A case of getting the facts right

Youths' Reference, a Beijing-based newspaper, reprinted an article from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) which criticizes Chinese people for their loathing of the Western media's negative reports about their country.

The author of the article is a reporter of the US newspaper and obviously a Chinese by origion.

In the article, the writer cited a number of examples to illustrate what she says is the excessive importance Chinese people attach to "face". One example was the media coverage of contaminated drugs sold at the Hualian supermarket in Shanghai. After reading the report by the Guangzhou-based South Weekend online, most readers berated Hualian and China's drug safety administration. The report of the same incident by the Wall Street Journal, however, earned for itself condemnation from angry Chinese netizens.