CCTV FOLLIES 8.2 Sunrise or sunset for Xi?
China's minorities can study Xi Jinping Thought in the native languages they are otherwise discouraged from using -Xi's accomplishments! -Russia blasts away -America's former president indicted!
I will be mailing out the CCTV Follies every other day during August.
The news on August 1 was more interesting than August 2, so that is the focus of this report, link below, followed by a few notes about what was and wasn’t shown on August 2 as well. The closing segment features news of Donald J. Trump!
Xi is mostly absent from the news cycle of 8.2, not that he’s been forgotten. The better half of the news is dominated by canned paeans to the paramount leader, mostly based on file footage and recaps of “seminal” events such as the 20th party congress of October 2022 which saw Hu Jintao carted off the stage while Xi installed as a leader without term limits. What a mean-spirited coronation that was.
The highlights of that huge indoor meeting are repeated ad nauseum in today’s news, along with an assortment of sunsets or sunrises, it’s hard to tell which is which, which serve to create a glorious celestial manifestation and sentimental visual representation of Xi Jinping’s unerring and radiant rule.
The personality cult is in high dudgeon with the “good news” of the day being that Xi’s latest thick book about himself has been translated into seven of the so-called minority languages in China which are technically respected but honored in the breach. It’s still rare to hear anything but standard Mandarin on the airwaves and harder still to find serious state support for minority languages other than as window-dressing. But if the CCP is going to celebrate minority tongues, what better way to get tongues wagging than to unite all minorities in the uniform study of Xi. Turgid in the original, Xi’s hodge-podge writings and folksy aphorisms are often awkward in standard Chinese, but there’s always the hope they will be improved and sound better in translation.
“The first two volumes of a book series of selected works of Xi Jinping have been translated into seven of China's ethnic minority languages, according to an official statement issued Wednesday. The seven languages are Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur, Kazak, Korean, Yi and ZhuangThe statement said that the translated versions have been published and distributed nationwide. It is believed that they will help people from ethnic minority groups enhance their understanding of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. The books were originally published in standard Chinese language in April.” (Xinhua)
Are you ready to go on a New Journey into the New Era with this man as the navigator? CCTV is ready to take you there.
Sunrise, sunset…
Russia doing its thing in Ukraine, footage courtesy of Russian Defense Ministry
The news closes with the usual negative look at the US, but today there’s no need to hype it or make a big deal about a train wreck or industrial accident or racial tensions. A single individual named Donald J. Trump provides sufficient drama to dominate the negative news slot:
“America’s former president Trump is indicted for the third time!”
Zai jian!