In a stunning display of anti-China hate, the Wall Street Journal published an article in its February 20-21, 2010 Weekend Edition titled "People’s’ Republic of Hacking: Case Offers Rare Inside Look" written by James T. Areddy.
Beyond this broad-brush offensive headline, what is even more incredible is that the Journal piece is based on sketchy "interviews" of just two Chinese hackers – teenagers with minimal coding skills that got their code from hacker forum downloads. Yes, just two. And those "interviews" were conducted with a bare minimum of depth through sketchy email and text message responses.
And based on this lazy and stereotyping "journalism" (nationalistic racist hate is more what it’s closer to), the WSJ indicts the entire nation of China as "the people’s republic of hacking."
Can you just imagine, for one moment, such a piece of hate journalism written about, say, Israel – a state with a proven high degree of hacking and spying on the United States?
Neither can I.
Or how about the United States, which still has the highest degree of hacking originating from within its boarders; would it be called the "United States of Hackers" by the Wall Street Journal? Not a chance.
It’s open season on China, to the point where hateful diatribes are now being written in the Wall Street Journal based on breathtakingly limited, anecdotal, and sketchy sources.
It’s time for all Americans to stand up to this kind of hate, and it’s time for the Wall Street Journal to publish an apology. Contact Daniel Bernard, General Manager, The Wall Street Journal Online at d.bernard@wsj.com. Tell him this kind of hateful stereotyping will not stand.