Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan’s charm offensive wows the world but disguises a harsher reality

[uawchild]

Source: South ChinaMorning Post (Hong Kong)

Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan’s charm offensive wows the world but disguises a harsher reality, critics say
The appearances of Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan in her tailored suits and gowns left Britain’s press swooning – describing her as “graceful”, “stunning”, “sophisticated”, “glamorous” and “chic” – during President Xi Jinping’s four-day state visit to the United Kingdom last week.

The Daily Telegraph called her “a master in the art of diplomatic dressing”, describing the blue silk coat-dress she wore to the state banquet in Buckingham Palace as “the height of restrained elegance”.

The blue gown was her third outfit of the day. At the Houses of Parliament, she wore an elegant grey coat with a matching silk bow blouse. When meeting the Queen, she wore a simple white dress suit with embroidered pockets. “Madame Peng is not just holding her own, but helping to define the new world-facing image of China,” the Telegraph said.

Peng’s carefully crafted image is a stark contrast to the wives of former Communist leaders. At the state banquet with the Queen during Hu Jintao’s visit to the UK 10 years ago, his wife wore a plain jacket and a knee-length skirt more suited for a business meeting.

Read more: http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1871688/chinese-first-lady-peng-liyuans-charm-offensive-wows-uk

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More from the article:

'Kerry Brown, a professor of Chinese Studies at King’s College, London, said Peng and Xi were now “part of the same propaganda exercise” and the use of her abroad to advance China’s soft power is “highly tactical”.

Her English ability and fashion sense were “huge assets to promote this image of a China that is modern and exciting... and presents the softer, more publicly palatable side of the Xi era,” Brown said.

Retired political scientist Joseph Cheng, formerly with the City University of Hong Kong, said Peng represented a change of generation of leaders, much like Raisa Gorbachev, wife of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s.'


"Peng’s graceful and glamourous image, as well as approachability and English skills, is the antithesis to the wives of former Communist leaders."

[Fred Sanders]

1. The corporate mass media consisting of old conservative white men sure do hate formidable women.

Personally, I can not get enough of them!

Formidable women will change the world that men are unwilling or unable to.

[NYC Liberal]

6. Yes, and the only thing they can find to talk about is her clothes.

Nothing about the woman herself.

[Fred Sanders]

7. Can you imagine the mysogeny in the white controlled male media if she had even one bead of sweat?

Women are not allowed to sweat or swear.....but men can produce rivers of the stuff and are forgiven.

The old white male mass media is central to the problem and the solution.

[DocPain]

8. She is a direct representative of an oppressive totalitarian government

to even give her the time of day is moronic.

[Fred Sanders]

10. She is the spouse of the Chinese leader....folks need to understand how diplomacy works.

You want to display totalitarian nations America loves, try Saudi?

[NYC Liberal]

13. DU doesn't do diplomacy.

If DU had its way then Obama would be giving speeches yelling at his opponents telling them to go fuck themselves.

[Fred Sanders]

14. Clinton does diplomacy and does it so well she has destroyed the opposition, as Obama has done.

Lies will collapse all on their own as long as you do not feed them.

Clinton is Obama in a pantsuit....and I think that is just fine!

[BumRushDaShow]

20. !!!!

Bingo!

[Snow Leopard]

21. huh?

the article is by a woman

[Geronimoe]

2. Wow

I feel myself swooning. She is so polished. Give China whatever they want.

[uawchild]

4. lol

Sad to say though, perception colors reality. Studies show that respondents think that more attractive people are also smarter and kinder. So who knows -- maybe charm offensives really do work.

[davidpdx]

3. My problem with her and her husband, as well as their country

is the vast claims of territory of ocean and building on reefs (not islands) to control those waters. China could very well crush the other Asian economies through the control of the ocean through their claims and shut down trade.

No amount of charm will change my dislike of that.

[uawchild]

5. OR it could just be about resources...

The talk about China planning to shut down established international sea lanes seems a bit far fetched, no? Why would China want to start WWIII?

Personally, I think the claims in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, by all claimant nations, is about control of offshore resources -- oil, gas, fishing.

[davidpdx]

11. No, I don't think it's far fetched. If they are able to control the trade route certainly

they could use it to their advantage. The claim that the entire area of the South China Sea belongs to China pretty much implies navigation as well. Yes, I know that would violate international law. But do you really think China would care. They have a seat on the UN Security Council. There is not a thing that could be done about it.

From Wikipedia:

The region is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. During the 1980s, at least 270 ships passed through the Spratly Islands region each day. More than half of the world's supertanker traffic, by tonnage, passes through the region's waters every year. Tanker traffic through the South China Sea is over three times greater than through the Suez Canal and five times more than through the Panama Canal; 25% of the world's crude oil passes through the South China Sea.

Philippine Marines are living out on an abandoned ship on one of the shoals to monitor the Chinese. I saw a program about this on either TV or Youtube (I can't remember which):



Yes, resources is the other reason. The Spratly Islands are very close to Palawan (a place I visited earlier this year). It isn't just China and the Philippines that have a dispute over the islands. There are also claims by Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Filipino fishermen are being harassed by the Chinese military over just being there to fish.

Then there is the environmental damage:

[uawchild]

16. well, lets agree to disagree about how far fetched it is...

ok, we disagree, I just don't think China closing international seal lanes is anywhere near likely, you think its is. Ok.

Here is my question though, besides what we are currently already doing militarily, besides the ongoing legal disputes, what do you wish to see changed? What do you think we should be doing that we are not already doing?

[davidpdx]

22. I don't think there is anything that can be done honestly

Personally I'm happy that South Korea isn't involved in that mess. They may have to start defending their islands next (the ones off the coast in the Yellow Sea).

[Rosa Luxemburg]

12. The new Chinese oligarchy

[DonCoquixote]

15. actually there is a point all miss

The point is not that the first lady of China dresses in European clothes and speaks English like any other leader in any other continent. The point is that the Elites of all nations have a lot more in common with each other than any of the people they lead. Think about it, two nations could be at war, be they European, Asian, African, North or South American, and their leaders will meet each other in a room, and realize they have more common interests than with any of the people they are sending to die, either in war or in factories and fields. It goes beyond the fact that, for example, Syria's leader, Bassad-al-shair is a known star trek fan, or that The Kims of Korea loved Broadway musicals. It goes to the fact that America is becoming the cultural platform for the Elites of the world to gather and plan their own revolution, the revolt AGAINST the masses.

America's greatest weapon was soft power, and sadly, her own elites scorn anything soft, willing to trade the culture everybody liked to being some puritan/libertarian empire that thankfully never was and thankfully never will be. The rest of the world saw what America did, adopted the superficiality, and made a culture for the elites to hide behind. The masses of the world will imagine their leaders talking, summoning all the strengths of their cultures for their interest, when really, they will be sipping Coke, and breaking the ice while talking about the latest Star Wars flick. To some extent, there is something noble, the fact that while French or Japanese culture may be old and rich, they never were made for anyone outside the elites, and the masses more or less rode in. Here, we claim to make a culture that is accessible for all, but since it is based on wealth, it becomes suited for the wealthy. Of course, the people who get left in the dust are the majority of Americans, who do not realize that the mass culture they were fed was to prevent them from thinking of terms of local regions and class interests.

[uawchild]

17. interesting points n/t

[jtuck004]

18. Gee, they don't sound like us at all.

...
While Peng is now portrayed as the epitome of style and grace, the core message from China remains unchanged, Beja said.

“We are a great power, but at home, we do what we want,” Beja said.

“You wish to project that kind of message… this is a way to conceal the reality of your rule,” he said. “If you have a smiling face, people just forget about the crying faces of the people who are the victims of the crackdowns. This is good politics.”
...

“Under capitalism man exploits man; under socialism the reverse is true”

[Sunlei]

19. Her English ability and fashion sense.