BEIJING – OK, I confess. If a Web site features a photo gallery of Michelle Obama’s latest fashions, I click on it.
Like many other American women, I have a certain fascination with our first lady.
So there was a frisson of anticipation when we learned President Barack Obama would travel to China. Would Michelle come with him? What would she wear? Not red, surely? What about when she met Chinese leaders? Or when she met Chinese people? (Had anyone here noticed the fact that she chose a dress by Jason Wu, an ethnic Chinese designer for the inauguration? Even though he was born in that renegade province, Taiwan?)
As it turns out, Michelle Obama isn’t visiting China.
It also turns out the Chinese public doesn’t have quite the same fascination with her as many others around the world.
But the headline event was easily his town hall meeting with a group of highly vetted students in Shanghai, during which he also took several questions submitted over the Internet. China’s blogosphere – the world’s largest with 350 million Internet users and 60 million bloggers – was buzzing before, during, and after the event.
Among English-speaking residents across China, the reaction veered between scorn and disappointment, particularly over Obama’s comment, "I’m a big supporter of non-censorship." He said this in response to a question about China’s Great Firewall, the online filtering and surveillance program run by the communist government’s Ministry of Public Security.
"It pains me to write this…but Obama’s performance this afternoon reminded me of nothing so much as an overly coached American businessman on his first trip to China, so concerned about what he should or should not say that he forgets what he wanted to say in the first place, and ends up going home with nothing but a hotel bill and empty promises," Adam Minter, an American writer, wrote from his home in Shanghai.
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By NBC News' Bo Gu
BEIJING – Liu Mingjie expected that President Barack Obama’s first visit to China would bring more business to his little boutique shop in Beijing’s popular Houhai area, a lakeside district filled with trendy restaurants and bars, souvenir shops and lots of tourists.
Until last weekend, Liu had been interviewed by both Chinese and foreign media about what he was selling: T-shirts that superimposed Obama's face over that of China's late Chairman Mao Zedong on the front, and the words "Oba Mao" on the back.
But Lui’s brisk business was suddenly terminated by local government officials, just days before Obama’s arrival in China, without any explanation. He says he was simply told, "No, you cannot sell Obama T-shirts anymore."
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| Liu Mingjie shows off the “Oba Mao” T-shirt he was selling out of his shop in Beijing, that is until the authorities told him to stop. |
While the culture of mocking celebrities and politicians is not yet widely embraced in China, the possible embarrassment brought to the president of the United States by having his image on T-shirts dressed in the uniform of China’s infamous Red Guards, who caused mayhem during the Cultural Revolution, was too much of a ticking bomb for local officials. Liu doesn’t know when or whether he’ll ever be able to sell his T-shirts again, but he’s not the only one who is confused and upset.
Qi Zhiyong, a former factory worker who lost one leg during the crackdowns on student demonstrators 20 years ago that culminated in the infamous Tiananmen Square protests, has found himself suddenly forbidden to talk to the media and has been followed by plainclothes police for the last few weeks.
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By NBC News' Ed Flanagan
BEIJING – Twenty years after the toppling of the Berlin Wall, another "wall" is facing intense public scrutiny in China.
The so-called Great Firewall of China, the online filtering and surveillance program run by the communist government’s Ministry of Public Security, is alive and well and censoring freedom of expression for millions of Chinese.
But over the past few months, Chinese discontent with the Great Firewall has bubbled over with increasing frequency and fervor.
Chinese netizen's ire was recently sparked by the Green Dam censoring software that was proposed last summer and the blocking of popular social media pages like Facebook and Twitter during the Uighur riots in Xinjiang in July.
The censorship during the Uighur riots caused such consternation online, it sparked one bitter Chinese Twitter user to mournfully tweet that day, "Today, two ‘140s’ were killed in China – 140 people in Xinjiang and 140 character micro-blogging service Twitter."
It is perhaps fitting then that the Great Firewall should find its opposition in another online medium: Twitter.
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By NBC News' Bo Gu
BEIJING – Thirty-three years after his death, Mao Zedong is still a god to many in China. And you can see him everywhere.
He's mostly standing, in a military uniform or a long buttoned-up winter coat, sometimes wearing his symbolic little red-starred army hat, usually waving his right arm high up to the air as if giving a victory gesture or ordering his army to march forward. Occasionally you see him posed as a deep thinker with his hands behind the back, or even sitting on a chair looking into some mysterious future.
He mainly stands in big cities’ center squares, overlooking senior citizens doing tai chi in dawn light or children running around in a park; many times he stands in military barracks or factory blocks, supervising his soldiers in exercise and workers on the assembly line; sometimes he waves his big hand in universities, reminding the students of his renowned remark “you youth are the sun at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m., you are the future of the country"; now and then, he makes surprise appearances in a dingy local clinic, a small Sichuan restaurant, or in the middle of a rundown low-rise housing complex.
He’s mostly cement, gray and stiff, sometimes marble, white and spotless, occasionally bronze, yellow and shining.
There are hundreds of these statues of the late founder of the People’s Republic of China across the country. And Cheng Wenjun, an urban sculpture designer and photographer, made it his mission, which he began in 1997, to make a record of every one.
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By NBC News' Bo Gu
BEIJIJNG – One week after China celebrated 60 years of communist rule, several hundred representatives from more than 100 overseas media groups and 40 Chinese media are gathering in Beijing for the World Media Summit to discuss major shifts and challenges in the news industry.
The summit, which opened Friday, is sponsored by nine media giants including The Associated Press, Reuters and BBC, and hosted by Xinhua, China’s official press agency. Its theme is "Cooperation, Action, Win-Win and Development."
Participants included News Corp. Chairman & CEO Rupert Murdoch, AP President & CEO Thomas Curley, Reuters News Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger, BBC Director-General Mark Thompson, Special Consultant to NBC News Jeff Gralnick, and NBC Foreign News Director Chris Hampson. (MSNBC.com is a joint venture of NBC Universal and Microsoft Corp.)
The gathering of media industry bigshots is another notch in China’s ambitious plan of displaying its soft power on world stage – not only with a speedy economic growth and colossal military might but also with a prodigious media empire that can compete with other international press giants.
Underscoring the importance of the event, Chinese President Hu Jintao attended the opening session.
Apparently addressing the issue of perceived unfair coverage of China by Western journalists, Hu appealed to the world's media to "uphold social responsibilities … objectively report the reality of the multi-polarity of the world, economic globalization and diverse civilizations."
For some, the summit offered a platform to urge China to further push media reforms."The policy then was called ‘the Open Door,’" said Murdoch. "China now has a chance to open its digital door."
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By NBC News' Ed Flanagan
BEIJING – A veil of secrecy and intense – some would say comically extreme – protective measures defined the lead-up to today's 60th anniversary celebrations in China.
The massive military parade on Thursday was the manifestation of months of highly choreographed, tightly managed planning – the calling card of mass events in modern China.
For the 12 million inhabitants of the capital, the massive security and traffic restrictions caused widespread inconveniences. But many brushed off the temporary annoyances.
"We should accept temporary difficulties," said Cao Jian, a Chinese cook whose restaurant had to shut down temporarily due to the celebrations. "When we see this rare display of modern weapons, we Chinese feel a sense of security, a sense of pride," he added.
The centerpiece of the parade was a display of China's military arsenal, although it seemed almost absurd that such a heavy police presence was required to guard the new, highly advanced war-fighting might of China's armed forces.
However, many military observers who were leaning in a little closer to their TVs in expectation of seeing as many as 52 new Chinese weapons systems were disappointed to find none of the new arsenal on display.
Yet, from the media position in front of the Forbidden City, the procession of modern weaponry achieved its intended effect. Throughout the day there were subdued awes and nods of respect from the assembled media and distinguished guests as we witnessed a mass display, which could only be described as awe-inspiring.
The roar of massive diesel engines from scores of brand new tanks, missile batteries and amphibious fighting vehicles provided a unique accompaniment to the soundtrack of the day, a selection of martial and nationalist musical scores that blasted throughout Tiananmen Square and the areas around it.
Equally impressive was the cadence of thousands of boots marching in step as perfectly dressed ranks of soldiers from every military branch goose-stepped past dignitaries and then cheered in perfect unison, "HELLO SENIOR LEADER!" to President Hu Jintao and later, "SERVE THE PEOPLE!" in response to Hu’s salutations.
Meantime, an armada of more than 150 helo and fixed-wing aircraft soared overhead. The first wave of fighter jets trailing colored streaks of smoke through the city were met with wild applause and cheers from the distinguished guests near us.
And the hundreds of schoolchildren sitting across from us in Tiananmen Square nearly lost their perfect discipline as they broke into cheers as well. (Not leaving any detail to chance, the schoolchildren’s colorful headdresses, from above, spelt out, "Guo Qing" or national holiday.)
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By NBC News' Bo Gu
BEIJING – With more than 170 A-list movie stars from China and Hong Kong, "The Founding of a Republic," is breaking box office records – raking in $33.8 million during its first 10 days in theaters.
But this is nothing like the products pumped out by Hollywood. Instead, it’s a propaganda film made by the state-owned China Film Group.
Launched to mark the 60th anniversary of the communist era, the 135-minute movie depicts Mao Zedong’s rise, tracking the 1945-49 war in which the Communist Party of China (the CPC) led by Mao and the National Democratic Party (the KMT) led by Chiang Kai-shek fought fiercely for power..
The lengthy cast list includes many of the top names in modern Chinese film, including martial arts stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," action movie director John Woo, among others. And most of the famous actors took little or no pay for their work – rather, considering it an honor to have just a few brief lines in the film.
Movies in China usually don’t sell a lot of tickets during the so-called "red season," the summer and early fall months that are dominated by national holidays ( July 1 is the Communist Party of China’s Founding Day, Aug. 1 is the People’s Liberation Army Day and Oct.1 is National Day). The films that are released are typically dull, mind-numbing propaganda films only viewed by students or government staff with free tickets.
But "The Founding of a Republic" seems to be an exception. The box office numbers are still skyrocketing the China Film Group says it expects the tally to pass $350 million within the next couple of weeks.
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By Ian Williams, NBC News correspondent
DONGGUAN, China – "It's been a rough year," Ben Schwall shouted above the rumbling furnaces of a giant Chinese glass factory. He watched as workers, blowing down long tubes, transformed blobs of molten glass into juicers, bowls and lights.
"Orders are picking up. Things are getting better," he said. "The telephone is starting to ring again. Everybody feels there is something coming back."
We were in Dongguan, in the manufacturing heartland of southern China. Frequently called the "workshop of the world," the region was battered last year when the world stopped buying and exports collapsed.
Schwall supplies Chinese lighting equipment to the United States, linking American buyers with Chinese factories. Before the economic crisis, he was shipping 70 containers a month, but then his business fell by nearly two-thirds.
Thousands of factories across China closed last year, and some 20 million migrant workers lost their jobs.
Suddenly, though, this region is buzzing again. Factories are being renovated and are hiring. Vast public works and infrastructure projects have transformed parts of the area into sprawling building sites. Shops are full, with electronic goods flying off shelves; car sales have almost doubled over last year.
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By Adrienne Mong, NBC News Producer
BEIJING – After a short summer break, I returned to Beijing to find the city under siege.
At least that’s how it looks these days – two weeks before the National Holiday on Oct. 1 to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
As I rode through central Beijing over the weekend, an armored vehicle was poised on the corner of the Dongsishitiao roundabout. A soldier was sitting on top of it, wearing a balaclava and with a machine gun at the ready. Pedestrians stopped, stared, and then took photos with their cell phones.
Police checkpoints now ring Beijing’s outskirts, monitoring traffic from the surrounding provinces and inspecting vehicles entering the capital. Busloads of troops have been unloading around the city. And jets screamed across a beautifully clear sky over Tiananmen Square on Saturday morning.
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| Adrienne Mong / NBC News |
| With increased security in Beijing, some officials who are new to the city try to find their bearings. |
The square itself, the Forbidden City opposite it, and the major road arteries flowing south of Chang'an Avenue – which bisects the capital – were all closed to the public this past weekend.
What sounded like half-hearted fireworks sputtered through the late evening near the Workers' Stadium, but with the high visibility of soldiers and police, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was gunfire.
A party for the Party
In short, authorities here are taking no chances.
After all, it’s a big anniversary. It’s especially significant because in Chinese culture sixtieth anniversaries are a big milestone – their significance is equivalent to that of a centennial elsewhere.
But anyone under the impression the celebration is for the people might want to think again. This is a party for the party – the Chinese Communist Party.
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