Bridging a cognitive gap

Although China and Nepal are close neighbors, the people of both countries do not have a deep understanding of each other. The rise of the internet and self-media era has not completely filled the cognitive gap between the two countries, but has to some extent strengthened many inherent stereotypes. In order to avoid becoming the most familiar stranger, it is extremely urgent to innovate the channels for information dissemination and the sharing of knowledge and experience.

Multifaceted China and Nepal

Most Chinese people, whether they have traveled to Nepal or have only read about it in books or just browsed it in short videos, are willing to look at the country through a positive lens and label it as a ‘happy country’. And they are sure that Nepal is a Buddhist country, and therefore very peaceful. After the rise of short video Apps, some viral videos on Nepali platforms are occasionally carried to Chinese platforms as fragments of information, but they reinforce the stereotypes. Nepal’s dramatic political developments and social movements in the midst of intense change have been generalized by Chinese netizens, without malice, as simply ‘chaotic’. From the happy country to the chaotic country, these two irrelevant, even completely opposite impressions have been put onto Nepal, which is really puzzling. On the one hand, Chinese people are not stingy to give Nepal a romantic imagination, while on the other, they inevitably fall into the cliché of Internet stereotypes.

On Nepal’s side, things are not much better. Those who love China and those who don’t, it is hard to view it without putting geopolitical imagination. Those who see China as rich and those who see it as backward are both vocal, and those who criticize China as undemocratic and those who have respect for its political system are at odds with each other. People are amazed by the speed of China’s development, but also look at China's role in the region and even on the world stage with confusion. Traditional and modern, international and local media, politicians and scholars, in many cases all are trying to portray to their readers and viewers the versions of China they understand. The combination of all these versions may still not make up a complete and real image of China. China is ancient and modern, developed and underdeveloped, culturally and ethnically diverse yet unified. Any one of these aspects is China, but it is not the whole of China. Therefore, when we talk about China, we must not forget which aspect of China we are talking about.

Information cocoon

Once a person’s first impression of something takes shape, it is difficult to change. People tend to unconsciously and selectively accept information that matches their first impression, thereby confirming their judgment. The algorithmic promotion of Apps and disinformation has largely fueled this process. People are trapped in their own hand-woven ‘information cocoon’. The cognitive gap between China and Nepal has not been automatically bridged through closer interactions, but rather has tended to widen and consolidate, which is dangerous for two neighbors committed to enhancing bilateral relations through better understanding and mutual trust. Even more dangerous is the fact that the anti-disinformation campaign, wrapped up in geopolitical rivalry and prejudice, is inherently imbued with a gene for spreading it. Such a situation is making it more difficult for people to distinguish truth from falsehood. The so-called cognitive warfare is not just something in sci-fi movies and conspiracy theories, but is a powerful means of geostrategic competition in today’s world. Unfortunately, China and foreigners, who want to understand China, are precisely the biggest victims of disinformation.

In a country like Nepal, where there is a high degree of media freedom, fragmented information has also been given ample space for dissemination. The fragmentation of information has likewise contributed to the formation of an information cocoon. In this context, a story is intentionally or unintentionally chopped up, and readers are told only a portion of the actual facts that conform to their preconceived value judgments, leading them to believe that this is the full picture of the story. A series of controversies surrounding the Belt and Road Initiative, such as the issue of the so-called debt trap, have seen misinformation repeated over and over again, despite repeated clarifications from the Chinese side and some third parties. Some sources are blaming Chinese companies for the slow progress of projects contracted by them, but have no interest to dig deeper into the obvious reasons behind these problems and are unwilling to recognize the fact that Chinese companies are making rapid progress in their projects in other developing countries around the world. People are repeatedly told how great the potential and promise of Nepal’s tourism market is, but rarely are they adequately informed about the tourism infrastructure and investment needs required to fully realize this potential. This pattern of information dissemination is widening the cognitive gap between China and Nepal.

The only way to break this dilemma is to expose the audience to a more diversified source of information, so that they are in a position to discern and choose. This seems to go back to the repeatedly discussed theme of people-to-people exchanges. However, if we look at it from a broader level, the significance of people-to-people exchange is precisely to provide nationals of both sides with more multifaceted perspectives and more channels of voices to know each other. Therefore, the flow of information and the sharing of knowledge and experience should become an important way of interaction between China and Nepal. While promoting infrastructure connectivity, it is equally urgent to build a highway for the two-way flow of information. Beyond the media and self-medias, institutions of higher education, think tanks, non-governmental organizations and stakeholders from all industries can participate in building this information highway. Let more Chinese voices be heard in Nepal and more Nepali stories be told in China. Mediapersons, scholars and opinion leaders in both China and Nepal should take up the responsibility of providing more and better-quality content to the people of both countries and bridging the cognitive gap.

The author is the deputy director of Nepal Study Center at the Institute of South Asian Studies, Sichuan University