CHINA MEDIA FESTIVAL 2008
China Viewed from Without and In A Global Media Context
Delivered 19 June 2008, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS
Sajid Rizvi
Editor, EAPGROUP International Media [EAP]
Blake Edwards’ 1968 film, The Party,1
featured Peter Sellers in the starring
role as a blundering Indian actor in
Hollywood. I won’t go into how the joke
since has turned on Hollywood, given
the runaway, or should I say, ‘sing
away’ success of Bollywood, but — I am
hazarding a guess here — some of you
may not be aware that The Party had a
somewhat curious reception in the South
Asian subcontinent.
While many Indians felt offended, or
were somewhat but not wholly amused and even branded
the film as racist, their Pakistani rivals celebrated
Peter Sellers’ performance as a well-deserved and fitting
humiliation of the Indians.
In truth, perhaps, The Party was no more than an
acutely observed study, largely the creation of Sellers’
singular talent, of the generic Indian, irrespective of
citizenship and nationality, and a hugely entertaining
work of art.
Generic Chinese or the so-called Oriental characters
abound in the media -- I use the term in the widest

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19 June 2008, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS p2
possible sense — and the stereotypes fit somewhat
loosely within the frames of some tentatively definable
categories, namely:
1. The martial heroes, extremely fit, almost casually
violent, but usually for a good cause, nearly all
shamelessly lifted off or modelled after characters in
Asian genres such as the kung fu movies;
2. The wispy bearded old guys with extraordinary invisible
forces at their command, usually modelled after or
inspired by notions of Daoist sages or the Immortals;
3. The willowy, dangerously erotic femmes fatales, the
product often of fantasies and desires of individuals
involved with a film-making project or a response to
the fear of the unfamiliar Other; and
4. The super villains, either male or female, who may
combine the attributes of all or some of the other
types mentioned earlier.
Some exceptions to those stereotypes are the meek and
passive females of ambivalent East Asian identity that
appear on and off in film and television, the bumbling or
clumsy Oriental as in a lesser known 1980s coming-of-age
movie, Sixteen Candles.2 There, a gong mysteriously went
off every time the film’s supposedly ‘Chinese’ exchange
student (played by a Japanese actor) walked into a scene.
Then there is the truly inexplicable character of the
lovely Joan Chen in Twin Peaks, the David Lynch cult
series, mostly looking at herself in a mirror and humming,
or uttering a few words now and then. Lynch has been
spared approbrium over this mainly because it is him,
David Lynch, an artist almost beyond reproof. Besides, he
is not doing any visible harm!
Yet, some of the more serious and respected Hollywood
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19 June 2008, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS p3
directors have succumbed to the prejudices, which are
often simply engendered by such petty considerations as
the demographics of multicultural California, and have
put into their movies largely negative or excruciatingly
stereotypical ‘Oriental’ characters, or none worthy of
merit at all.
George Lucas, whose Star Wars series borrowed extensively
from East Asian imagery, martial arts (including the
simulation of samurai sword sounds and visual effects in
laser battles) and other artistic or social traditions,
has come under fire for a whole range of sins against East
Asians, so much so that virtually an entire industry has
sprung up to watch over representation of East Asians in
cinema as a whole.
A somewhat curious criticism aimed at George Lucas has
been that his films deliberately fail to depict Asian
men in a positive light — that is, East Asian men as
represented in George Lucas films are either minuscule or
weak or incapacitated in some form or other. Lucas has
denied the charge.3
But why dwell so much on film or the new media when, more
and more, China figures in every imaginable medium from
print to literature to the electronic variety? Because, by
all indications at present, cinema and television, as well
as console games, seem to have a far greater reach in
opinion-forming on a mass scale than literature or print
media. Cinema in particular, as we know only too well,
has played that formative, influencing or manipulative role
for some time now, in respect of other nationalities and
other stereotypes.
Before I finally set foot in Germany as a grown up, the
sum total of my view of Germans over many preceding years
was derived largely from hours spent casually watching
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19 June 2008, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS p4
Hollywood war films.
The techniques used in representation today are far
more subliminal and there may be myriad reasons why
East Asians are depicted the way they are in the mass
media — some quite innocent, consumerist or voyeuristic,
recalling the lament of Edward Said in Orientalism4 about
European interpretations of his specific area of scrutiny,
the Middle East, and some perhaps loaded with political
intent and bearing hidden agenda.
Here I am dealing mainly with the negative or
stereotypical portrayals, I’ll come to the positive ones
later on.
Normally, what Hollywood or electronic media within the
international, predominantly western sphere, dish out
about a particular racial group or nation should not
matter a jot.
After all, these are either art works for a mass audience
made for profit or examples of indifferent journalism, and
both thrive on publicity, whether good or bad. Notoriety
and fame are interchangeable, and controversy is a
convertible currency — the more the merrier.
As for negative or unflattering depictions, the Germans
took it on the chin for well over half a century — they
are still accused or suspected (by apparently normal
people, including academics) of having no sense of humour
— so why should East Asians make any fuss about how the
media characterise them?
Why indeed. The problem arises when ideas from products of
popular culture begin to flow into a political discourse,
or vice versa, as one sees in the representation of Arabs
and Iranians and, before them, the Jews. Even a cursory
glance at early western literature before the First World
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19 June 2008, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS p5
War would show some of the earliest writings on Jews
have an uncanny resemblance to contemporary expressions
about individuals or whole communities associated with
9/11 or subsequent events -- call them Muslims, Middle
Easterners, Arabs, Iranians, whatever.
The fact that Sacha Cohen’s Borat works for many
westerners as a comedy, while it doesn’t for numerous
other westerners, as well as Kazakhs and other people
nearby is another case in point. Is it because the
film panders to the innermost prejudices and its
choice of location, Kazakhstan, brings to mind other -
stans — Pakistan, for instance — which do not qualify
for observance of political correctness, let alone
international decorum because of their perceived
association with terrorism?
I’ll outline presently how those examples relate to China
yesterday, today and tomorrow.
For the new, post-Mao China, the burden is manifold, just
as, on the international stage, China appears in many
guises. There is for instance China of great ancient
civilisations, singular cuisine and exquisite artefacts.
Then there is China that,
post-Mao and post-Deng, has
been reinventing itself and
recasting its communist
ideology to proclaim pursuit
of wealth as a precept
that, according to this new
interpretation, had always
existed, but somehow did
not get explained enough or
implemented.
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19 June 2008, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS p6
Comparisons with Protestant Reformation would not
do. Instead the process now under way in China may
be better understood in the context of how China, in
earlier centuries, has chewed on, digested, absorbed and
regurgitated foreign or just new ideologies and given them
new shape or form and appropriated them.
The fact that what may have appeared as stark opposites,
communism vs capitalism in the past, is coexisting and
evolving into something yet to be clearly defined is a
particularly Chinese happening.
However, right in the midst of this change, several other
things are happening too and they have left the West — I
don’t think it is the international community, per se —
thoroughly exercised.
Foremost is China’s huge trade surplus, the accumulated
wealth that has enabled China to build on its
infrastructure as well as venture out abroad with
financial, industrial and cultural expansion.
This is happening at a time of diminishing economic
returns for most of the West, financially disastrous and
unpopular foreign wars and internal political and social
strife over fiscal and political corruption, spin, taxation
and the War on Terror.
Secondly, there is what the West sees as a kind of
stalemate over its position on China’s human rights
record. This position stems from a perceived moral
authority, which in turn also carries with it a feel-good
factor which relieves pangs of conscience over other
recent events.
I am tempted here to list countries that have pretty
horrific human rights record but are key commercial or
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19 June 2008, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS p7
strategic partners of the West, but that is not the
point. Instead what one should heed is the fact that
China’s human rights are on an agenda that also doubles
up as bargaining chips. And neither the agenda nor those
bargaining chips are going to disappear. So, another way
has to be found through more diplomacy, more political
horse trading, more pragmatism and more Realpolitik, that
old Cold War word now being wheeled in again, a handy
euphemism for how, when and where not to look in politics.
Also, perhaps, a little humility is called for. The
problems being confronted in the West I mentioned earlier
should be sufficient for revisiting our own positions, what
we have lost or are in the process of losing through our
own actions. Who can forget those images from Iraq?
While most of the concerns being expressed over China in
the West may be well-intentioned and those campaigning
for reforms may be genuinely interested, we must not make
light of the fact that, for the first time in the post-
Deng era, there is talk in China of the country being
demonised, there are hints of insularity and isolationism,
there is anger and frustration and there are calls for
reprisals, none of which is a constructive development.
As the West’s relationship with China evolves, amid
increasing discomfort over China’s economic success and
no exit strategies in sight for western governments that,
when not blundering into intemperate behaviour themselves,
feel harassed daily by home-grown human rights activists,
the media may provide clues as to the temperature and
texture of that relationship.
In his book, revised since its first appearance, The
Search for Modern China,5 Jonathan Spence proposes an
effective and convincing argument for China’s democratic
future. And in a recent question and answer session as
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19 June 2008, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS p8
part of the Reith Lecture at Asia Society, New York,
Spence delivers correctives to western notions of China’s
proclivity or capacity for democracy, citing examples from
Chinese history of events that could be the basis for
democracy as the West defines it but is in the process of
destroying in its current futile adventures.6
Spence and other writers remind us that democracy as
defined cannot be the preserve of a specific culture, much
less become a tool for one-upsmanship. So, this is an
area that provides opportunities for both sides to work
together, for a constructive and pragmatic dialogue.
The recent earthquakes in Sichuan, on the other hand,
present us with a paradox that a tragedy of such huge
proportions can become the basis for a positive image-
building exercise. But that is precisely what has been
happening. The swift government response, coupled with
prompt voluntary assistance from ordinary Chinese, has
been comprehensively recorded and broadcast.
More important, no one conspired to time this development
in the aftermath of the protests in Tibet, or the
international fiasco over the Olympic torch, events that
cast a shadow over China’s image abroad. So, while the
tragedy in Sichuan is by no means over, it is hard to
avoid comparisons of the rescue effort there with the
dreadful treatment of the Burmese by their own government
and the continuing saga of the hurricane Katrina’s
aftermath in the United States.
Also on the positive side, Chinese art, culture and
design are on the march globally. It’s always a good sign
when models — female models, that is — of a particular
ethnicity start appearing in the mainstream. A decade or
so ago it was the beauties from India, now it is China’s
turn. In each case, the appearance of the models in
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various fashion configurations
in the media, high-circulation
glossy magazines overturned
notions of set and staid
notions of beauty, with some
rather far reaching results in
social and commercial spheres.
The technologies employed in
the film, Crouching Tiger Hidden
Dragon, are now commonly seen in both advertising and
other films. Our own Jimmy Choo now commands pre-eminence
on Bond Street, a significant development in terms of art,
fashion, design and the British Chinese community.
So, is there a China brand? If there isn’t one designated
yet, one may already exist in popular perception. But
there is a difficulty there. Two images, two faces, two
motifs compete for that coveted position.
These are two ‘faces’
— and I use the word
‘face’ rather liberally
— that are closely and
inextricably linked to
that so-called China
brand. One, of course,
is Chairman Mao Zedong,
who dominates and is
likely to dominate the scene for times to come. His face
is the face of China. It is
omnipresent in Chinese public
spaces and in private homes, on
money and various collectibles,
such as badges from his time,
as you will soon hear from
Helen Wang, our next speaker.7
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19 June 2008, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS p10
The other component of the China
brand, the other face, if you like,
is the panda. Zhang Qikai, a Sichuan
artist whose work is currently on
show in London,8 and Qiu Jie, whose
work is also currently on view in
London,9 are two of several artists
whom I have met and interviewed over
the years, who all have a special
relationship with the panda. Zhao
Bandi uses the panda as a companion
and prop in more variations on
original and socially significant
comment on modern China than I can
begin to enumerate or discuss here.
Our own home-grown BBC (British-born
Chinese) artist, Mayling To, has employed the panda to
great effect in her video art.10
I want to show you these artists’ interpretations and
then end with a very special painting by Qiu Jie, a
portrait of Mao as a cat, currently at the Red Mansion
galleries in London. It will take me at least half a day
or more to explain why these grown up people, all trained

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19 June 2008, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS p11
artists, are painting pandas or working with pandas
in various shapes or forms and varying role-playing
configurations. In any case their work is widely accessible
on the Web, so I hope these images will suffice for now.
Notes
Blake Edwards, writer/director/producer, 1968: The Party, USA: United Artists. See also
1
reaction to Mike Myers’ 2008 film, The Love Guru, which raised a storm among South
Asian Americans and in South Asia, especially among devout Hindus who saw it as an
affront to their faith.
Hughes, John, writer/director 1984: Sixteen Candles. The film is often associated with
2
the beginning of the Brat Pack, the group of young movie actors who worked together
in several subsequent movies. In Sixteen Candles the improbably named Long Duk Dong
(Gedde Watanabe), nicknamed The Donger, is depicted as a typical representation of The
Other. The film’s importance lies in its association with the Brat Pack.
‘Asian Men Deliberately Excluded from Star Wars?’ http://www.goldsea.com/Air/Issues/
3
Starwars/starwars.html
Said, Edward 1978: Orientalism, numerous editions.
4
Spence, Jonathan 1991 and subsequent revised editions: The Search for Modern China.
5
BBC Reith Lectures. Lecture 3: American Dreams. Recorded at The Asia Society, New York,
6
broadcast on 17 June 2008 and available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2008/
Wang, Helen 2003: ‘Mao on Money,’ East Asia Journal, Volume I No 2.
7
8
Zhang Qikai at Marlborough Fine Art, http://www.eapgroup.com/exhibitions/mrlbg _
zhangqikai050608.htm
9
Qiu Jie solo exhibition, 11 June - 13 September. The Red Mansion Foundation: http://www.
redmansion.co.uk/
Rizvi, Sajid 2003: ‘Pandas of a Certain Promise,’ Eastern Art Report, Issue 48.
10
About Sajid Rizvi
Sajid Rizvi, founding editor of Saffron Books, imprint of Eastern Art
Publishing, EAPGROUP International Media [EAP], Eastern Art Report and
East Asia Journal, is a former journalist, broadcaster and documentary
maker. He worked extensively in Asia and the Middle East and was
nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and received the OPC Hal Boyle Award for
Excellence for his journalism during the Iran revolution. As Iran bureau
chief for United Press International (UPI), an independent news agency
before it was acquired by a series of corporate interests, he was the
photo editor responsible for the iconic Pulitzer winner, Firing Squad,
by Jahangir Razmi. In his later positions at UPI he was responsible for
developing a Near East news operation based in Istanbul and later in
Ankara, specialising in energy, Iran, Turkey and Central Asia and the
Caucasus. Later, at UPI London, he was the senior editor responsible for
designing and developing a dedicated business information service focused
on the Middle East and North Africa with special reference to Europe.
His journalistic work has been broadcast and translated worldwide. His
edited books include Hai Shuet Yeung: Innovation in Abstraction and
original works include 101 Diasporas: Artists of Chinese Descent in
Britain (forthcoming), elements of which are also online at www.eapgroup.
com, and a forthcoming volume on Chinese media, co-edited with Wang Tao
(University of London).