Chinese tale sheds light on distrust

Attending a China-US Internet industry forum in Washington early this week, Lu Wei, the head of China's State Internet Information Office, told a Chinese tale that dates back to 239 BC.

It is about a man who loses his axe, and suspects that his neighbor's son has stolen it. So he watches his neighbor's son closely and decides that his gait looks like that of a thief, his expression looks like that of a thief, and his voice sounds even more like a thief. In a word, everything about the boy looks like a thief.

But that feeling suddenly changes after he finally finds his axe while digging in his own backyard. He then looks at his neighbor's son, and finds that he looks nothing like a thief any more.