(1/x) Really interesting that @PDChina chose to broadcast this clip - of Politburo member (Sun Chunlan) being shouted at. Very unusual for Chinese state media.
But note: edited clip suggests only *one* resident was shouting, rather than the large numbers heard on original.
But note: edited clip suggests only *one* resident was shouting, rather than the large numbers heard on original.
(2/x) Suggests Party authorities sufficiently worried about original clip (and suggestion of mass discontent in Wuhan) that they feel compelled to create alternative narrative ("Oh, that? Just 'one' unhappy person upset about their specific residential complex") to spread online.
(3/x) But the fact that even *that* kind of propaganda narrative could receive approval should raise eyebrows. After all, Sun Chunlan is a *Politburo* member. One of the top 25 officials in China.
(4/x) And even in this highly altered, highly distorted form, this is Chinese state media showing popular discontent being voiced directly at the highest levels of the Party. On the subject of how officials are handling one of the worst crises to envelop China in decades.
(6/x) And two I can come up with are:
a) Original clip so explosive that propaganda authorities felt obliged to try to submerge it w/altered version. (More likely)
b) Sun Chunlan being set up as Party scapegoat for initial failures re: Wuhan? Public health is her portfolio.
a) Original clip so explosive that propaganda authorities felt obliged to try to submerge it w/altered version. (More likely)
b) Sun Chunlan being set up as Party scapegoat for initial failures re: Wuhan? Public health is her portfolio.
(7/x) And now the relevant @PDChina tweet (with the edited clip) has been deleted...
Welcome to the day-to-day experience of all of us who are trying to figure out what the heck is going on in Chinese politics...
Welcome to the day-to-day experience of all of us who are trying to figure out what the heck is going on in Chinese politics...
