by Melisa Skender
General Secretary of Croatian Journalists Association, Croatia
When my organization, the Croatian Journalists’ Association, decided to send me to China as its representative, I brought the book with me titled “The Logical Mistakes that are Good to Know About” from Predrag Stojadinović. Of course, I didn’t have time to read it here because there was so much to see and learn about China in such a short time that we spent most of it on the bus. Anyhow, I chose this title because I was dazzled by the prejudice about Chinese products that exist in my country, where people look at the products of China as synonyms for poor quality. At the same time, China’s company recently built the most beautiful and technologically challenging bridge that connects our land with the Pelješac peninsula. The bridge was constructed on time, which resulted in a recognition of the Chinese ability and technical superiority, and after that, we have a new expression. If we let the Chinese work on that, it will be done right and on schedule. Moreover, most advanced gadgets we love and depend on are produced in China.
Therefore, as an editor of the book mentioned above states in the preface: “In almost every deception mechanism lies a logical trap that leads us to a wrong conclusion. By analyzing these mistakes, we sharpen our minds and make them resistant to often malicious attacks”.
On the other hand, thanks to the hospitality of the All-China Journalists Association, these few days in Chongqing helped me gain a much better perspective than any book, no matter how brilliant, could. First, I realized that Chinese people are open-minded and curious about us as much as we are curious about them. I don’t speak Chinese, and they are too ashamed to speak English, thinking their performance must be perfect even if it’s not their native language. Many even speak English better than I will ever do. Even so, we found a way to communicate. Regarding our extensive schedule, maybe we didn’t have much chance to meet the Chinese people, but on the other hand, we became very close to the volunteers who were taking care of all our needs, and in this way, I want to thank all of them for being so patient and at our service.
Secondly, I realized that China is technologically advanced but, at the same time, aware of the challenges that fast development could bring and willing to learn from the mistakes of others and not repeat them. The last session we had about Artificial Intelligence taught me that. Moreover, China is building its development upon a long history of innovation and trade, so therefore I salute the Belt and Road project that will connect China with the rest of the world. I saw it as a revitalization of the ancient Silk Road that brought so much good and advanced the culture and development through the several continents centuries ago. There may be some differences in opinions upon which we will never be able to reach a mutual agreement, but there are also challenges that we should address as humankind.
For my growth as a journalist, my job is to remain skeptical about those who have power but open to hearing and understanding all sides of the story. Thank you for reminding me of that.
*The views and opinions expressed in the articles are solely those of the individual authors and do not reflect the position of the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Journalist Network.