CCTV FOLLIES 3.30 Li Qiang at the helm?
Xi Jinping goes AWOL
-Is Xi resting, or just sick of being on TV?
-Special bonus file footage of Xi in 2021
-China has an environment
-Nord Stream is suspicious
-US helicopter crash
-UK is strike-ridden (nothing on unrest in France)
Li Qiang presides over Boao Forum. He looks and acts like a leader (but he's only number two, which is way, way below number one)
Foreign dignitaries listen to Li expound on trade and development.
Lee Hsien Loong and Ho Ching look comfortable in the super VIP-only First Class seating section.
(front row, wider seats, masks optional)
Now the news isn't really the news without news of Xi, is it?
CCTV makes up for the paramount leader's abject absence with a punishing series of Xi inspirational exhortations rooted in victorious spirit of the 20th party congress (it goes on and on...)
But here's a treat. For anyone suffering the momentary shock of Xi withdrawal syndrome, here are some really cool pics of the main man taken in June 2021, showing him totally in control. Check out those shades.
And it's hard to think about the environment without thinking about Xi because he's always thinking about the environment.
Environment matters!
Birds, more birds, and a dreamy sunset
Man is part of the environment, too!
Some lovely mass labor scenes reminiscent of Mao's Great Leap Forward.
Totalitarian nostalgia time.
It's almost like a page out of China Pictorial from the old days.
China has big trains engine, China has big ships.
Back to the future...
China is a formidable force in rocketry and space exploration and will remain so (provided they continue to use something in addition to Xi Jinping thought to fuel those rockets)
And now, it's time for CCTV's Russian colleagues to provide some footage of their successful, but seemingly endless special military operation in Ukraine.
Russians in action, backed by high tech.
Obligatory Ukraine images (fair and balanced?) paired with obligatory US and NATO "fueling-the-fire image" of weapons being unloaded in support of Ukraine.
Just to stress China's role as honest peace broker, some footage of this well-known diplomat is included along with an expounding of the Russian point of view.
Nord Stream suspicions linger. A mysterious object found near one of the pipelines has been retrieved.
Update! (from Syrian Arab News Agency)
SVB is USA
USA is SVB
Helicopter crash in Kentucky
Blackhawks down!
"Broke and Broken" England: More strikes coming!(courtesy of Sky News)
Cost of UK food skyrockets (courtesy of CCTV)
During this time of trouble, the restive populace is sure to be calmed by this new publication highlighting Xi Jinping's penetrating insights into high-level science
Yet another publication by the world's greatest freelance writer:
Xi Jinping Thought on Strong Military
Why read it once when you can read it three times?
The next ten minutes is devoted to some reassuring, inspirational shots of Xi Jinping who has total control of the military and wants the world to know it.
Patrick Chovanec, a consultant at Silvercrest Asset Mgmt has done some China virtue-signaling by compiling photos about the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations, an event he evidently knows little about.
(a thread)
To do this, he compiled over a dozen of my photos on his blog , and when I brought this to his attention, he made no effort to credit the photos or reveal where he got them from. patrickchovanec.com/about/
Some of the photos now have a life of their own on the internet, including the above photo, (caption by Chovanec) which has been used by conspiratorial pro-China bloggers as proof of a "color revolution."
;-)
A political bible with quasi-religious overtones is unveiled like a holy relic.
A book by Xi Jinping! In English!
CCTV news shows the entire table of contents
Wow. It sure looks like a gripping read. Find a comfy chair, put the kettle on and settle for a long enlightening read.
CCTV FOLLIES: 5.26
China state TV doubles down on dubious Russia claims about "secret" US bio-labs in Ukraine.
(from May 26 Xinwen Lianbo)
Anchor Li Zimeng couches the accusations in the language of Russia's Defense Ministry, but the CCTV editors like the story enough for it to get major airtime.
The Russia Defense Ministry, solid architectural monolith that it is, is portrayed as a presumably authoritative source.
Read all about it! Top of the news! Yet another much-heralded publication by the indefatigable freelance writer Xi Jinping, whose excessive narcissism is nicely balanced with pictures of himself.
Up next, a nostalgic look back to 2017 when this man was laying the foundation of today's greatness.
Among many, many other incredible, almost super-human accomplishments, he created a city out of dust.