It all started with Locke’s arrival in Beijing in economy class on Aug. 12 with his wife and three children. At the stopover at Seattle Airport, he tried to use a coupon at a Starbucks and was declined. He ended up paying for the coffee by credit card.
At the Beijing airport, his family carried their own luggage and all sat in a shuttle bus to go the embassy. This simple and self-reliant trip to Beijing caused waves of Chinese media reports.
Wave One: ‘Role Model’
Chinese media were impressed and praised him immediately. The following from the state-run newspaper Guangming Daily on Aug. 16 is representative of heaps of local media reports.
“In the past two days, it was quite obvious that Chinese netizens held Locke in high esteem. … The reason is simple. Locke came to Beijing to report to his position of ambassador. He brought his entire family. He carried his own bags and luggage. No special assistants were along his side.
“He squeezed into the bus together with his family. It makes us feel warm. It was said that he even stayed in line when buying coffee, without seeking preferential treatment due to his ‘high-ranking’ position.
“All of this is so inconceivable in the eyes of the Chinese public and media who are used to the ostentation and extravagance of the Chinese officials. Some commented that Locke is well-versed in public diplomacy—no speeches and no grandeur. [A] few words speak louder than thousands of words.
“He won our hearts even before he came over. This is the best class on public diplomacy and the best publicity for the U.S. national image. … He made the public mad about him in the shortest time, just because he brought with him the unusual U.S. official culture, which is nothing but true common sense.”
According to Nanfang Daily, a Chinese netizen, user name Hang Yiwei, blogged: “Chinese leaders, please follow the Locke standard when you are on an inspection trip. … It is normal that high-ranking officials do not have the air of high-ranking officials. Locke can do it. Why can’t our Chinese officials?” Within days, the blog had 510,000 hits.
And Locke as role model was taking an effective toll in China immediately. The same Nanfang Daily article reported, “Director of Shenzhen Bureau of Civil Affairs Liu Runhua responded in his real name: ‘Frankly, for people like me, low civil service officials, if I travel as a tourist, of course, I carry my own bags. If it is such an important moment as traveling to report to a new position, I would certainly be accompanied by colleagues who help get some luggage. Shame, shame! Learn from Ambassador Locke!’”
The Nanfang Daily article was republished on the state-run Xinhua and Huanqiu news websites.
Wave Two: ‘U.S. Colonialist’
But soon the wave of admiration for Ambassador Locke turned in the opposite direction. The Chinese media, especially the state media, has a mission to safeguard the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) interests. Comparing a positive U.S. role model with the official corruption in China is not acceptable.
It was hard for the Chinese media to debate the merit of Locke’s actions, but there was a convenient label that could be applied: the U.S. conspiracy to undermine China. The media also suggested another theory, that the U.S. officials are performing a “show” for their debtor (the Chinese) because they want to borrow more.
The state-run Guangming Daily, which had published an article praising Locke on Aug. 16, on the very same day also published an article titled “Be on Guard against the US as Locke Brings ‘Neo-Colonialism’ to China.” The contradiction between the two articles suggests the newspaper was struggling between expressing true feelings and serving the Party.
The article sharply criticized Ambassador Locke and his family for intentionally carrying their own luggage to Beijing without any assistants, security guards, or a grand welcome. The article claimed that the low-key approach was designed to win the Chinese people’s hearts and destroy China’s broken ideology: “Gary Locke’s arrival demonstrates the climax of neo-colonialism in the information age. The ideological conflict between China and the U.S. has been revealed completely.”
The article compared Locke to a wolf in sheep’s clothes. “Though its appearance has changed, the predatory nature has never changed.” “This Chinese-descendant U.S. ambassador is here to serve the United States, not the entire interest of humankind.
“Being a Chinese descendant attracts attention from Chinese all over the world, and thus leads and influences public opinion. It will help him foster affinity with common people in China. But who would know that this actually exposes the ulterior motives of the United States to use Chinese against China and to incite political unrest in China?”
On Aug. 25, Huanqiu, which had republished the favorable Nanfing Daily article, published an article written by Zhu Bingyuan, the chairman of the Marxist Research Institute at Soochow University, with the title “It Is More Difficult to Deal with a Friendly and Gentle America.”
Zhu stated that the United States is going through a tough time and very much hopes that China will continue to buy U.S. treasury bonds. The diplomatic purpose of being “low-key” and “close to ordinary people,” as demonstrated by Biden and Locke, is to “show” their “democratic” and “common people’s” style in front of the people of their creditor so as to avoid public criticism and reshape the American image.
Next…Wave Three: ‘Role Model’ Again
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
