Leave it to the.... yup, New York Times.
I'm so glad I never buy, read, or visit them unless directed to by a blog.
"China’s leaders celebrate 60 years of communist rule; Parade boasts country’s might, military power" by Michael Wines and Sharon LaFraniere, New York Times | October 2, 2009
BEIJING - China’s leaders marked their nation’s 60th anniversary yesterday with a precision display of military bravado that included, improbably, a female militia unit toting submachine guns and attired in red miniskirts and white jackboots, and a fleet of floats with representations of a giant fish and Mount Everest.
Yeah, I saw a picture of them on page A3. They are HOT-LOOKING, hey!!
Women members of the militia, a civilian reserve force under China's military, march past Tiananmen Square during a military parade marking China's 60th anniversary in Beijing, China, Thursday Oct. 1, 2009. AP Photo/Ng Han Guan
Wowwwwweeeeeee!!!!!
Hate to admit, but I'm a little turned on.
And at least the Chinese are only displaying; USrael has used and is using it.
The celebration of the founding of the People’s Republic of China was immense, powerful, and flawless, down to the crystalline skies which, just a day earlier, had been laden with smog.
Yes, I remember the Olympics from last year.
Always got rip 'em, don't they?
Would the Times do that to an USraeli parade?
A football game flyover?
In all that, it was a fitting analogy for how China’s Communist Party leaders wanted their citizens and the world to regard them - and, perhaps, how they may be feeling themselves these days.
Yeah, thank God AmeriKa and the NYT doesn't put out propaganda to the world.
And the Zionist Jewish bias? No comment.
The world’s news outlets reported raptly on the significance of every detail, and China’s state-run television network streamed video coverage over the Internet, in English and other languages, to viewers worldwide. Beyond that, however, the Chinese made few concessions to their global audience.
Why should they? Does anyone ever make concessions for them?
The NYT certainly does not; must still be mad at having to pay Wen Ho Lee $1.6 million dollars for lying about him.
The 60th celebration was slightly kitschy and indisputably retro, a carbon copy of the prior once-a-decade celebrations.
I've sat through enough American parades that were the same thing.
“On one level, they are naturally aware of the international audience, but in the end this is a parade and show for Chinese leaders and the people of China,’’ Geremie R. Barme, professor of Chinese history at the Australian National University, said in an interview. “It has always been such a show. It is a display of China’s might and power. When it comes to this kind of parade, international perceptions are just not that important.’’
NOR SHOULD THEY BE!
A confident President Hu Jintao, clad in a high-collared Mao-style jacket, told the invited guests - the general public was not allowed to attend the parade - that infinitely bright prospects lay ahead for the world’s most populous nation.
That sure sounds like America.
Related: Obama Pisses on Pittsburgh Protesters
“Today, a socialist China geared to modernization, the world and the future has stood rock-firm in the east of the world,’’ Hu said in a brief speech speckled with boilerplate references to Chinese-style socialism. The Chinese people, he said, “cannot be prouder of the development and progress of our great motherland.’’
Should be proud: China's Celebration
Hu’s review of his troops - made standing in the open sunroof of a Chinese-made 12-cylinder Red Flag limousine - echoed the reviews conducted by his predecessors in decades past. Television images showed Hu waving stiffly and calling out “Greetings, comrades!’’ through four large microphones attached to the limousine’s roof. Following tradition, the troops replied in unison, “Serve the people!’’
The vast display of military power - according to the state-run Xinhua news agency, 52 weapons systems; 151 warplane flyovers; 12 intercontinental-range missiles; and new a missile, the Dongfeng 21-C, that one day could be used to counter American aircraft carriers - received by far the most attention.
That gets the empire's attention!
Related: US panic at China's new ship killer
That's why the Times wrote the piece this way.
While China’s military remains well behind that of many developed nations in sophistication and firepower, analysts said, its progress since the last such parade in 1999 was impressive.
Some of the most notable changes did not involve the military at all, but the People’s Armed Police, a paramilitary force that was a bit player in the past. Yesterday, the police had specially outfitted armored personnel carriers, a signal of their growing stature.
Yeah, good thing the U.S. doesn't have like, an FBI or something.
See: Waco
The group is the government’s main internal security force and played crucial roles in suppressing ethnic disturbances in the Xinjiang region in July and in combating riots in Tibet in March 2008.
Related: U.S. Still Sticking It to China
The Two Faces of the Dalai Lama
Sorry, readers. Truth hurts.
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I thought I would put this one up as well:
Fireworks explode above a sign saluting China's 60th anniversary in Zhuzhou, in south China's Hunan province, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 (AP Photo)
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Happy birthday, China. Not crazy about your form of government, but it is your country, not mine. Ironically, yours is more worried about what its people think.
