Thread by @jinpeili

CCTV FOLLIES 1.18 Don't worry! Be happy!

-Xi looms large in the news
-Six points of a sick nation gather to hear Xi say his failed Covid policy was completely correct.
"Perseverance means victory!"

Victory brings happiness.

A festive mood is about to sweep the land.

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!
Clap your hands, clap your hands...

...if you're happy and you know it clap your hands!

And you better be happy,
and you better know it,
and you better clap your hands...

In minority villages, a festive dance will suffice for starters. "Spontaneous" applause is mandatory, but that can come later.

How to explain the giddy, bubbly outbreak of happiness?

The dispenser of fortune, the man who holds the fate of the nation in his thick-fingered hands courageously stands face-to-face with his people via remote video-link to hail the Year of the Rabbit.

Stand up and be counted. You're on national TV!

From an old-age home in Harbin, to a train junction in Zhengzhou, from a wholesale mart in Beijing to a picturesque village in Sichuan, people gather in awe to view the master via video link:

His words are common and folksy, he's down to earth and easy to understand, but every gesture is freighted with deep significance because he's so famous!
"Ni hao!"
"Xin nian hao!"
"Xinku le!"
"Hao!

Members of the Politburo flank the paramount leader, standing as stiff as wooden puppets. Not one of them dares to blink while the master speaks. Standing to the side, they wear masks so the only person who really counts doesn't have to.

Xi's radiant power is physically manifest

This is how it plays out on TV, where it constitutes over fifty percent of the evening news program.
18 full minutes of Xi kibitzing with the masses followed up by another big story (about Xi kibitzing with the military)

The adulation in isolated areas is especially intense when Xi speaks to them directly by remote link:

"Happy to see this new era village is doing well. I think you can do even better! Let’s put more beauty in the country and make our modern socialist country worthy of the name!"

CCTV rounded up a brigade of red-suited heroes in Xinjiang, all dressed in Lei Feng hats, who love to serve the motherland.

They will not be going home for the New Year.
What heroes.
A trifecta of selfless workers, energy pipelines and a location in Xinjiang!

Watching Xi Jinping make off-the-cuff remarks on video makes all the hard-core sacrifice seem worth it!

For a brief moment, if only an instant, the fast trains seem to stop running while the great man greets the railway workers.
His sage advice?
"Don't forget about safety. Safety is important.
It's very important...Treat your passengers with care."

To front-line health workers, similarly sage advice:
"Look after people's health."
"Perseverance is victory!"

"If society is happy or not happy depends on whether society’s old people are happy or not happy."
"Remember seniors, "Fu" means blessing, and you live in Fu-jian, so you should be double happy!"

The whole nation benefits from hearing the leader speak, and perhaps the whole world. He has outlined a plan for peace, nature and win-win.

(message to earthlings)

"New Years is a traditional holiday. It’s a happy, happy holiday. This new year shall be the opening act when everyone joins in and fully implements the spirit of the party’s 20th! Wishing an auspicious 'Rabbit' year, prosperity for the motherland!"

Xin nian kuai le!

Can't get enough of seeing that man? Well, there's more, lots more. But here we'll just focus on Xi meeting the military brass, in person.

He seemed distinctly happier on the remote link pontificating to easy-to-impress workers and villagers

Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), on Wednesday presented a certificate of order at a ceremony to promote Huang Ming, commander of the Central Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army, to the rank of general.

And what a certificate it was.

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Xi photo ops ate up much of the day's news hole, but there's always ample room for a pro-Russian report using Russia TV footage to tell Chinese viewers what's really happening in Ukraine.
Here Kremlin video of Russians firing at unseen targets:

CCTV shows Russian helicopters patrolling the skies over Ukraine while Russian rockets strike "US weapons depots" and other "military" targets.

But when Russia unloads bombs on cities and hits apartment bldgs; then the both the Kremlin and its Beijing boosters are tight-lipped

Seeing things from the point of view of Russian gun sights...

News: Ukraine helicopter down near Kiev, Ukraine Interior minister among those killed.

CCTV graphics show the site of the crash in Brovary on an empty borderless map.

CCTV can be fast with breaking news, so why not a word about Russia's January 14 bombing of civilians in Dnipro? It killed scores and injured many more.

Why does CCTV cover up for the Kremlin?

CCTV plays along with Moscow's crooked, cooked up narrative that Russia is the real victim in the Ukraine conflict due to mean bullying by the West.

This is CCTV's idea of a kill-shot. Finding useful information in the enemy media ecosystem and publicizing it.
(few viewers of CCTV's domestic news program can read English fast enough, if at all, so what's the point of showing this?)

You know the news is almost over when you get the litany of complaints about how unfair it is for the US and NATO to bully and weaken Russia.
Patriot missiles, Pentagon, and jets unloading weapons. These are CCTV evergreen shots used over and over.

"US wants war...etc, etc"

"And that's the end of our broadcast..."

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