Lawmakers and political advisors attending the ongoing "two session "in Beijing are demanding some foreign reporters not to sidetrack in reporting China, blaming them for being too eager to cover the so called "mass gatherings."
Jiang Shaogao, former vice editor-in-chief of People's Daily, said a handful of western media seemed to deliberately turn blind eyes on news reflecting the general trend of China's development, but focus on those running counter to the trend.
Jiang, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top advisory body, called for foreign media to watch China's development from a more objective angle, and to avoid stereotype and double standards.
"China has a different political system and ideological pattern, which should be respected," he said.
Ma Shengrong, former vice president of Xinhua News Agency, also a CPPCC member, said some foreign reporters might take advantage of the spotlight shed on the parliamentary session to ratchet up attention to some incidents. "Journalists should watch a nation's development against a broader backdrop, rather than focusing only on some trifles and magnifying them," he said.
The current unrest in the Middle East and North Africa might exert some influence on China, however, it definitely wouldn't be a serious problem, according to Ma.
"Majority of Chinese have fair observation and correct understanding, given China's fast economic growth, great improvements in people's lives and the government's emphasis on solving difficulties of ordinary people," said Ma.
"Some western media have always been reporting China in an unfair way based on their political stances," he said.
He added that the focal point of foreign media should be on China's social-economic development mapped out by the 12th Five-Year Program, rather than those "mass gatherings and demonstrations."
Yu Pei, president of the Institute of World History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and a deputy to the National People's Congress, said "different from the Middle East and North Africa, China does not have the ground for unrest."
China has made remarkable progress in social-economic development, and its people have enjoyed benefits of the reform and opening-up during the past three decades, which laid cornerstones for social stability, said Yu.
He added that democracy took different forms to fit into the specific situations of different countries, and western democracy was by no means the sole model.
"I hope foreign reporters could be fair and objective. We have recognized that there are various social problems in China, but we are capable of solving these problems by ourselves. Finger-pointing from outside is not welcome," said Yu.
Zhao Qizheng, spokesman for the CPPCC session, said at a press conference Saturday that a unrest similar to that in the Middle East is "preposterous and unrealistic" in China.
There would not be such a situation in China, added Zhao, former head of the Information Office of the State Council, China's Cabinet.
He had told a group of foreign journalists last month that many of China's problems, such as income and regional gaps, surfaced in the process of rapid economic development. However, the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government were trying to resolve them.
A "Jasmine Revolution" would not happen in China, and the idea of a possible revolution is ridiculous and unrealistic, according to Zhao.