Interview: CCTV presenter Evelyne Letawe

Destiny brought Evelyne Letawe to China six years ago. Now she works as a news anchor for China's Central Television, CCTV. This bubbly and vivacious Belgian told us in a not too straight-laced interview about her vision of China and the differences between Chinese and Western media.

Radio86 (R86): How long have you lived in China?
Evelyne Letawe (EL): I have been here now for six years, five of which I've spent in Beijing working for CCTV.

R86: How did you end up in China?
EL: Completely by chance. I was looking for information about vacationing in Budapest and chanced on this website for travelers -- at the time I was between two jobs -- and in their forum the first category happened to be for job advertisements. Given my situation, I decided to take a look. The very first ad I saw was for a teacher of English and French located in southern China: “We will take care of all the arrangements, we will find you work and a place to live..” I had always wanted to go to Asia, but wasn't really the type to just take my backpack and go there alone. So this seemed to me like a very interesting option. So I sent them an email. Three weeks later I arrived in Hong Kong.

R86: Have you had the chance to travel around the country?
EL: When I came to China, I was supposed to teach languages for three months in Guiling, a small city located near the Vietnamese border known for a mountain shaped like a camel hump. Unfortunately, the agency that recruited me couldn't find me work in that region so they found me something in Shandong, not that far from Beijing, as they said… It was either that or returning to Belgium. But coming from Belgium, where even 100 km is considered a huge distance, the city located 1,500 km from Beijing was to me actually terribly far… (laugh). They told me that "it's really close to Qingdao," the ancient German colony and home of the famous beer bearing the same name. “You will be working in the neighboring province…" Yeah, but it still took six hours by bus to get there. (laugh) So I found myself in the heart of the Chinese countryside in a "small" city with a million inhabitants.

So I actually got to know southern China first with its hot and humid tropical climate. After that I went to Shandong where the climate is a lot colder, like that of northern Europe. But it was a a really great experience. Maybe some comfort was lacking, and everyday life was a bit complicated, but there I really got to experience the friendliness of the Chinese people and see how farmers, who account for the majority of ordinary Chinese, live. What we see in the cities is not the reality at all. There you have the minority, the middle class, and they do not reflect the true China… And so Shandong was really for me the most enriching experience.

R86: And after that you came to Beijing?
EL: Once again, I had to make a choice. Either I would go home to Belgium or work for CCTV, China's largest television broadcaster. It is in fact even bigger than the BBC, with more employees, and more television channels, so I really didn't hesitate, just packed my things and headed for Beijing.

R86: Can you name a favorite place in China?
EL: My scooter… let's just say that the traffic in China is in a class of its own. I mean, for a long time, China was predominantly a cycling nation, which in a short time and with the aid of quite an undeveloped permit system turned into a driving nation. But the people tend to still have that cyclist mode of thinking and think they can just weave in between traffic as they like. So there is really no rhythm to be found on the roads. No… “Am I supposed to turn left here? No, I'll go to the right. I don't know anymore. Did I miss the exit? Ok, I'll just stop here. In the middle of the highway? That's okay, I'll just drive back and turn at the right exit.” (more seriously) I really like Beijing, but what really impressed me was this one small village in the south that I visited when I lived in Guilin. It was home to an ethnic minority group that lived on top of a mountain with terraced rice paddies all around, it was really magnificent.

R86: How have you, as a person with French as your mother tongue, perceived the recent tensions between China and France?
EL: In addition to being happy that I'm not French!? No, actually, I think that this is a case of making a mountain out of a molehill. Well, the pictures of people demonstrating in front of a Carrefour store were taken in Wuhan, 2,000 km from here. Frankly speaking, neither me nor my colleagues have witnessed anything negative. But on behalf of my Chinese colleagues, I have to say that I found it really inexcusable when Jing Jing, the handicapped athlete who carried the Olympic flame, got pushed that way by some angry protesters in Paris. So when that happened, there really was a strong reaction from people here. I think that my colleagues were disheartened when they realized that their views were not shared by the Western media. That, and when the foreign media added insult to injury by writing things like "We told them... but they didn't listen," while for my colleagues it was more like “we all worked for this, the whole country together, making efforts and compromises." And so they felt like the extent of their efforts hadn't been understood.

R86: Which explains their reactions online…?
EL: Yes.

R86: How has the Chinese people's perception of the French or Francophone people living changed since the events that preceded the Beijing Olympics?
EL: I think that at least the large companies here seem to be holding back a bit now. That's at least the impression that I've got from reading articles in both Chinese and foreign newspapers related to problems encountered in joint-ventures and in companies with mixed capital and others. But we shouldn't forget that France, especially under President Chirac, had very good diplomatic relations with China. Who could forget the sight of Jiang Zemin and Madame Chirac on the dance floor! On the other hand, in economic terms, they are not faring as well as the Germans, Italians or even the Spanish. The diplomatic ties used to be very strong, but now they have to be rebuilt under President Sarkozy. On the economic level, we're still not there. And I think that Sarkozy's style is really not very conducive to good relations with China. Before the Olympics, he said yes he would attend, then he said no, then again yes, then he gave everyone the runaround, and finally he was there, although he had been the only one to say he would boycott the opening ceremonies. From the beginning Merkel said “no, this is not the way to handle this,” she met the Dalaï Lama, to which the Chinese protested, but they still continue to be in business together.

R86: What does it mean for you to be a Belgian citizen in China?
EL: It's to be a part of a very small minority. There really aren't that many of us. But it has also allowed me to see that the level of primary education in China is very good, because here everyone knows the names of all countries and their capitals by heart. And in general, they know that Belgium - Bǐ lì shí – is a European country, and not a city located next to France, or maybe North Korea, as many Americans seems to think (laugh). From my numerous conversations with local taxi drivers, I have learned that the Chinese mainly know Belgium for its pigeons - the Chinese, the Koreans and the Japanese are very fond of pigeon raising and racing, and Belgian pigeons have a very good reputation! Apart from that they also know Belgian chocolate and beer. But that's about it… (laugh).

R86: What fascinates you most about China today?
EL: I'm very interested in seeing how the situation will evolve. When I came here six years ago, I came to a country where everything was booming. Chinese people of my age and my colleagues have never really had to struggle. Somewhere deep inside they have this strong sense inherited from their parents about the need to save for a rainy day and to be cautious as there is still no comprehensive social security system in place which would guarantee them a safe retirement. That's why most of them continue to save as much money as they can. Earlier generations, their parents and grandparents, have lived through vast changes including regime changes, financial and social reforms, and an opening up to the world, which still keep them on their toes. With the recent credit crisis and weakening demand for exports, everyone has their eyes on China to see how financial authorities there will respond. In China's case, when economic growth drops from 11.9 percent to 9 percent, economists are already talking about a substantial slowdown. So what will that entail for us? I don't know. With every decision comes economic and social consequences that are much more diverse than what we could ever expect in Europe. On the one hand, you have in China people who barely have water to drink or other means of sustenance, and on the other, people that belong to the global elite. In Beijing, you can see migrant workers living in makeshift houses or trailers and who only get to see their families once a year. Then there is the middle class, the elderly who have seen seen and experienced so much in their lives, and the children of a China that is opening up to the world -- and here they all come together. This you would never see on the streets of Brussels…