Illustration: Xia Qing/GT

In recent years, China has made remarkable archaeological discoveries, from the mysterious bronze artifacts of the Sanxingdui Ruins to the magnificent Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City. These findings have become essential chapters in human history.

However, these globally significant achievements consistently receive "selective neglect" in Western mainstream media coverage. Is this a coincidence or systematic discrimination?

In July 2025, a groundbreaking study published in the prestigious journal Science Advances provided the first data-driven, rigorous analysis confirming discrimination against Chinese archaeology in Western media reporting.

This research, led by scholars from Harvard University and others, systematically analyzed 1,155 archaeology papers published between 2015 and 2020 in seven scientific journals, examining how these studies were covered across 15 American mainstream media outlets (including CNN, The New York Times, Scientific American and Newsweek).

The study's core findings are shocking.

Under equal conditions, archaeological papers from Israel/Palestine, the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia were approximately three times more likely to receive coverage in American mainstream media compared to those from China.

For instance, The New York Times covered Egyptian archaeology 10.59 times more frequently than Chinese findings, while Forbes' coverage disparity reached as high as 43.67 times.

Among the 1,155 papers analyzed, archaeological research about China ranked third globally in volume, trailing only the US and the UK. Yet its media exposure consistently remained at the bottom.

This quantitative analysis scientifically demolishes the pretense that "cold coverage is merely coincidental."

How does such discrimination take shape?

It involves a multi-layered chain that spans academia, media and the audience. Systemic bias extends far beyond media endpoints, permeating the entire pathway from academic discovery to public awareness and profoundly influencing public perception of China.

Research from Israel, Britain and Australia receives press release recommendations at rates far exceeding those for China. 

Under the influence of topic selection mechanisms and editorial networks, archaeological achievements from China and other "non-Western" regions face continuous marginalization.

The paper notes that between 2015 and 2020, negative American public perception of China rose from 47 percent to 73 percent, reaching 81 percent by 2024. Mainstream audience interest assumptions and cognitive biases regarding China-related reporting further influence media coverage tendencies, which in turn reinforce these perception biases, creating a hidden yet robust "discrimination cycle."

This enormous coverage gap represents what scholars refer to as the "global Matthew effect." Even when archaeological discoveries are equally sensational and academically valuable, findings from China struggle to receive equivalent attention and resources in "Western discourse spaces."

American reporting "proximity" isn't geographical but cultural. Israel, Britain and Australia are habitually treated as related civilizations, while China, India and Iran are viewed as distant others.

These personnel structure directly influences news selection and language, reinforcing "cultural inertia" filtering, while the exoticization and prejudice of Western mainstream knowledge systems toward the "East" continuously undermine equal dialogue between civilizations.

The greatest danger of this structural bias is how global academic and public understanding of "what makes the world what it is" becomes systematically shaped.

 Chinese archaeological achievements, which have long been hidden in the corners of mainstream narratives, weaken the global influence of Chinese civilization while creating an imbalance and misunderstanding in the worldwide comprehension of early human civilizations, particularly in the severe underrecognition of Chinese society. Such a lack of recognition clearly affects Western audiences' views of China, creating a media environment conducive to spreading "China threat" narratives.

This report makes it clear that, over the past few years, many Western media outlets, experts and others have often lacked a fundamental understanding of China when discussing issues related to the country.

They are particularly unfamiliar with Chinese culture and historical traditions. Their judgments and analyses of China often seem entirely nonsensical to Chinese people. Some Western policymakers have never even been to China, yet they still arrogantly comment on the country.

China's rise is indeed something new, but it represents the emergence of an Eastern civilization that differs from Western society. To recognize and understand this civilization, one must have a basic understanding of significant archaeological discoveries.

If the West cannot seriously learn from this lesson, how can the relationship between China and Western countries foster mutual understanding and equal coexistence?

Furthermore, this inevitably influences decision-making regarding China among American and European leadership.

How can policymakers make rational, fact-based judgments about contemporary China's development when they fundamentally misunderstand the developmental trajectory of Chinese civilization?

The author is a senior editor with the People's Daily and currently a senior fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China. dinggang@globaltimes.com.cn. Follow him on X @dinggangchina