从胳膊到大腿直到裸体 ● 杜平By Du Ping   在我的印象里,外界很多人对中国政治的兴趣,不在于真实的政治格局,而在于道听途说的 小道信息。在新闻媒体的推波助澜之下,中国政治的全部内容就是权力斗争,而中国政府似乎也 只是少数几个熟悉的名字。   他们之间的互动关系,包括种种无法证实的争权行为,就是某些新闻媒体所看到的全部事实。   有政治就必然有权力斗争,任何国家都概莫能外。但是,翻开某些报纸,看看那些关于中国 的文章,我相信很多人都会禁不住疑惑起来:北京的那些领导人为什么整天都在勾心斗角和尔虞 我诈?为什么中南海里的政治倾轧永无止境?   远的不说,就说从去年秋天中共十六大开始,直到今年3月份的全国人大会议,一直到我的 这篇文章见报之日,有关中国政治斗争的传闻就一天都没有中断过。一般的读者大多只是把这种 无聊的政治故事当作消遣,所以无伤大雅。   但是,在决策层面,特别是在高层政治决策圈里,假若人们信以为真,并以此作为决策的依 据,那么,这样的报道丝毫无异于误国误民。   我曾经在中国一家新闻机构担任时政记者,当时经常有外国同行试图和我探讨中国某几位政 治人物的"行情"。   其实,中南海的政治运作并非一般人所能真切了解,更不可能有那么多令人兴奋不已的故事。 而外国同行想从中国记者口中得到的,往往也只是是几句似是而非的评论,只要其中有几句话能 为他们的推理和想像提供"佐证",那就足够了。   可是,无辜的读者们却被蒙在鼓里。他们并不知道,所谓"消息灵通人士"的评论,其实只是 随便应付的无心之语,不能当真。   因此,我现在可以想像得到,在北京的那些外国记者们,仍然在用他们灵敏的新闻鼻子,拼 命闻嗅着那些可笑的"内幕消息"。即使是身在海外的记者、作者甚至学者们,他们照样不会放过 任何一个可以用来演绎权力斗争故事的蛛丝马迹。 实际上,我们所看到的很多这类故事,都是如此炮制而成的。   也许会有人问:为什么有些记者如此热衷于挖掘中国权力斗争的故事?在我看来,原因之一, 就是这样的文章很讨好,很吸引读者。   同时,还有一个更重要的原因。对那些懒于思考、对中国政治一知半解的记者来说,这种文 章写起来实在太容易了。只要给中国领导人画上政治脸谱,把他们分成两个对立的阵营,然后让 他们去担当不同的斗争角色,那一切问题就会迎刃而解。   毛泽东曾经错误地说:阶级斗争,一抓就灵。而现在,对很多记者来说,"权力斗争"是解释 中国社会一切现象的法宝。   多年来,国际社会一直在敦促中国进行政治改革,可是,当中国政治在不断进步的时候,我 却惊讶地发现,某些新闻传媒的思维却没有改变。它们还是习惯于在用那种已经过时的标尺,来 衡量中国的现实。   多少年前,中国大文豪鲁迅先生曾经批评说,某些人看见女人的胳膊,就联想到女人的大腿, 进而联想到裸体和性交。   在我看来,某些记者在看待中国问题时,也有这种心态。在他们的联想之下,那些本来与权 力斗争毫不相干的事情,都统统可以延伸到权力斗争。而更加莫名其妙的是,这些人通常都会为 此而沾沾自喜。 From bare arms to the thighs and the naked body   Many people who are interested in politics in China are more keen on hearsay than genuine knowledge about how the Chinese political system works. This is the impression I get.   With the media adding fuel to the flame, politics in China is equated with power struggle and a few familiar names are always thrown up as if they make up the entire Chinese government.   How they interact and reported attempts of them trying to out-manoeuvre one another, which cannot be proven, make them prime fodder for media outfits which see politics in China as nothing more than a power game.   No country is spared from power struggle which is part and parcel of politics. Still, pick up some newspapers and read their reports on China and many will, as I do, wonder if it is really true that Chinese leaders in Beijing are always trying to undermine or outdo one another. Why is there no end to in-fighting in Zhongnanhai?   From last November's 16th party congress of the Chinese Communist Party to the meetings of the National People's Congress in March this year, and to the time this article is published, rumours of political strife in China have never ceased.   The average reader will probably find such political tales silly but entertaining. So no great harm will be done.   But should decision-makers, especially top-level political decision-makers, buy these stories and use them as the basis for formulating policy, such reports would do doubtless tremendous damage to China and its people.   I had previously worked in a media agency in China as a political correspondent. I can still recall that I was often approached by foreign journalists to tell the "fortune" of certain political leaders, whether they were on the way up, or out.   The truth is that few people really have an inkling of how Chinese leaders in Zhongnanhai work together. And it is impossible that so many "exciting stories" are coming out of the administrative nerve centre of the CCP.   What foreign journalists want from Chinese reporters are just some quotes that seem to make sense to "lend credence" to what they imagine or believe to be true.   Innocent readers are of course ignorant of this. They have no idea that the comments of so-called "well-placed sources" are often casual remarks made for the consumption of the ever-inquisitive foreign media.   I can imagine foreign journalists in Beijing trying hard to sniff out ludicrous "inside stories".   And there are journalists, writers and even academics outside China who will not let go of any clues that can be weaved into an intriguing tale of power struggle in Beijing.   In fact, this is precisely how many of the reports that we've read have been written and published.   Some people may wonder why there are journalists who are so enthusiastic about stories on power struggle in China.   One of the reasons, as I see it, is that such reports are popular as they pander to the curiosity of readers.   But there is a more fundamental reason. For journalists who have only a superficial understanding of China and who are too lazy to think, such stories provide an easy way out.   Just divide the Chinese leadership into two opposing camps and assign the leaders the roles they should play in the power game and they can spin as many stories as they want out of it.   Mao Zedong has said wrongly that once the theory of class struggle is grasped, all problems can be solved. Unfortunately, many journalists today subscribe to the view that "power struggle" is the key to explaining things taking place in China.   The international community has for years been urging China to implement political reform. But now that China is making progress towards a more open society, I'm surprised to find media organisations which have not kept up with the changes - they are stuck in the mode of looking at today's China with yesterday's mindset.   The late renowned writer Lu Xun once criticised the mentality of people who would instinctively associate a woman's bare arms with the thighs, the naked body and eventually sex.   Some journalists obviously suffer from the same problem in the way they look at issues in China. With their fertile imagination, anything and everything in China can be explained as a result of the struggle for greater power.   What is even more amusing is that they are usually rather pleased with themselves for writing what they consider very analytical reports.