On May 29, Chinese Global Television Network’s (CGTN’s) TV anchor Liu Xin had a debate (or dialog as some people called it) with Fox’s Trish Regan. Epoch Times Chinese published an article suggesting that Liu Xin’s arguments were a classic demonstration of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) sophistry. The CCP is a great con artist that, despite having a clear understanding that the party itself is at fault, is able to use fallacies to make arguments from nothing, to confuse, deceive, spoil the discussion, and keep itself from falling further into a weaker position.
The article highlighted the following sophistry tricks that the CCP often uses:
1. “I’m the Same as You”
Liu Xin started out saying that she is not a CCP member. She thereby portrayed herself as if she were the same as Trish or other people in the U.S. who express their own ideas. However, the U.S. TV anchor is free to criticize her President, the Republic Party or the Democratic Party in the U.S. Can the CCTV anchor criticize the CCP or its leaders? Will it make a big difference if Liu is a CCP member or not a member? Does she have any choice but to be a party mouthpiece and speak the voice of the party?
2. “I’m Making the Mistake That Everyone Makes”
A highlight was that Liu Xin admitted that the CCP has conducted theft of intellectual property. Then she argued that this is a common practice happening all around the world, including among U.S. companies. Her logic was, “All companies, including U.S. companies have been doing this; so are we. We are bad, but everyone is bad. So why do you criticize us?”
3. “We Are Rich, but We Are Poor”
Liu Xin explained why China is the world’s second largest economy but still should enjoy being treated as a developing country. The CCP’s logic is this: when it needs to show its “muscles,” China is the second largest economy; when it is time to shoulder responsibility or to give aid, China is a developing country. Which side of the story should the CCP tell? It all depends on the need. Following the CCP’s logic, almost all of the developed countries can find some angle to justify that they also qualify as a “developing country.”
4. “Whatever President Clinton Did, We Will Do”
Throughout the questions and answers, Liu Xin did not give any positive solutions or recommendations. Actually, the CCP’s goal is not to have a clear black-and-white debate to see who is right, but rather to use gray answers to muddy the waters and create an ambiguous situation. The author linked this to a joke widely spread in China, “When facing tough questions, (Beijing) can give a straight, definitive answer. ‘Whatever President Clinton did, we will do.’” On the surface, the CCP has given a clear answer. However, on thinking it over, people are not sure what the answer is. “What exactly did President Clinton do?”
5. Change the Fight to a Chat
Another point worth mentioning is that the CCP successfully changed the debate to an interview or dialog, putting itself in a position where it would never lose. It is hard to imagine that, without the CCP’s prior manipulation, the two hostile TV anchors would switch to a friendly chat format. The CCP has done this kind of change many times before. When the European countries were about to criticize the CCP’s human rights records after the Tiananmen Massacre, the CCP, via manipulation, changed it to “discuss human rights issues privately.” It did a similar thing to the U.S. The end result was that the CCP continues its human rights violations. The U.S. and Europe criticize the CCP, but the Chinese people continue to suffer. Many years later, the Western countries came to a realization: the CCP has fooled us.
Source: Epoch Times, June 1, 2019.
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/19/6/1/n11294470.htm