IamAn editor at the Chinese government's official news agency. AMA!

Coud you please take another photo of the ID with a note that says "Reddit" or something along those lines?

He is not an editor at Xinhua or at least there's no proof from the business card he provided. Looks like he is in charge of external affairs? Which doesn't imply he has control over content.

What's the matter, my 专家 status doesn't qualify? 我在对外部是编辑.

How about a pic of my business card with a note written on it?

That wouldn't be adequate. We'd need the photo ID you're using to establish proof.

Photo ID + business card + note. Yeah?

Name something you censored which you really feel should not have been censored. IE the people have the right to know.

I've never censored anything - that process occurs long before the news hits my desk.

I see, so there's a possibility of you not even knowing if what you report is accurate?

Conceivably, yes. But I don't think it actually happens as much as folks think it does. I don't believe the Chinese government creates false events or information - I do believe that it purposely obfuscates or ignores information that could be relevant. Or casts information in a light that makes it seem more positive or impressive.

For instance, a government report on poverty might say that homelessness in a given region has been reduced by 150% from 1980 to 2013. 150%! That's incredible! But it's over 33 fucking years.

Edit: the statistics I cited are not gospel truth or even remotely accurate. But we really do run stories in which longer periods of time are used as comparative bases to make it seem like the government has accomplished some serious shit.

How much "truth" [real news from the outside world] do you cut from news articles , and what % of the articles you print is spinned Chinese propoganda?

Thing is, I don't actually cut much from international news, cos everything I do is domestic stuff. Every once in awhile we'll quote an international news source, but most of our sources are Chinese government-approved, such as government spokesmen, press releases from government departments, etc.

Basically anything involving the three Ts (Tian'anmen, Taiwan, and Tibet) is 100% guaranteed to be horseshit. Anything else...ehh. Who knows mate.

Basically anything involving the three Ts (Tian'anmen, Taiwan, and Tibet) is 100% guaranteed to be horseshit.

Tian'anmen is 24 years ago. With little to none information about it given do the Chinese people, does the younger generation even know what happened? And if so, as the current generation of students, how do they feel about it?

A fair amount of younger folks are aware of it, only because they're more likely to tap into foreign media sources and eventually stumble upon it. However, it's not taught in schools and even the young Chinese who are aware of it don't care much about it.

I mean, it's like the Kent State shootings in the U.S. - the national guard shot unarmed college students. That wasn't really that long ago. But it was 15 years before I was born. It's fucked up but I honestly don't care that much about it.

I see the similarities with the Kent shootings (I'm Dutch btw, not American), but they are on a completely different level.

In Kent, Ohio there was a protest against the Vietnam war (like in pretty much every city in the U.S.) of about 250 students. 28 soldiers of the national guard shot 61 bullets at 15 unarmed students, and 4 got killed.

In Beijing, there were about a million students and civilians protesting against a whole range of topics against the government. 250000 soldiers of the national army shot tens of thousands of bullets at unarmed civilians, killing hundreds (some estimates go in the thousands).

Again I see similarities, but don't think riding a tank squadron on one of the major squares in the capital can be fairly compared against 4 students shot dead in Kent, Ohio.

I'm not even Chinese but when I learned about it I was shocked. This is something Stalin would have done to stop protests. This was 1989 already.

True, the T-square massacre was on a much greater scale and happened at a much later time. My analogy wasn't accurate, but the point I was trying to make still holds - the T-square massacre wasn't that long ago, but even young Chinese who know about it don't care much about it. It didn't shape their ideology or attitudes. The 2008 milk scandal and the earthquakes/bird flus of recent years are doing more to shape young people's attitudes, I think.

What is the offical stance for/against Bitcoin?

We at /r/bitcoin are sometimes wondering, because there were some documentations on state Tv

We've never run anything about Bitcoin. I know some folks on r/Beijing have mentioned a Bitcoin meetup, might wanna ask those folks.

You make everything in china sound pretty peachy, like us foreigners have an exaggerated feel for china. What stuff is just as bad as we think it is?

I've been here a little over four years, I wouldnt've stayed if it sucked here.

That being said, Western-quality medical care is very expensive here, as are electronics and education. I hate to bitch about it because a lot of foreigners do it, but Chinese do seem to have a general lack of consideration for anyone but themselves and their immediate relatives. But that is due to a number of historical and cultural factors. It's also quite dirty and unhygienic here, but not as bad as most developing countries.

I think this should be an AMAA. Unless you're planning on leaving the country.

Meh. It's been four hours and the men in black boots haven't come busting down my door yet. Think I'm in the clear!

Is there heavy corruption in the agency? Like say, I pay you this sum to not report this piece of news etc. I would assume that's the case since... c'mon it's China.

I've never seen nor heard of such reporting. However, paid "articles" are rife throughout the journalism industry. Almost every magazine/newspaper carries articles lauding some product or service, although the government has tried to crack down on this.

It is still fairly common for local government officials to "bribe" reporters by treating them to fancy dinners, vacations, etc. This practice is supposedly being cracked down upon, but I have no evidence for or against, as I'm not a reporter myself.

Do not reply if you are in danger from Beijing officials.

I'm so not in danger, yo! :D

S

Check original post mate.

Will you be killed if your superiors find you doing this? I have studied modern china enough to know that, under the right circumstances, it is a lot easier to get away with criticizing the government than it used to be, but you do work in what is, at least partially, a propaganda arm, so I was wondering if what you are doing here could be seen as in some way undermining the efforts of your colleagues.

No, but I might be asked to write a self-criticism or something else silly.

When will China finally put the USA in its place?

NEVER BECAUSE MURICA

Opinion?

Meh. I prefer this one:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_scfe5YzN958/S_Y8_PpT7fI/AAAAAAAAB9w/5uZ36ePwkDE/s1600/Lego+Tank+Man.jpg

I'm not trying a gotcha, Reddit gets countless stories that Chinese citizens have no idea it even happened. I have no way of verifying the veracity of those claims. So I'm asking a Chinese National who is in a position with access to information their opinion on it.

I didn't ask a pointed question because I wanted your opinion without coloration, or is your opinion actually is that it is a bit of a joke.

Haha. Well, first off - I'm not a Chinese national, mate. Born and raised in the U.S.

However, you bring up an interesting point. It is quite true that a lot of Chinese, even well-educated ones, have no idea that T-Square ever happened. It's just not taught here. One of the women I dated said she only learned about it because one of her high school history teachers was a bit of a radical and showed her class footage of the incident. Had he been caught doing so, he would've at least been fired from his post, if not incarcerated.

So what was her opinion of it?

She didn't say much of it, but I know she recognized that it was a dark time in China's history. She saw it more as a dark time from the past, much as my generation views Vietnam. Other things have happened in China and the U.S. since then that have been more upsetting.