Thread by @jinpeili

CCTV FOLLIES 1.25 From Tiananmen to Tibet

-Xi zooms it in to Buenos Aires
-Argentine President Fernandez decries US sanctions
-Looking for leverage in Latin America
-Tibet border troops raise flag flown at Tiananmen
-Salute to workers who work during holidays
-US stokes fires

Just as the day starts with sunrise over Tiananmen,
CCTV news starts with Xi Jinping

Latin American leaders, facing economic headwinds, listen VERY carefully to every word Xi says...

President Fernandez:
"The US sanctions are evil and illegal..."
"We won't tolerate it..."

note 1: Argentina desperately seeking funds to bail out wrecked economy.
note 2: China has funds and hates sanctions

As for Ukraine, it's Kremlin show-and-tell time.

The usual. Guns blasting away.

But wait! What's this? CCTV is showing tranquil scenes of Kiev instead of Moscow?
What gives?
A change of heart? A hint of sympathy?

Gotcha!
Massive corruption case in Ukraine is just the kind of Ukraine story that CCTV likes to run with.

And then there are those M1 Abrams tanks from the US

And the usual stock footage of US pallet movers in action.
Why do they help Ukraine?

Big scoop!
CCTV interviews Italian media man with views identical to Kremlin/CCP party line!

(pro-tip: don't mention Russia's invasion)

US stokes flames
NATO expands east
US provokes Russia
US benefits most from "Ukraine conflict"
US ruins EU-Russia ties
US is all about gas

CCTV devotes the middle section of the news to colorful scenes of spring festival cheer in China and abroad. It's a good age-old cultural holiday enjoyed by many inside and outside China, but the TV coverage at times veers towards pro-PRC nationalism.

In a thoughtful aside, CCTV considers the lives of workers too busy to celebrate.
Here a profile of park rangers at Huangshan.

And a much-deserved profile of a delivery driver.

The farmer in the fields looks like he's straight out of the Cultural Revolution.
Backed by banners in the fields, he faithfully quotes of the great leader.
(Corny words from Xi instead of pithy Mao aphorisms)
For CCTV camera crews, the color red rules...

A flag that was flown at Tiananmen Square, the political center of China, makes a long journey to the periphery.

The Tiananmen Square consecrated flag travels to a remote PLA outpost in the Tibetan Himalayas where rugged lookout stations guard the border.

A glimpse of army life at high altitude on the mountainous national boundary. The barracks are festooned in holiday red, and the troops attentively watch CCTV in the poorly heated room.

The young men make pledges to sacrifice and defend, and invoke the legend of the "nameless lake" in the sky. It's more than a sea of clouds, it's about defending the motherland.

Tibetans have long marked the landscape with flags and painted Buddhist mantras such as "Om Mani Padme Hum."
The CCP has its own set of slogans, less timeless perhaps, but backed by great firepower.

The Tiananmen-experienced flag is carefully unfolded and presented to the guardians of the motherland.

This is land is our land.
This is China.

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