Phil Cunningham Profile picture
金培力 CCTV FOLLIES at https://t.co/Ytx660bYM5 Fulbright, Knight, Nieman Fellow. @jinpeili.bsky.social @jinpeili@ieji.de

Dec 7, 2022, 28 tweets

CCTV FOLLIES 12.07 A day of meetings
-Spirit of 20th congress spreads like a prairie fire
-All parties, ethnic groups, youth, seniors heed the call
-Next year is year of the "20th spirit"
-Russia still blowing things up in Ukraine
-US humiliated by power blackout in N. Carolina

The first eight minutes of the news is unbearably boring, just a long readout, but it's got Xi's thumbprint in every inch of it, so there's that.
In short, implementation of "spirit of 20th."

Meeting in Zhongnanhai shows where these exceedingly bureaucratic ideas originate.

Everyone is wearing a mask except for Xi

In other news (other meetings) Li Keqiang has an intimate chat with Russian counterpart via Zoom.
(This "close" but "far" dynamic encapsulates the Sino-Russia relationship quite well)

And now, in breaking news....
More meetings...
Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party stages an orchestrated meeting.

As does the "Taiwan" "Democratic" "Self-Government" League

(scare quotes added by author)

Wang Huning addresses this "authentic" Taiwan party.

And there are other meetings in Hunan and around the nation spreading the good word of the "20th."

The exciting news of the epoch-making "spirit of the 20th" promoted by "new era" Xi Jinping spreads around China like a wildfire as communist youth league, rural workers and minorities get in on the act.

From the coconut groves of Hainan to tea plantations, the word is out. The victorious 20th party congress!
Xi is leading China into a new era!

Knowledgeable party member shares the good news with tea-pickers in their traditional minority outfits

Young people around China are galvanized to serve the party.
Workers put down their hammers and tools for a study session on the job.

From schools to factories, getting the word out.

Finally, a tidbit of with a scent of news.

Covid policy is loosening in order not to damage the economy, and the CCP is still looking after your best interests, so it's still a pretty much perfect policy.

CCTV often uses fresh produce shots to illustrate prevention measures; the idea that Covid is spread through fish, vegetables, fruit etc persists as a notion, at least in TV visuals.

Stacks of gold coins getting higher, arrows all pointing up. In a nutshell, things are getting better all the time.

(despite indications to the contrary)

Didn't get enough meeting shots in the first half hour?
CCTV has got you covered. Here's the so-called "KMT" meeting in progress, pushing for reunification of course.

And Macao is no exception. The casino magnates etc gather in a show of loyalty to "elect" leaders acceptable to Beijing.

And then there's a plug for a new TV drama near the end of the news.
"Xianwei Dayuan"
Standard patriotic pro-party fare?
Only time will tell.

And now it's over to Moscow which has apparently been subcontracted by CCTV to provide all Ukraine news:

More rockets and missiles bursting in air...
What prowess...

Russian Defense Ministry presents:

Attack helicopters in action...

But stubborn Ukraine fights back.

FM Sergey Lavrov is not in a good mood. He's mad at NATO for making Russia do what it's doing in Ukraine and it gets him mad.
It's so unfair!
Russia has a right to defend itself!

(Stock footage of NATO troops "attacking" provided by CCTV)

US hegemony caused the Russia-Ukraine conflict...

CCTV shows its double-edged humanitarian side. It's really concerned about the attack that caused a power outage in North Carolina affecting some 30,000 people.

Not a word on the Russian bombing of Ukraine's power grid putting millions in darkness and without heat for the winter

CCTV's solicitude for UK shoppers affected by recession would be more believable if they showed some care for the 100,000 Ukrainians killed by their Russian partners under command of Xi's close friend Putin.

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