An affiliation of China Radio International (CRI) was "revealed" in an in-depth report by Reuters recently, which said CRI is trying to establish a "covert radio network" in the US by airing "pro-Beijing" programs through a local radio station.

Since when has the powerful and self-confident Western world started to be so mentally vulnerable? In mid- October, The New York Times said the "Introduction to Mao Zedong Thought," a course on the online learning platform edX, was intended "to promote Chinese culture and values around the world." Western media have lobbed harsher criticisms against Confucius Institutes, fearing their children would be brainwashed by Chinese textbooks and teachers.

CRI has no control over the US local radio station, which only airs CRI-made programs. Such cooperation is taking place across the world countless times every day.

Reuters' skepticism is confusing and incomprehensible, especially considering the fact that many mainstream newspapers in the US don't bother selling pages for money to foreign institutions to propose their culture and values.

Compared with 3,000 enrollments, 700 of which are from the US for the edX Mao Zedong course, there are tens of thousands of Chinese students going to the US to study every year. Should China be worried about them being "brainwashed" and limit their departure from China?

The paranoia displayed by the Western media is good for nothing. Take the US, it is not declining, and China is unable to challenge it in terms of ideology. On the contrary, pro-US individuals can be found everywhere on the Chinese Internet. It is China that should be worried about whether we have relaxed our vigilance too much for too long in face of continuous American ideological infiltration.

The US calls for freedom of the press, but it turns out broadcasting Chinese voices is against such freedom. It seems that the Western media is political enough to serve as a watchdog for the US government.

International public opinion is dominated by Western media moguls, who will spare no effort in defending hegemony when Western centrism is shaken. Non-Western countries are trying to make their voices heard due to their disadvantageous position in the public opinion sphere of the international community. Right now they are no match for the Western world, but they hope their thoughts and advocacies can be known by others, or the world will only know them through the eyes of the West.