“Today it is extremely important that the West sticks to its values”

Blogging is getting more and more popular in China where 500 million people have access to the Internet and 200 million create microblogs. One of them is Michael Anti who has quitted the IT career for the journalism and writes in Twitter and various blogs nearly 24 hours a day. He has obtained the recognition in the West and the famous Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei calls him “free spirit.”

On September 8 in Potsdam during the international media conference M100 Sanssouci Colloquium “Global Democracy – A Triumph of Social Networks?” Michael Anti was given a M100 Media Award-2011 as the recognition of his courageous, firm and exemplary work for the press freedom and his brave fight against censorship and corruption. Michael Anti (Zhao Jin, translated from Chinese as “calm and peace-loving”) was born in 1975 in Nanking. He has been calling himself Michael Anti for ten years now. In his exclusive interview to The Day the blogger told why he decided to write about politics and what tasks he sets in his work.

Why did you decide to become a blogger?

“Actually, it is a different story why I became a journalist. Before the blogs appeared I was a famous commentator in the Chinese social network BBS. I am a very good commentator so they picked me to become a journalist. So, I turned it different way.”

What are you writing about now?

“Basically politics. I started commenting it in 1998 when the Internet appeared. Back then a lot of Chinese cities had access to the Internet. Later I could quit my IT job.”

In many European countries people are not very interested in politics and the turnout is often less than 50 percent there. Are the Chinese really interested in politics?

“Sex and politics are the taboos in our country. That is why people show interest for the politics. The desire to push further just occupies your mind and eventually makes you take a decision to change your job from a programmer to a journalist.

“Actually, you can do any kind of journalism you want. There are two reasons that made me do journalism. First, the bad example of Russia and Taiwan. Russia is having the political change, but their journalism community feared. Moreover, the media society cannot hear the civil society in Russia. The same story happened in Taiwan. That is why it is very important for me to be objective and stay a journalist and not a politically committed person, though on Twitter where I am an active blogger there are no limitations. My professional vision makes me be objective since my job is journalism and not propaganda.”

What do you want to achieve with your materials? Do you want to change the Chinese society? In what way?

“The influence of every individual would be limited to the range one can reach. I do not think I have the ability to educate people. The people do not need to be educated. For example, during the ‘Arab Spring’ people did not want to be taught how to vote. The democracy is not knowledge, is not Ph.D. This is just experience, you try once, you know the second time. As for me, my obligation is to communicate with the international community so that it understands what really happens in China and could take objective steps without being afraid of them or being too optimistic about the changes. In other words, I want to be an advocate of the international community and the Chinese civil society.”

Could you, please, tell the Ukrainian readers where China is moving: the government and the civil society?

“The Internet gives a possibility to create a more liberal civil society. On the other hand, China has already been ranked number two for its GDP. That made the Chinese officials overconfident. This thing makes them rarely pick mistakes they have made in the past two-three years. Sometimes you become rich so fast that you do not understand how to act as a rich guy. If you are number two, you should be a strong man, strong country and strong power and take responsibility. That is the crucial part. But China says: I am strong but I do not want to take the responsibility. It is not because of the Chinese culture but because we became number two too fast whereas the West is coming out of the recession more slowly. If the foreign governments want to deal with China they have to be franc about their values. They should not compromise with the Chinese values since your values is the direction we want to follow. If you do not stick to your values where should we go? Secondly, the West has to understand that the Chinese fight for their freedom. That is why you should never compromise on human rights.”

How consistent is the West in this question?

“The West supports human rights. However, it is extremely important that the West sticks to its values. Meanwhile, a lot of Chinese think that they should fight themselves for the human rights and the freedom of speech. Just like the social networks have been doing. The West should not have the illusion that it can control and help the Chinese to obtain the freedom of speech. The West just should stick to its values. Once you keep the model, we Chinese will follow.”

What do you know about Ukraine and where do you think it is moving now?

“I was the editor of international politics magazine. I had researches to write especially for your country. I know it is very complicated. I would say when democracy really touches the ground in a multilanguage and multiethnic country with a long Soviet history we need wisdom. I would even say: you need the West and you will eventually be in Europe. This problem should be wisdomly set by the Ukrainian people because only you understand the complicity of what is happening, nobody outside. But I do appreciate the initiative here of the West who helped you to cross the barrier. I really hope your society will fix the problem and make your society better. If you do better we will all have a new example and it is also good for China.”

You have just received an award. Has it changed you somehow?

“No, it did not change me. My position is to advocate the West. It is helpful for me. As for my position, my life in China, it did not change at all. Most of the people do not speak any foreign languages, so in the Chinese world it is very quiet. I just do my own job. It is not a big deal.”