China is officially (politically, that is) an enthusiastic supporter of the Sochi Games, which is why Chinese athletes walked out at the opening ceremony waving both Chinese and Russian flags. To no one’s surprise, then, the pro-government media here is peeved by all the negative coverage in “Western media.” Speaking for them all, Global Times has just published an editorial headlined, “Booing Sochi only shows West’s bigotry.”
Sure, one tires, especially if one has lived abroad, of first-world complaints — particularly from media types who are prone to narrative-following and will invariably proclaim the Games a “surprising” success in about two weeks — but Global Times, per usual, takes it a bit too far, into sourceless sensationalism, confused truthiness, and outright lies:
Some say it is the journalistic nature of the Western media to be critical and ready to challenge authorities. But the excuse sounds so hypocritical when you look at the Western coverage of the 2012 London Summer Games, which was much more friendly and festive.
Critics called various aspects of the London Olympics a “waste of money,” “humiliating shambles,” and “disconcerting.” (That last one was from Mitt Romney.) Then they slammed the logo and mascots. The organizers were called a “closed oligarchy” — by the London Assembly! BBC published “10 reasons some people will dread the Olympics.” Ten days before the opening ceremony, the Guardian published this so-very-British headline (because it’s sarcastic) above a picture of a torchbearer grimacing in a downpour. During the Games, there was a protest featuring topless women. A year after the Olympics, Oliver Wainwright of the Guardian wrote, “At every junction of this roaring A-road sprouts a steroidal tower, each clad in ever more lurid colours, transforming the street into a gauntlet of competing ambitions. Looming over adjacent council estates, these brash totems are a monument to Olympian greed.” You know who cheered the London Olympics though? “The London Olympic Games were hailed a success by visiting journalists,” wrote Xinhua.
Excerpting a bit more from Global Times:
Since the ending of the Cold War, only the 2008 Beijing Games and the ongoing Sochi Games have experienced such criticism. It is surprising how much the Western media stick to their bigotry.
The “Western media,” if I may say, have gone easy on Russia. Most of the negative stories I’ve seen are about toilets, infrastructure, stray dogs, and un-homely hotel rooms. Very few articles have mentioned the Russian government’s targeting, sometimes murder, of journalists, or their systemic, massive corruption that is objectively much worse than China’s, or their lack of social cohesion, or the environment, or NSA-level surveillance… About as negative as the media has agreed to go is a snarky remark here and there about Vladimir Putin’s homophobia.
Russia is much smaller and weaker than the Soviet Union. No matter how “tough” Putin is, today’s Russia will no longer fall back to the Stalin or Brezhnev times. But the West’s endless criticism of Russia under Putin’s rule appears no different from the elder generations’ stances against the Kremlin decades ago.
Okay Global Times, if you’re such a tough guy, you tell Putin that he’s not so tough.
The aggressive political strategy of the Soviet Union used to make the West restless. But today, strategically the West has nothing to worry about besides fighting terrorism. The ruthless pressuring of Russia and the alert against China are pushing the West to the verge of another round of confrontation. Enthusiasts for a “New Cold War” could jeopardize a historic chance for a better world.
And so on.
But this post isn’t about yet another crazy Global Times editorial, because that’s low-hanging fruit. This post is about a comment by topolcats.
Before you read it, please understand how comment sections on pro-government editorials work: they often are frequented by harems of fifty-centers — people who get paid to post pro-China comments on stories — presumably because these people know their employers will come across them. Usually, one commenter will post something, and then someone else will try to one-up, and then someone else. But our man (or woman), topolcats, decided to do the work of four people by writing a four-paragraph paean to… the Russian resolve? It’s anti-West, so it has to be pro-China. It’s also batshit crazy.
The West since the time of the Czars have been trying to rape,control and plunder Russia, USSR, Russia from Napoleon to Clinton & beyond!!
These fascists will never stop but will never win either if history is an indication.
Someone should tap Bill Clinton on the shoulder and tell him he was just compared to Napoleon.
After 1917 Europe and the united states attacked the USSR. But only after 3 years,Trotsky defeated the combined forces of western Europe & America and then came the Nazis. The dream of Hitler and crew was to conquer western Europe, destroy Russia and hook up with the Japanese in Asia and jointly control the world. Yet again Russia/USSR destroyed the german Anti Christ.
Russians suffered greatly during World War II, and they should be rightfully proud of their victory over Nazi Germany. But only someone willfully ideological — i.e. the worst type of person — would confuse the people’s victory with the government’s, since Stalin’s five-year purge of everybody was interrupted only by the war effort. Stalin then rewarded his countrymen’s bravery and sacrifice with further purges until his death, leaving behind a brutal police state whose legacy survives today.
In Archangel lies the graves of the first Americans ever killed in the western invasion of 1917…standing as a monument to anyone (America), who dares try to invade again will be destroyed not to mention the million of graves of Italians and Germans fascist soldiers killed in the great patriotic war.
Don’t invade Russia. Especially during winter.
Today Russia still stands as a country without debt and armed to the teeth ready to do battle with the forces of evil to protect mankind whenever called for!…America,Europe cannot stand that two primary countries, China and Russia stands in the way of world domination…if we are lucky the spiritual guardians of mankind will always allow Russia & China to defeat American imperialism!
I like this, actually. Spiritual guardians of mankind. I mean, slightly theosophical, but poetic. To think of it, a little too poetic for the comment section of a Global Times article. So now we know: fifty-centers are actually unemployed Chinese writers. All of a sudden, I have a newfound respect for the work they do.
You make a lot of reasonable points. But it should be noted that Chinese athletes also carried the flags of the host nation (UK) at the London Olympics during the opening ceremony. So this is not a new innovation for Sochi.
Yes, definitely worthwhile to note. But I suppose it was just slightly jarring this year because I don’t recall any other country’s athletes carrying the Russian flag. Maybe there was one that I missed?
ype, Japan did!
nice piece, tao.
The so-called “Anthony Tao”, like blogger everywhere, will no rest until forces for porn, judicial oversight and the NFL overrun China with cultural imperialism, enslaving the greatest civilization ever with gimmicks, violence and breast implants. We must resisting!
here here! bravo comrade, see you at the KTV…
“The so-called “Anthony Tao”, like blogger everywhere, will no rest until forces for porn, judicial oversight and the NFL overrun China with cultural imperialism, enslaving the greatest civilization ever with gimmicks, violence and breast implants. We must resisting!”
As Charlie Chan (the round eye masquerading as the Colombo like slant eye detective) would say “Ahso, me smells steenki lat here, the tlue kirrer no here, as your rower intelligence suggests”.
All mega scale sporting events, particularly the Olympics, Pan Am games, World University games, are nothing but gross corrupted events that serves to enrich the oligarchies that run these sordid affairs. The only people that benefits are the cronies that so effectively suckle at the tits of the Olympic organizing agencies, and the countries that run the grotesque extravaganzas. Events held in less than transparent regime countries, such as Russia, China, South Africa and the likes are simply horror shows, in terms of absolute waste of valuable resources that would have benefited the citizenry if invested in truly required infrastructures, such as hospitals and the likes. Countries like China & Russia, simply have not thrown off the yoke of the past where aggrandization of the “motherland” is a must. For $%^& sakes, Stalin & Mao have long gone to meet with Marx, so perpetuating the silliness. Anthony, a truly balanced and well written piece.
I meant STOP perpetuating the silliness.
The loser who wrote this is probably some failure in the “west” who wasn’t smart enough to get a real degree so he ended up doing some crappy arts degree. He failed to find a job with that ARTS degree, so now he needs to be a whitemans little barking dog to make a living.
Hey asshole, if your so righteous why dont you talk about the racist American media partial of Asian men as second class unattractive and nerdy while at the same time promote Asian fetish? Or how about all the ugly western losers who are rejected by women from their own race so they go to Asia to molest its local women?
LOL, you useless whiteman’s little bitch, you will be a failure all your life.
Feeling a little inadequate, are you? It really projects in the way you write…especially the self congratulatory “LOL” that so many instigators and fifty centers like to inject into comments to show your “above it all that I can laugh at it” insecurity.
Don’t worry…one day you might win the affection of a girl if you spend enough.
hear hear
bad news for Someone who has to spend $ to buy affection – since the recent crackdown in Guangdong, price of affection has gone up !!!
if you believe that you are perceived as “second class unattractive and nerdy”, and feel so much resentment towards asian men who are popular among western folks as well as western men who are attractive for asian women, you may be running the risk of falling into depression, self-harm and paranoia. i suggest you to obtain professional help.
So after all this lusty fellating, do you think Global Times will swallow or just take Russia’s load on its face?
The way GT is talking about Russia and China working together also makes me feel like Putin will make a law keeping China away from Russian children.
Au contrair. Stalin et all will be doing back flips and 360 degree turns in their crypts if they know that their lowly yellow commie cousins are porking their pallid skin damsels who are working all over China (& Asia), due to the slant eyes having more $ to buy white meat.