Introduction

One's thoughts are often shaped by his/her experience. Since I started to work straight after graduation from university with a bachelor's degree in English language and literature and a dual degree in international journalism in 1987, I taught English at the department of English and then shifted to the department of international journalism and communication in 2001, where my job as executive vice-dean is to prepare young people for their future career as journalists who are capable of working in international settings. With over 25 years of experience in cross-cultural communication, I came to recognize the importance of the media for conveying the world view of the West. I am concerned with the way mainstream Western thought has driven the world, both to immense material wealth but also to the brink of disaster, and believe that a onesided world view is perilous in today's global era.

It is not helpful to think in terms of West and East today. These two concepts, although they appear to conflict, are in fact mutually interdependent. Instead of opposition, there is cooperation and alternation. According to Western mainstream thinking based on Christianity, humans are above nature and must subdue nature as God created the latter as a separate and subordinate entity. Such a perception of nature is susceptible of arousing man's inherently competitive and acquisitive instincts.