Today, many in the West believe that understanding China, though not easy, is not problematic. The West is perceived to be a bastion of universal rationality. Yet there are voices that "the West does not understand China". Why?

At a press conference in Beijing on March 7, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi addressed this puzzlement metaphorically: "I like Western oil paintings and Chinese ink-and-brush paintings both. If people apply the criteria to appreciate oil paintings to appreciate ink-and-brush paintings then there will be mistakes."

The West understands China mainly through the "oil painting" mode, which is deemed universal and everyone is expected to conform to it. Unfortunately, given the country's cultural uniqueness, the "China" so understood is necessarily mistaken.