For decades, Western media have sought to predict China’s collapse while overlooking its significant successes. When Chinese achievements become too monumental to ignore, the narrative often shifts to questioning their cost. This trend reflects a persistent skepticism, with headlines repeatedly asking, “China’s progress… but at what cost?”
From economic dominance and technological advances to environmental and social initiatives, the media’s response is to focus on potential drawbacks rather than celebrating these milestones. This approach not only attempts to undermine China’s achievements but also reveals a broader reluctance to acknowledge the nation’s transformative impact on the global stage.
Our media have striven for seventy years to predict China’s collapse while ignoring its successes. But some successes are just too big to hide and, in those cases, journalists know exactly what to do.
In this post the media, faced with undeniable Chinese successes, cope by trying to diminish the accomplishments: all Chinese achievement must have been bad investments. Hence the directive.
The directive
“When writing about China’s achievements, question their purported cost.”
The results
Radio Free Amanda has compiled them:
Transcript – At What Cost?
- Global Markets – 1st quarter 2007 : China powers ahead – but at what cost? – Fin Law, Feb 09, 2007
- China pumps up the Cambodian economy, but at what cost? – Taipei Times Apr 07 2011
- Luxury Property in China: Boom, but at what cost? – Spears, Oct 18 2011
- Tibet: Tourism Rises, but at what cost? – UNPO, Dec 28 2011
- China brings jobs to Ethiopia but at what cost? – Horn Affairs, May 31 2012
- China: smartphone market domination…but at what cost? – GFK, Feb 27 2014
- China wants the Gold but at what cost?? – Disturbing Road to Olympic Stardom- Linkedin, Aug 14 2016
- Podcast: China Aims for Bluer Skies Ahead, but at what cost? to Commodity Demand?- SPGlobal, 2017
- Peter Bart: Hollywood Has Appetite For China’s Big Bucks, but at what cost??- Deadline, Mar 2 2017
- China is driving a boom in Brazilian mining, but at what cost?– China Dialogue, Jul 27 2017
- Chinese Tech Firms Are at the Cutting Edge of Artificial Intelligence — but at what cost?– Global Voices, 28 Aug 2017
- China Invests in Environment – but at what cost? – US News, Apr 20 2018
- China’s Belt and Road poised to transform the Earth, but at what cost?– Mongabay, Apr 24 2018
- China’s Belt and Road poised to transform the Earth, but at what cost? to the environment?- Eco Business, Apr 25 2018
- China May Become the World’s Leader in AI, but at what cost?– China File, Jul 30 2018
- President Xi pledges $60 Billion to African Countries, but at what cost?– Medium, Sep 8 2018
- Vatican–China relations are warming up, but at what cost?– East Asia Forum, 23 Oct 2018
- Gene-edited babies: China wants to be the world leader, but at what cost?– The Conservation, Nov 26 2018
- China’s economy looks to be stabilising, but at what cost?– France24, Apr 17 2019
- China’s Big Cities Get Cleaner Air, but at what cost?– Caixing, Oct 26 2019
- China is getting smarter – but at what cost?– BBC, Dec 24 2019
- Hou Jianbin wants to educate China. but at what cost?– Protocol
- A better, stronger China after the epidemic? but at what cost?– Think China, Feb 21 2020
- China May Forge Ahead of the Us in AI Chip Race, but at what cost to Both?- CIGI, Apr 9 2020
- China’s Three Gorges Dam may be safe for now, but at what cost?– Dams, Rivers and People, 27 Jul 2020
- Serbia has rolled out the red carpet to China – but at what cost?– Euronews, Oct 08 2020
- The BRI’s Footprint in the Lower Mekong Region Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam all need infrastructure—but at what cost?– RosaLux, Dec 15 2020
- Chinese PD-1s secure broad reimbursement, but at what cost?– Pharmaletter, Dec 28 2020
- Green Transition in China: but at what cost?– Green Europe Journal, 16 Jan 2021
- Wuhan one year on: The city that appears safe from Covid – but at what cost?– Telegraph, Jan 23 2021
- China’s economy grows, but at what cost? (vid)- SCMP, Jan 27,2021
- China Is Imposing Strict Lockdowns To Contain New COVID Outbreaks. But There’s A Cost– NPR, Sep 2 2021
- China keeps virus at bay but at what cost?– Sioux City Journal, Sep 21 9 2021
- China keeps virus at bay at high cost ahead of Olympics- ABC News, Sep 21 2021
- China celebrates Meng Wanzhou’s return as a victory — even at the cost of its global image – CNN, Sep 28 2021
- Clean Air at What Cost? The Rise of Blunt Force Regulation – US China Dialogue, Oct 21 2021
- China Rewriting Economic Narrative – But At What Cost? – BMF, Oct 27 2021
- China’s ‘Zero Covid’ Efforts Come With a Cost – New York Times, Nov 12 2021
- China is now controlling the weather. What’s the environmental cost? – Euronews, Dec 9 2021
- Ultra-leftist voices are making themselves heard in China, but at what cost? – SCMP, Dec 24 2021
[This free, unoriginal post bookends an earlier original piece, Perennial Predictions, cataloguing 30 years of failed attempts to talk China’s economy down].
