Here’s the scoop on Geithner’s ties to China, from an article published in China News (中国新闻网）:

他与盖特纳的父亲彼得·盖特纳有过12年亲密合作的经历。从1984至1996年间，他们共同为在中国推广现代经济学教育而努力，其中包括“福特培训计划”，“当盖特纳还年轻的时候，我在中国见到了他，但他就职纽约联邦储备银行后就没有遇到了。”

[Princeton University Professor Zou Zhizhuang] and Geithner’s father spent 12 years working closely together. From 1984 to 1996, they worked very hard together to promote the education of modern economics, including for Ford’s training plans. “When Geithner was young, I saw him in China. But after he went to the Federal Reserve in New York, I never ran into him again.”

也因为这些经历，盖特纳相比其他高级官员具有更多的国际经验优势，有的媒体甚至把他称为“中国通”。

Because of this history, Geithner has the advantage of more international experience compared to many other high officials, so some of the media have called him an “old China hand.”

资料显示，盖特纳从小随在福特基金会任职的父亲在亚洲和非洲生活，曾学习日语和汉语，拥有达特茅斯大学政府与亚洲研究的学士学位。之后他在约翰斯·霍普金斯大学高等国际研究学院获得国际经济与东亚研究的硕士学位。1985 年在基辛格公司也是亚洲事务专家。

According to records, from an early age Geithner lived with his Ford Foundation employed father in Asia and Africa. He has studied Japanese and Chinese, and received a bachelors degree from Dartmouth University in government and Asian studies. Afterwards, he received a master’s degree in East Asian studies from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. In 1985, he served as the Asian Affairs Expert in [Henry] Kissinger’s company

Update: In Barack Obama’s speech today, introducing Timothy Geithner and the rest of the economic team, he mentions Geithner’s international experience in Asia and his understanding of Chinese (and Japanese) as part of his qualifications:

Tim’s extensive international experience makes him uniquely suited for this work. Growing up partly in Africa and having lived and worked throughout Asia; having served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs — one of many roles in the international arena; and having studied both Chinese and Japanese, Tim understands the language of today’s international markets in more ways than one.

This type of biased report could lead audiences to form a negative image of China, stirring up anti-China sensation and collective misunderstanding of China.

The media may justify their unprofessional actions as providing moral support for the protesters who advocate Tibet independence. This justification is hypocritical. The fact is that Tibet has been part of China since 13th century and still is part of China today. ³ Whatever wrongs and new oppressions that may have been introduced by the Chinese government after 1959, the Chinese government did abolish slavery and the Tibetan serfdom system of unpaid labor. ⁴ Those who lost their privileges are the lamas and landlords. Today, Tibetans even enjoy more freedom than Han ethnic in China. For example, Tibetans are exempt from China’s one child policy. The Tibetan population growth is higher than national average since 1970. Tibetan life expectancy increased from 35.5 years in 1951 to 67 years in 2005.

Before you read another report about China, you may want to get the other side of the story.

For readers interested in learning more about Tibet, click here.

Why does entering Harvard make a girl so astoundingly famous in China?

Being admitted into an elite American school is definitely a piece of good news for Meijie. The vast press coverage of her can show how Chinese value education and how well-known Harvard is in China. Since few students in China can go to Harvard, she is really exceptional as the only one student in China admitted by Harvard during “early action”.

To Chinese, being in an elite school means far more than a degree. It means unlimited possibility for fame, power, wealth, respect and beyond. China has more than one thousand years’ history of such an elite scholarship, particularly in choosing officials through exams. Being an official in China always equals to being privileged in a society where people do not have equal rights. Officials enjoy free housing, travel, transportation, health care, and the right to make rules that serve their own interests. But only a few top examiners can be chosen to be officials, and only a few can go to Harvard. So, people are pressed to be the best–otherwise, you are worthless.

For too long, more than 2,000 years, most Chinese have lived an oppressed and exploited life. People always do not feel safe and are hence in dire need of safety. The long term suppressive rule seems to have demoralized the majority of Chinese people. They learn to cherish the only channel — the exam — to achieve a desirable life.

The individual is not valued just because they are alive. Under suppressive rule, people’s sense of equality has been destroyed. Everyone wants to be the few privileged, and to be superior to others.

Another serious problem that can be seen from this “Harvard girl carnival” is the lack of independent critical thinking among Chinese. Why are so many people so interested in becoming the only one who can be admitted. Most of them are playing a definite losing game. Why not change the rules for the game? Why not let most of our kids get a high quality education? If most of our kids pursue what they are interested in and good at, our society can be a very productive and happy one. We should stop superficially judging people by their educational brand.

At a society level, providing enough and, more importantly, equal opportunities for people to succeed is more pressing. It is a huge waste of human resources when more than 99% of students cannot get into prestigious schools abroad and are judged as failures. Everyone has his or her own talents and the society should provide opportunities for them to find their own place. A society in which the majority is not being taken care of is a failed society.

When the major Chinese media are finally in a frenzy about how to provide equal opportunity and diversified channels for many types of success — instead of the next “Harvard girl” — that will be a signal of a real big change in Chinese society.