Even the overseas rallies expressing the Chinese people's position for their country's integrity and sovereignty are not fairly covered. The Toronto rally over the weekend, for instance, drew little attention from the major Western media. The few who did cover the event focused on one or two Tibetans in exile rather than the hundreds of participants insisting Tibet is part of China.

Such actions on the part of the Western media gives the lie to their "impartiality" and makes a mockery of "freedom of the press".

As "laone" noted: "I used to belong to the rightist wing, but all of a sudden I found myself a liberal leftist." And he attributed the change to the Western media.

The Western media indeed serves as a negative teacher for the Chinese public, and their education is much more effective than our state media, that pure freedom of the press is impossible.

That is why I wish to thank these good teachers sincerely.

The author is a council member of China Society for Human Rights Studies.

(China Daily April 1, 2008)