Thread by @jinpeili

CCTV FOLLIES 1.20 Passive-aggressive messaging

-Xi inspires China's military might to new heights
-Big boss at big banquet
-Meat and circuses
-Leaders say Happy New Year in Chinese
-Russians glumness casts shadow at celebration
-US responsible for wrecking Ukraine and Europe

Who would have thought a face like that could launch a thousand ships?
But it can and it's no joke.

Inspired by the man in mufti, the PLA is on the move and getting more aggressive.
A thousand jets, a thousand ships, ten thousand commandos, two million men in arms

Ready to fight at the drop of the hat, as soon as the leader to whom they owe unquestioning loyalty says so.

Commandos practice assaulting a jet...
(Dissidents have been forcefully removed from commercial jets already on the runway, but this takes it to new extremes)

Taiwan theater:
PLA practices amphibious landing with air and sea support.

PLA defending the (gradually expanding) boundaries of the motherland.

Willing to do anything, I mean anything, for great leader Chairman Xi...

And yet despite the extreme concentration of power in the (small) hands of this one man, he's got the common touch.
So unassuming!

Xi's favorite political stage, the Great Hall, is setting for a massive banquet

The entire Politburo is in attendance, meekly following in the footsteps of his eminence...

But the elite aren't the only ones eating. Food is falling off the shelves everywhere. The party knows the people are less grumpy on a full stomach, not that anyone's got anything to complain about.

Workers still work hard, of course, but just the sight of the strategically-placed rabbit is enough to cheer anyone up.

As for the hoi polloi, it's food, glorious food, and entertainment.
It's meat and circuses....

CCTV brings an elegant touch to the proceedings, leaking a sneak peek of Saturday's spring fest gala...

Make sure to tune in for Super Night!

...but don't forget the troops guarding the motherland.

China is happy, it's heart-shaped, it radiates love, especially if you include the entire South China Sea and the Himalayan border zone.

World leaders try to say 'happy new year' in Chinese.
Gutteres, Marcos and Prayuth have strong accents.
Arif Alvi from Pakistan augments his verbal performance with a crowd-pleasing prop.

But no one knows how to celebrate like the Russians. Look at the joy on the faces of those who gather!
The scene is China's Moscow embassy,
How wowed they are by China's soft power push.
Unadulterated joy.

Cuba, Cambodia and Kenya join the virtual party.

Speaking of Russians, and New Year cheer, it's bombs away over Ukraine....(courtesy of Kremlin)

While the world comes to a halt to celebrate Chinese New Year, this poor Russian pilot rushes, twists and turns across coveted but contested Ukraine territory.

Russia thinks Ukraine's resistance would be a joke were it not for US and NATO lending support.
It's so unfair!
And gas prices are going up in Europe because of those meaningless, but deeply unfair, sanctions on Russia.

And that's the end of today's program!
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