DISPATCH FROM BEIJING: Baba Beijing Is King of Kool
RADIO SINOLAND | The Greanville Post – Dispatch from Beijing (Text & AudioVisual)
By Jeff J. Brown
Cross-linked with 44 Days Radio Sinoland and Sound Cloud
At their presser, thumbs up for Team Russia-China and its captains, Xi and Putin. In the foreground, unhappy, grey emoticon Western Empire, whose thrown brick falls short of stopping the success story. (image by www.newchinatv.com)
(Note: Baba Beijing is my wry name for China’s Communist Party leadership.)
https://soundcloud.com/44-days/baba-beijing-is-king-of-kool-greanville-post-dispatch-from-beijing-44-days-radio-sinoland-15710
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) economic and political group and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) are having one of the biggest international summits of the decade. Yet, behind the Great Western Firewall, the directive is out to its servile mainstream media: pretend the SCO-BRICS summit isn’t happening. Perusing the front pages of the New York Times: nada. The Washington Post: SCO? Doesn’t that rhyme with ‘ho? The Guardian UK and the Financial Times: What BRICS? Le Figaro and Le Monde in France: Rien de tout.
Ufa Summit 2015? Are you kidding me? Go on, get outta here! (image by www.ufa2015.com)
These six newspapers (sic), the cream of the Western mainstream media crop, are intentionally and concertedly pretending that the consecutive BRICS and SCO summits in Ufa, Russia, are not happening. Mind you, every one of these “news” outlets has CIA minders on their staff, who help keep the editorial board on a very short, psyops leash. It is known as the Washington-London-Paris consensus and it is controlled and manipulated with the iron fist of censorship and propaganda. So much for the West’s “free press”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) greets Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony in Ufa on July 10, 2015 at the start of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER NEMENOV (Photo credit should read ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images)
Behind the Great Western Firewall, where censorship and propaganda keep its citizens thoroughly brainwashed, these world leaders are not meeting together, in a huge summit in Ufa, Russia. (image by www.newchinatv.com)
Baba Beijing, China’s Communist Party leadership, is taking no chances that its citizens are not well informed about this big powwow in Ufa, Russia, as well as their country’s important role in BRICS and SCO. For the whole world, these two groups may be humanity’s best hope, if it is to save itself from the blood sucking Western, colonial, Worldwide Wehrmacht.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]o commemorate this massive double summit, The Communist Party of China (CPC) has released a video cartoon to share with the world’s hundreds of millions of Chinese speakers. It is being watched on China’s mammoth internet portals, Baidu, Sogou, Youku, QQ, Sina, Hao123, Sina Weibo, Sohu, 360.cn, 163.com, iQIYI, all across Asia and around the world, in its original Chinese version.
The CPC does not only want educate its people about important news events at home and around the world. It also wants to inform all of the brainwashed masses behind the Great Western Firewall. China’s state owned Xinhua News Agency is one of the world’s largest media distribution organizations, and it has an English language channel on YouTube, called New China TV (Xinhua means New China in Chinese). This YouTube channel was just started in 2012, the time when Xi Jinping became General Secretary of the CPC. This is not a coincidence, as China’s president is one of the most deft and media savvy world leaders today. Only three years old, New China TV already has almost 55,000 subscribers and nearly 12,000,000 views.
Thus, New China TV has taken this widely watched Chinese cartoon video and added English subtitles for the brainwashed masses out West:
A few observations are discussed below, as you watch, with the runtime noted for reference, remembering that the target audience is China’s citizens:
0:04: The cartoon starts with an uber-mondo, all-inclusive title page, called Press Release for Global Netizens, making China’s people feel a part of a greater whole. Thus, this sketch is a “Chinese people’s press conference”, in order to ask questions about SCO-BRICS.
0:07: Miss SCO-BRICS is trendy and chic, looking like an oriental super model. This pulls in all the female watchers.
0:18: The President of the world’s largest citizenry and purchasing power parity (PPP) economy, Xi Jinping, is being portrayed as a bobblehead? Wow! That takes self-confidence and a dose of humility.
0:23: The CPC then makes the cartoon very relatable, by giving “Chinese citizens” a chance to ask questions that they may have on their minds.
0:26: This citizen’s name is not translated correctly, as Fearless. He should be called Gullible Idiot. If he looks like Mr. Bean to you, that’s because it’s true. Rowan Atkinson’s character has universal, emotional appeal, and that is true in China as well. The CPC also shows its groovy side, by doing what is very popular among Chinese youth: using nonsensical Chinese characters in the place of the correct ones, yet they still have the correct pronunciation. It is sort of a Chinese version of Pig Latin.
0:34: The Chinese are just as crazy about football/soccer, as much of the rest of the world. Baba Beijing is showing great relatability with the people, while hooking the male spectators.
0:38: Great visual graphic of what BRICS symbolizes in practical terms for the Chinese people, spelled out in icons and flags.
0:40: The yellow and white SCO BRICS banner in Chinese says, UNTAPPED, INFINITE POTENTIAL. Notice the figures looking on are little kids, which symbolizes their generation, gazing into the future. What they say in their text bubbles is also the kind of slang that today’s children use, like, Awesome Dude, Getty Up, and the last boy’s bubble even has its English equivalent, to show that China’s new generation is also very cosmopolitan.
0:45: Hearsay would be better translated as Nosey or Busy Body. Notice his cigarette.
0:46: Baba Beijing just passed a law with real teeth in it, banning smoking in all public places. This new regulation has serious fines for the addicted and the establishment that lets it happen. There is even a toll free number to call, to lodge complaints.
0:48: As a way to reinforce this new law, Miss SCO-BRICS yanks the cigarette out of Hearsay’s hand and then holds up a signboard that says, In public places, smoking is forbidden. This is an ingenious way to plug for the new law and the hoped for improved social behavior that the CPC is aiming for.
1:02: Amusement parks and traveling circuses are everywhere in China and bumper cars are a popular attraction. Having the SCO-BRICS leaders playing bumper cars together shows common man street cred.
1:08: Portraying Love the Rich as an international football/soccer star, is a great way to take a subtle dig at people’s infatuation with fame and fortune, the Chinese included. Xi Jinping’s Chinese Dream is all about achieving a moderately prosperous, socialist society while digging deep into the Daoist-Confucian-Buddhist tenet of less is more. Notice that it is this crass, materialistic character, who disses the BRICS-SCO summit, because the (Western) industrialized powers are not attending. This seemingly cutesy, informational cartoon is so complex on many levels.
1:15: Miss SCO-BRICS lays it out for China’s masses: you belong to 1/3 of the world’s land area, a $16 trillion economy, which is 1/5 of humanity’s total GDP, and half of Mother Earth’s people, three billion souls. Would you be proud to be a part of this? I know I would be.
1:18: Very interesting. All the white, male heads in the big Western bag of loot, are Bill Gates. Not sure what to make of this, except that China is furious, absolutely livid at Microsoft, for stopping technical support for Windows XP, which still runs on over 2/3 of China’s PCs. Baba Beijing is so upset, they are rolling out their own Chinese operating system to replace XP.
1:26: Really funny. Love the Rich, who subtly represents the West and its infatuation with materialism, is now on his knees, praying to Miss SCO-BRICS, saying meekly, You take the lead. Again, behind its kiddy veneer, this cartoon has a deftly powerful message.
1:30: Fearless Big Brother, which might be better translated as, King of the Hill, represents the hegemony of NATO-IMF-World Bank colonialism. Miss SCO-BRICS denies that her two groups are trying to take down the West’s Bretton Woods dictatorship. To admit as much would be tactically foolish and undiplomatic, so we can all demur.
1:37: The bicycle with Putin and Xi in front, the rest of BRICS’ and then SCO’s leaders following, is sending a message. Remember, this is a Chinese film for the Chinese. By putting Putin in front, this is acknowledging Russia and the respect and importance which China holds for its colossal neighbor to the north. I’m a little surprised they put Brazil’s Rousseff in front of India’s Modi. Not sure what’s going on there. Maybe, ladies first?
1:43: Speaking for all of them, Xi then stands up and says, “Our goal is to attain shared development and prosperity”. Xi then goes on to say, “We are not like someone [a.k.a., the United States] who thinks the whole planet is in his backyard and he is the parent of the family and often flexes (his) muscle(s) in front of (the) others’ doorsteps”.
All of this is being said, while the United States, looking like a ridiculous, Elvis Presley Superman, is flying around the world. Just brilliant: Elvis America then lands in front of the SCO-BRICS bicycling caravan to stop them. Then, his ridiculous, spandex superman uniform starts to come apart at the seams, upon which our hostess, who represents SCO-BRICS, picks up and moves Elvis out of the way, blinds him with what looks like two white doves (meaning peace), which she is putting over his eyes, while the SCO-BRICS caravan continues to move forward.
First, all of this is a huge fist in the face to Western Empire. Secondly, there is the subtle message that regardless of Uncle Sam and its weapons, NATO, IMF and the World Bank, SCO-BRICS is going to keep on trucking towards the future.
2:05: Showing someone using their smartphone to follow SCO-BRICS confirms that the Chinese are some of the most plugged-in, social media savvy people on Earth. With its sheer numbers, China has over one billion mobile phone users and the world’s largest 3G and 4G networks.
Lots of subtle messages here. Under the rubric with Xi Jinping’s photo, where it shows the BRICS leaders all giving each other a team five, up pops in Chinese, (That’s) Us ! ! !, meaning we are all together. As the person slides through the photos, they are under the rubric, Friends’ Scroll. While this is going on, up pops in Chinglish, We Are Fa-Mu-Li !, and someone says, “We are family”. Thus: Us, Family, Friends, SCO, BRICS – you get the picture.
2:08: Every detail is nuanced. The three flags shown are from, Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka. They are all Dialogue Partners in the SCO. The text messages next to their flags say something to the effect of, Come on and join the family!
2:09: India’s Modi has been less prominent up until now, so here is his moment to shine, with a selfie-stick team picture. In this photo-op, they mix up all the SCO-BRICS leaders, as a gesture of equality and unity between the two groups.
2:15: Signing deals left and right for infrastructure and development? Yeah, man, way fun!
2:18: Running Boy is a poor word choice, since this guy represents (South) Africa. In Chinese, it says Running Man. The translator was probably trying to be hip with youngsters, not realizing the racial connotation of boy in the West. This whole segment is a powerful reminder to the Chinese that their and Russia’s presidents are meeting – frequently. “Relations between these two countries is really close these days”. I’ll say.
2:28: Before someone cries out “racist”, when the (South) African runner transforms into doing a native African dance, remember that these tribal routines are frequently and pridefully displayed to visiting leaders and dignitaries, as their dazzling, colorful choreographies are a cultural sight to behold.
2:31: Here you have it. Thumbs up for Xi and Putin’s great friendship and cooperation, as they shake hands on the dais of their press conference. The West, portrayed by a dour, grey, angry emoticon, anemically throws a brick at them, which falls short of its intended target. What else is new?
2:35: The West’s grey emoticon, crying with fear, is all alone, while facing the world’s Dreaded Other, the dark skinned, 85% Moral Majority, who are not going to allow any bricks to be thrown at them!
2:36: Time to die, Western Empire, to paraphrase Rutger Hauer’s replicant, in the climactic, final scene of the sci-fi movie classic, Blade Runner.
Time to die, Western Empire, at the hands of Planet Earth’s dark skinned Dreaded Other. Here’s to hoping that Rutger Hauer and his Blade Runner replicant’s dove of peace can finish the job. (images by www.33.media.tumblr.com and www.newchinatv.com)
2:38: Wake up! Cold War mentality is long out. This, while Miss SCO-BRICS takes a huge mallet, to smash in rapid succession, Zero Sum Game, Bloc Politics and Unipolar World. Absolutely no subtly here, for the Chinese masses to know who their gravest enemy is: the United States of America and NATO.
2:51: Again, with Putin in front of Xi, this is the CPC’s way of giving chops to how important Russia is to China. The happy, waving Putin is a real hoot, to compliment Xi’s earlier bobblehead.
2:58: The final scene shows President Xi flying to Ufa, Russia for the SCO-BRICS summit, to represent his citizens’ best interests.
3:02: The closing logo says, Revival Road Studio. This name is pregnant with Chinese meaning. In 2012, when Xi Jinping became the CPC’s General Secretary, one of his first public activities was to go to the world class National History Museum, on Tiananmen Square, in Beijing. But he didn’t go to look at priceless ancient Chinese artifacts and artwork. Instead, he visited the museum’s Revival Road Exhibition. This is a thoughtful, thoroughly researched and well displayed timeline. It starts with China’s nadir, the Western imposed, 1840’s Opium Wars and intentional enslavement of China’s people to drugs. This helped allow foreign (Western and Japanese) colonialists to rape and plunder the country, during China’s Century of Humiliation, until Communist liberation, in 1949. The exhibit currently covers China’s history through the previous administration of President Hu Jintao.
So, upon leaving this extensive exhibit, soon to be President Xi Jinping officially announced that China’s Revival Road was going to continue during his tenure, and it was to be called The Chinese Dream. The rest is current events and the future of the 21st century.
Who ever said cartoons were simple, childish affairs?
Iran’s leader Hassan Rohani being welcomed by Pres. Putin. There is life and dignity outside of the US-controlled power sphere.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
[box type=”bio”] A polyglot, polymath and peripatetic cultural traveler and social activist, Jeff J Brown is the author of “44 Days Backpacking in China: The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass” (2013), “Reflections in Sinoland – Musings and Anecdotes from the Belly of the New Century Beast” (2015), and “Doctor WriteRead’s Treasure Trove to Great English” (2015). He is currently writing an historical fiction, “Red Letters – The Diaries of Xi Jinping”, due out in 2016. Jeff can be reached at www.44days.net, jeff@44days.net, https://www.facebook.com/44DaysPublishing, https://twitter.com/44_Days and Wechat/Whatsapp: +86-18618144837 . Jeff is The Greanville Post’s Special Beijing Correspondent. [/box]
DEAR FRIENDS: Help us amplify the reach of our dispatches from Beijing by the uniquely qualified Jeff Brown. Be sure to share this article with friends, co-workers and kin, and note the following venues which are also carrying the reports:
44 Days Radio Sinoland on Sound Cloud: https://soundcloud.com/44-days
44 Days Radio Sinoland on Stitcher Radio: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/44-days-publishing-jeff-j-brown/radio-sinoland?refid=stpr
44 Days Radio Sinoland on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/cn/podcast/44-days-radio-sinoland/id1018764065?l=en
[printfriendly]
Remember: All captions and pullquotes are furnished by the editors, NOT the author(s).
What is $5 a month to support one of the greatest publications on the Left?