China doubles down on faltering Belt and Road -Let it serve to deliver Chinese exports to the world by rail and sea -Happiness is a strong country -Canada is burning, so why does it fuel the flames?
Today is another slow-news day. This is alarming in the sense that it’s low information enough to make one wonder what furious political battles are going on behind the scenes, but it makes for rather pleasant watching. None of the leaders are on display, which is of immense visual relief, but the footprint of the paramount one is so large it can be sensed even in its absence. There’s some lip service to the paramount one as well, mostly in vox populi quotes, but there’s also light-hearted holiday coverage. Without once revealing the main man, the program manages to keep a focus on his pet projects, ranging from Belt and Road, bridges and highways to his ill-conceived model city of Xiong’an and paeans to how things have gotten better and better in the last ten years (under his rule)
Xinjiang is of special importance as the western gate of China. It is a bottleneck through which goods may pass and is thus an an important pit stop on the Belt and Road. Even if CCTV is selling a false bill of goods about the hyped-up Belt scheme, the photography is often first rate.
To put the much-vaunted Belt and Road in a perspective that you won’t get on CCTV, including the nuanced issue of debt diplomacy, a good read from economist Noah Smith below:
CCTV’s holiday travel section nicely reflects China’s diverse geography.
On a more mundane note, sewing a flag of the motherland “makes us feel a really special kind of mood.”
China is a world leader in renewable technology; but it’s also the world’s capital of coal mines. I guess lighting up entire cities from inside to outside accrues its costs.
Kids in Hong Kong play odes to the motherland
Visitors to Gansu are pleased with what they see. Things have really changed in the last ten years.
Sent down youth, redux. It’s no longer a one-way trip.
Urban youth visit a remote, rusticated village to study the local customs. In return they bus a group of colorfully-clad locals to Beijing to watch the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square! Now the minorities can fully appreciate how the motherland is getting better and better all the time!
The world’s happiest man
-Everywhere I look I see smiles.
-Yes
-It’s the best.
-Your smile is happy, too!
-The motherland is strong! Of course the masses of people happy!
China’s bringing home the gold by the bushel at the Hangzhou games.
It’s that time again, time for the Russian update on Ukraine as seen through a Kremlin lens. It’s aerial attacks, airborne missiles and bombs away, as usual.
Canadians say No to NATO! No to War! Canada out of NATO Now! Canada should put out the wildfires at home instead of fanning the flames and fueling the fire abroad.
The US government narrowly missed a government shutdown. So gloomy!
But China is so beautiful!
(to the tune of “I love you China.”)
A special thanks to readers who have recently become paid subscribers. Your generous support is appreciated. And for free subscribers a thank you, too, for your attention and interest in the CCTV FOLLIES. Below a link to my novella about the production of a Hollywood film on the streets of Shanghai, now in paperback.
