Thread by @jinpeili

CCTV FOLLIES 3.4 CPPCC sees Xi quietly seething
-Masks in abundance, even Xi masks up
-Li Keqiang farewell, Hu Chunhua still around
-World phones in congrats
-Hersh Nord Stream story still bubbling hot
-News closes not with usual gloom about US, but the great rivers of China

When Xi enters the meeting hall of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the applause is loud and lasts long.

But that does nothing to cheer him up.

The applause continues to echo in the giant echo chamber of the Great Hall.

Wang Huning presides, Li Keqiang is about to step down. Wang Qishan looks puzzled as usual.
Lots of tea-leaf reading will follow, but Hu Jintao protege Hu Chunhua appears to have made the final cut.

Xi joyously sings national anthem.
The prevalence of masks suggests Xi's vaunted victory over Covid is not quite complete.

It's a rare sight to see Xi masked, let alone sitting with the others. The usual alpha male pattern in Politburo politics bestows upon the paramount leader center stage with a mask-free option.

Separate and probably unequal briefings for foreigners and Chinese.
(foreign reporters reportedly had to quarantine in a hotel the night before attending)

Foreign news opens with accolades from around the world.
-A UN official identified only as Hamid (Rashid)
-Thailand's urbane former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva (an old Eton pal of Boris Johnson)

Testimonials testifying to China's greatness roll in from all corners: (UAE, Italy, Switzerland and Columbia.)

They all more or less concur that Chinese-style modernization is an example to the world

CCTV keeps snagging Nord Stream-related interviews, this one a German politician who is enraged that EU and Germany are not paying more attention to Seymour Hersh and his bombshell article on Substack.

Again CCTV garners testimonials from across the planet, but this time in support of Hersh's findings.
(Brazil, Nigeria, Germany, and an "international personage" all express various degrees of contempt for the US)

Finally, Xianwen Lianbo never misses a beat on the so-called Russian-Ukraine conflict.
(conflict footage courtesy of the Kremlin)

CCTV shows evidence that the attack on the Russian city of Bryansk involved German munitions.

And complains about the US sending so much aid to Ukraine! CCTV has found a US Department of Defense "document" so irrefutable that they present it in the original English.

But today's program ends on a happy note, featuring the great rivers of China accompanied by the catchy tune, "I love you China"
Zai jian!