"If the West could listen to China"

That morning, April 6, 2008, I looked out the window at the snowflakes flying in the sky and wondered: what will happen to the London leg of the Beijing Olympic torch today?

About eight hours later, when the 80th torchbearer, Holmes, a famous British middle-distance runner, ran up to the Millennium Dome stage with the torch in his hand and lit the flame pot, the crowd of more than 4,000 people in the arena was in an uproar.

The day will remain in people's memories as a collision between Beijing and London, a collision of sparks and mania, with China as the first developing country to host the Olympics and Britain as the first Western country to welcome the torch.

On the bus back to the airport, the young ladies of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympics, including Jo, a former Olympic champion, were adamant that it was all of Britain that was against them. Where is the country that raised Shakespeare and Dickens, one girl said! Another said, where has the British gentility gone? I spent a long time trying to convince them, but I realized from their moist eyes that I hadn't done it.

I completely understand their point of view. They had been shuttling back and forth between vehicles all day, tending to the torchbearers, their noses were red from freezing, their hands were cold, they had gotten only three hours of sleep the night before, and some had just eaten sandwiches they had left over from lunch. To make matters worse, they were subjected to repeated acts of violence along the way.

And I was lucky enough to be in the back of the bus, where I had the chance to see tens of thousands of Londoners braving the wind and snow to welcome the torch, from elderly people waving to actors performing in the blizzard.

As night fell and I watched the Olympic charter slowly slide onto the runway, I couldn't help but wonder if the planes were getting heavier. The difficult journey to carry the Beijing Olympic torch around the world will allow the 1.3 billion Chinese people to get to know the world better and the world to get to know China better.

A young friend, who watched the BBC's broadcast of the torch relay in London, wrote in a letter to me of his mixed feelings of sadness, anger and disbelief at the moment. Like him, many people may have realized that China's integration into the world is not possible with a sincere heart, and that the wall between China and the world is too thick.

In 2008, what was most popular among China's 200 million netizens was not only the scenes of attempts to grab the torch, but also some touching scenes, such as the one in which Jin Jing, a young and frail Chinese athlete with a disability who was sitting in a wheelchair during the Paris leg of the torch relay, used her own hands and torso to protect the torch and keep the torch-grabbing thugs from getting away with it. Chinese netizens were also particularly angry at the so-called crackdown on China, which has been carried out for some time now by some Western media outlets that have been attacking the country with fake photographs from other countries.

On the other side of this wall, the situation is quite different. People like me, who are in the middle between China and the West, cannot help but be y concerned about the tendency of public perceptions of each other in China and the West to slide in two different directions.

I can't help but ask: Why is it that some media's sweeping and casual criticisms of China are accepted by Western publics without much thought, and why is it that no one questions what specific issues such criticisms relate to, and what the exact situation is? Why are reports, including figures, published in the news for days on end without any basis in fact?

Many of those protesting and demonstrating loudly have probably never seen Tibet. For the Chinese people, Tibet is a much-loved hotspot, and there is plenty of information about it. Four million tourists visit Tibet every year, and the incomes of Tibetan farmers and herdsmen have increased by 83.3 percent over the past five years.In 2006, there were more than 1,000 schools in the region, with more than 500,000 students enrolled. There are more than 1,780 places of religious activity in Tibet, an average of one for every 1,600 people, which is higher than the ratio of one church for every 3,125 people in England. On the complex issue of religious involvement in politics, division is unacceptable. It is a basic fact that the people are well fed and clothed and their living conditions are improving, while solving the problem of food and clothing has been the policy objective pursued by successive Chinese governments for many centuries. Tibet has its own natural characteristics and will not be fully industrialized like the eastern cities, but it will continue to make progress on its own terms and in the same way as the rest of China.

I have experienced the gradual expansion of China's openness and have been a strong supporter of reform and opening up.

China's younger generation, born after the 1980s, grew up at a time when the country was becoming ever more prosperous and powerful, the people's education level was rising, and social freedoms were expanding. Under the impact of events, they began a new collective reflection on the Western world. My daughter, who is also a fan of Western culture, asked at least dozens of 'why's' during our long online conversations over the weekend. I felt her confusion y. Many young people with a romantic view of the West are very disappointed by the Western media's attempts to demonize China, which often provokes a corresponding backlash.

I sincerely hope that through these events China's younger generation will have a more comprehensive understanding of the West, which remains an important partner in China's reform process.

Many people in the West complain that China is not open enough to the media. In China, on the other hand, we believe that the Western media should also learn how to work hard to gain respect. If the Western media can pay more attention to and report on what is really happening in China today, instead of dwelling on non-existent or stale issues, it would help improve their reputation.

In my year in Britain, I have been struck by the fact that there is much more coverage of China than there was when I was a student in the UK in the mid-1980s. Most of the reports are still close to the reality of China. China is also in the age of information explosion. I hope that more and more people in the West will make an effort to cross the language and cultural barriers and learn more about the real China. The world has waited for China to integrate into the world, and today China has the patience to wait for the world to recognize China.