等虚假的新闻价值。除他们自己利益外，他们不会优先考虑任何政治或商业利益。
这些视频博主中有许多是来自民间有著强烈反华情绪的已开发国家——美国、加拿大、英国、日本、一些欧盟国家和澳洲。此外，越来越多的是来自非洲、中东、南美洲以及亚洲和太平洋其他地区的中立国家。除了特朗普和现在拜登的付费网军之外，这些视频博主都对他们所看见的中国感到惊讶。
打倒中国手段
对于过去被西方源源不断喂养的新闻和报道，不仅是简单的偏袒，而是在建构一个错误讯息、操纵和宣传的有毒领域，这些都是旧世界秩序守护者决心打倒中国的结果，因此这些来自西方的游客，原本期待的中国是一个独裁的警察国家；缺乏言论、表达和宗教的自由；侵犯人权、巨大的集中营和劳改营；对维吾尔人、穆斯林和少数民族的镇压。一些则认为，那些像行尸走肉般或叛逆的公民会被明显无处不在的监视镜头威胁下变成沉默多数。也有人符合了西方人如何被中国不安全的刻板印象所洗脑。中国人高深莫测、排外；中国政府仇外且权力狂。
如今许多人带著对中国有全新的、肯定的认知，回到了他们的国家。不少人著迷于中国经历以及对中国历史、文化、经济、基础设施和食品的更多了解。当他们发布视频时，他们会收到数百甚至数千条来自观众的评论，这些评论分享了他们所观看内容的回馈。绝大多数人将中国的政府和政治制度与自己的国家进行比较，并表示他们是如何被欺骗的，并不断被本国媒体灌输有关中国的谎言。
这些评论反应是完全自发、即兴的。一些评论也提出了对中国政府和社会的另类、不那么正面和更大的担忧，并且经常引发更多的辩论。但这一切都是以民主和参与式的方式进行，这与主流媒体不同，主流媒体的政治评论页面从一开始就被禁言或有严格审查。
在2021年，自诩为提供“公正、高品质和独特的产出和服务”典范的英国广播公司(BBC)以“中国虚假信息驱动下的外籍网红”为头条新闻。这篇文章有几个目标。第一，是妖魔化
那些与BBC唱反调，发表关于新疆、香港和其他反华言论相反故事的英国网民，并渲染对中国发展的担忧。第二，是煽动西方政府打压优管上由普通英国游客制作的，但却被指为中国政府赞助的视频。
如今TikTok成为被禁的目标。外国游客正在重新发现中国，如果西方媒体和政府有发言权的话，优管可能会成为他们反华运动的下一个受害者。
林德宜《外国视频博主揭穿西方媒体反华宣传》原文：Foreign Vloggers Debunk Western Media Anti China Propaganda
A picture paints a thousand words. Out in YouTube and other social media are hundreds of videos put out by foreign travellers in China who ask for an upvote and to buy them a coffee to subscribe.
In the first two months of 2024, China recorded 2.95 million inbound and outbound trips by foreigners, an increase of 2.3 times compared with 2023. Should this trend continue, we may see a new phase in the war waged against China by western media supported by its Asian allies.
This new phase pits the Davids of ordinary travellers with modest resources against the mighty Goliaths of western media augmented by the enormous financial funding and cloak and dagger activities of China’s enemies.
According to a recent Reuters report, two years into his presidential office, Trump authorised the Central Intelligence Agency to launch a clandestine campaign on Chinese social media aimed at turning public opinion in China against its government, according to former U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the highly classified operation.
Three former officials told Reuters that the CIA created a small team of operatives who used bogus internet identities to spread negative narratives about Xi Jinping’s government while leaking disparaging intelligence to overseas news outlets. The effort, which began in 2019, had not been previously reported.
It has been expanded by Biden and Sunak judging by the constant stream of anti China reporting by CNN, BBC, New York Times, Washington Post, Nikkei Asia, Sydney Morning Herald, some of India’s mainstream media, and other non-western media drawing their news from the western agencies that dominate the international media market. Some Chinese media similarly parrot the anti China line on Xi, the China government and Taiwan.
This hitherto one sided battle is now more evenly fought out. In the daily contestation in the media, travellers from around the world are covering every part of China - the mega cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and others; second to fifth tier cities; out of the way and allegedly repressed, exploited and unsafe provinces such as Xinjiang, Tibet and other areas with large non-Han and indigenous populations; rural and urban poor and less developed areas, side lanes and alleys.
Armed with audio and photographic equipment, and with an increasing number flying drones to capture the beauty of China’s countryside as well as probe into forbidden or the ugliest and least developed parts of China, these mainly budget travellers provide content and evidence of a society, government and nation different from that provided by the seat-bound highly paid journalists, operating from Washington, London, Tokyo, Taipei, New Delhi, and others ensconced in five star hotels to spin their anti China news reporting
Unlike their professional counterparts who have to scavenge for anti China stories to justify their job and career advancement, the vloggers have absolute freedom to go anywhere and video and comment on everything that they come across.
There is no fictitious mission for them to live up to. No editorial panel to censor their work. No concern that they may be at risk for writing any story or report any news that may be construed as favourable to China. No claim that they are living up to fake journalistic values of integrity, honesty, fairness, balance, independence and credibility. Or that they are giving priority to any outside political or commercial interest, except their own.
Many of these vloggers come from developed countries with strong anti China sentiments amongst their citizens - US, Canada, UK, Japan, some EU countries and Australia. An increasing number come from neutral countries of Africa,, Middle East, South America and elsewhere in Asia and the Pacific. They all, with a few exceptions of Trump’s and now Biden’s paid cyber troopers, marvel at the China they are discovering.
Fed with an incessant stream of news and stories that go beyond just being simply partisan into the toxic realm of misinformation, manipulation and propaganda by the guardians of the old world order determined to bring China down, these Davids were expecting an authoritarian police state; the absence of freedom of speech, expression, religions; human rights abuse, huge prison camps and slave labour; repression of Uyghurs, Muslims and minorities. Some expected zombie-like or rebellious citizens cowed and silenced by the apparently ubiquitous surveillance cameras training down and snooping into every nook and corner of China. Others relate how westerners have been brainwashed with stereotypes of China as unsafe; the Chinese as inscrutable and anti-foreign; the government as xenophobic and power crazy.
Many have now gone home with a new and favourable awareness. More than a few are enchanted by their China experience and better knowledge of China’s history, culture, economy, infrastructure and food. When they post their videos they receive hundreds, sometimes thousands of comments from viewers sharing feedback on what they have viewed. The great majority compare favourably China’s government and political system with their own country, and state how they have been deceived, and are continually fed with lies by their home media about China.
The responses from commentators are totally spontaneous and unscripted. A few commentators provide alternative, less positive and greater concerns of China’s government and society and they often begin an extended debate. But all of this is carried out in a democratic and participatory fashion unlike what is available from the mainstream media where the comment page on politics is disabled right at the start or heavily censored.
In 2021, the BBC, the self proclaimed paragon of “impartial, high-quality and distinctive output” ran a lead story on “The Foreigners in China’s Disinformation Quest”. The article had several objectives. The first was to demonise British nationals running stories counter to that which the BBC was running on Xinjiang, Hong Kong and other anti China fodder and to play up fears about China’s development. The second was to incite western governments to crack down on YouTube where the alleged China state sponsored videos produced by ordinary UK travellers were streaming.
TikTok is being targeted for cancellation. Now that foreign travellers are rediscovering China, if western media and governments have their say, YouTube may become the next victim of their anti China campaign.
Postscript
Foreign vloggers providing images and narratives of China that have generated interest among millions of viewers include
● https://youtube.com/@LucaRachele?si=sI-_tkeIrWJgqv3X
● https://youtube.com/@PartTimeTravellerChina?si=4QfJpRtNthWwJe7J
● https://youtube.com/@kats_journey_east?si=-40lOM99n4VGxvTk
● https://youtu.be/GD6F0uYsIUA?si=67hZklNcPbNdlDFN
● https://youtu.be/8AQgPz7GY1w?si=8DcxtsUv9_PCv34T
● https://youtu.be/-oAlAfcqzF4?si=4Rld57Tp5Q-maBoR
● https://youtu.be/TGqDuHnncRM?si=MTvBK5qO230Dp4kD
公共政策分析学者
