David Ferguson: An Expert Decoding China's Stories

BEIJING, Dec. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- This is a news report from Science and Technology Daily:

On September 30, 2021, David Ferguson, a senior translation editor from Foreign Languages Press of China International Publishing Group (CIPG), received the Chinese Government Friendship Award.

Confronting rumors with an objective perspective

The reason that made him decide to take up the offer of a job as a journalist and editor with China.com.cn, the online news and information provider, was an incident of the violent riots in Lhasa, Xizang Autonomous Region, on March 14, 2008. "I could see in the documentary and video evidence of what was going on in Lhasa. However, the stories that the Western media showed were just completely different and had nothing to do with the truth. So, I accepted the job offer. Because somebody should at least try to present a more honest version of what is happening in China," he said.

At that time Ferguson did not speak much Chinese, so he took his own approach to confronting the fabrications of the Western media. "I wasn't in a position to read what the Chinese were saying. So, I started from the perspective of what the Western media were saying and analyzed that.  "

As an objective witness living in Beijing, he did a lot of research and checked the source of every story, then wrote what he found to be true.

"I was confident in what I was writing about," he said.

Being a good information communicator

Ferguson likes to argue with people on Twitter, often about China. But he finds it is not always easy to convince people about what is happening in China because negative messages about the country have been circulating for so many years in Western countries.

He has written and translated a series of articles and books, presenting an optimistic, pragmatic, and open China to the world.

Noting the increasing need for China to deliver the truth to the international community, Ferguson highlighted the role of soft power, such as films. He is convinced that telling a story through ordinary people's eyes resonates much more with an audience.

As a Chinese -English language editor, Ferguson has worked and lived in China for a long time and has a deep understanding of China's development philosophy and goals, enabling him to better tell the country's stories to the international community.

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