From Mop:
Reason why the filming of the 2009 military parade was worse than the 1999 military parade
The general reaction to the 2009 military parade was that it was ruined by CCTV, failing to capture the same impression and feelings of the 1999 military parade. I feel the below is also part of the reason:
The 1999 military parade was filmed by the Eight One Film Studio, but the 2009 military parade was filmed by CCTV.
Considering the character of these two organizations, CCTV’s filming style emphasizes news and documentary, explaining very completely the event’s time, location, people, environment, sequence, and results. They do not pay attention to aesthetics. In the midst of the marching, as every formation passed, CCTV’s director would frequently cut and change shots, up down, left, right, far, near, communicating clearly the situation from various angle, including what the people on the “tian-an-door” building are doing, what the people on the observation platform are doing, and what other whatever people wherever were doing, all one-by-one broadcasted. But this method lost the main focus, lost the beauty. When compared, Eight One Film Studio is an artistic and creative organization, its filming emphasizing artistry, emphasizing aesthetics, not like CCTV which emphasized capturing more and everything. They only pick the most beautiful shots, the most beautiful angles to film, and like this completed a high quality film/recording.
Here is a copy of the CCTV broadcast on Youku:
Just my personal perspective, I hope to get the ball rolling, everyone speak freely.
Comments from Mop:
猫上猫下…:
Those below, go attack CCTV…
小旬栗子:
Now broadcasting an important message: CCAV’s XX, your mother is calling you to go home to eat!!! Quickly go home. CCAV’s Lu Yuan Director, your mother is calling you to go home to learn the basics, please quickly go home, stop publicly embarrassing yourself outside!
走路回去:
Just today I had said to someone that it was not as impressive as 1999. So this is the reason why. Many thanks to the lou zhu.
清风kiss明月:
Another thing was the distance shot had a little thing blocking the lens, yet they did not handle it nor did they check beforehand. [Their] work attitude was not rigorous.
霍去病封狼居胥:
60th Anniversary of the Founding of New China television broadcast director Lu Yuan.
It was this 2B that ruined it:
bingdiankafei:
Although it was not filmed very well, I was still moved by our motherland’s greatness!
hy517586:
After all, Eight One still has some relations/connections with the military, have you guys ever seen someone who doesn’t do a good job for themselves? People only slack off and do a bad job when it is for other people~ The country’s situation is not something you or I can change~
88songzai:
MB CCAV’s dog-fucked director,
I am watching a military parade, a military parade, a military parade, do you understand? What I want to see is the military, not Brother Hu [President Hu Jintao]!
Fuck dammit!Only knowing how to suck up to the leadership, MB!
Watching this military parade made my balls hurt!
You fucking should use more angles to show the military’s appearance. Not a single close-up, all distance shots.
More distance shots, you motherfuckers?! Always filming Brother Hu…
What is there to see about him?!
I turn on CCAV and it is always his image!
Motherfucking 60 year [anniversary] only happens once and he took up half of it!
Let me say again:
Director,
Fuck your mother!
Truly made my balls hurt.
allhack:
Strongly suspect the parade was filmed with DV. Compared with the 1999 parade, the difference is indeed very big. CCAV is suited to filming fake news, so real things they are unable to film well.
匿名人士522371:
What was missing from this year’s military parade was a panorama of the entire scene, and a sense of grandeur. What a pity that everyone’s hard work was ruined by CCAV!
yaotangcun:
Watching yesterday, I was cursing the director’s mother, what kind of joke was that? It was truly really bad, no grandeur. It was either close-ups of some government leaders’ faces or all distance shots, very disappointing!
Apjt:
Ai! An Olympics and a parade both ruined by CCTV!
脚趾头想问题:
This year’s parade was truly disappointing… At first I thought they were not marching in sync. Then I discovered that every formation was crooked. After consideration, it must have been a filming problem…Too disappointed. After watching half of it, I stopped watching. It completely lacked the emotion of the 1999 parade!!!
What did you think of the 2009 China National Day Parade? Have you seen the 1999 parade?
UPDATE: Here is a video of the beginning of the 1999 parade:
Photos of female Chinese soldiers from Sina.
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SOFA!!
OMG OMG OMG!
my life makes sense after all!
ban deng！！
Yes, the camera angles showcased everything except the military.
This is how it should have looked – A beautiful combination of time lapse and slow-motion footage. Check it out.
http://vimeo.com/6853452?hd=1
UC
God I was even getting fed up with the poor camera work. I could have done better. Hu’s nice and all, but as one of the posters said, I came to watch a military parade not a goddamn Hu Jintao Wank Off Show. CCAV, indeed lol.
Watching this makes me think of Nazi Germany…what is the point of this parade?
I don’t get it.
The point of this parade is to show the Chinese people that this is still the CCP’s republic and not to fuck with it.
No it’s not. The Chinese people already love the CCP and have no intention of trying to fuck it. It’s all about ego-boosting and stroking.
1.3 billion people all love the CCP? Really? Don’t believe everything you hear. Of course those who do love the party would never mess with how things are done.
What i meant is the parade was to show the Chinese people who don’t love the CCP, dare i say, hate it not to mess with the government along with the ego boosting you mentioned.
Exactly. The message is to the Chinese people to maintain their fear of their oppressors. This army has killed innocent Chinese before and it will gladly do it again.
I was afraid of a copy of nazi parade, but it was just a huge fashion show of young girls. Who could be scared of China army now ?
It’s supposed to be scary?
Well….I guess parades don’t scare me.
I didn’t watch the whole video but I want to know if there are any elephants or clowns in it.
you should be scared. see those dildo shaped things? they’re accurate enough to hit your obese, maccas sculpted ass from the other side of the world.
If the wars of the future are fought in the fashion of West Side Story and all the PLA needs to do is beat the US in a dance off then, we are so getting our asses kicked.
Hmm…. Broadway musical versus Beijing Opera. The Wu Tang Clan should make a song about that.
I agree with the whole Nazi Germany thing. But being fair, the ex USSR, and now Russia (successor state) still do the same thing in Moscow each year. I do believe India also has a parade.
Peacocks will always be peacocks, I guess.
France has one too, in fact a lot of countries have it regardless of political affiliations.
haha, it makes me laugh everytime someone say that china mekes them think of nazy germany. Either they are too brainwashed by what the western propaganda and too ignorant or just want to joke around. Cause anyone with half a brain will know the differences between nazy germany and “communist” china.
You don’t see any similaries between Nazi Germany and Communist China and you’re calling other people ignorant and brainwashed?
Interesting.
Most of you who say that is because you follow what ppl say, not based on your analysis. Care to explain or list the similarities between Nazi Germany and Communist China based on your OWN analysis? Just because China is one party system? because they held the olympics? because of the parade? or because of the propaganda that they spew? To comprehend all of these, one must need to understand the history and the geopolitical situation in which China is in. Oh btw, nazy hated communism if im not wrong.
As one said, the USSR, France, India and many other countries hold military parades every year, which i don’t see anyone jumping up and down and claiming that those military parades make them think of nazy german. lol, as if the nazy invented military parades. And this military parade is for the Chinese public, not for foreigners, and it has a history all behind it dating back from the 1949 which stopped for a short period of time during the cultural revolution.
Regarding the white-centered tires, it’s a military parade, it’s about tradition, that’s why they painted it in white, to follow the tradition of previous military prades especially from the 50’s. One more thing, if China doesn’t hold these military parades every TEN YEARS, then foreign media and western countries would be more “worried” about the Chinese military lack of transparency, so, in some part I am sure that western military are more than welcoming these military parade.
“One more thing, if China doesn’t hold these military parades every TEN YEARS, then foreign media and western countries would be more “worried” about the Chinese military lack of transparency, so, in some part I am sure that western military are more than welcoming these military parade.” – Jean
I totally disagree…I wouldn’t equate a military parade with a lack of transparency.
A parade is just a show.
“I totally disagree…I wouldn’t equate a military parade with a lack of transparency.
A parade is just a show.”
Well, if you read the news more frequently you should know that the Department of Defense issue some a yearly report of the Chinese military, and warning the Pentagon and the White House of the increase of the Chinese military spending and where those funds are going. According to Chinese sources, in this military parade were shown 5 new types of missiles never seen before.
These does not show that the Chinese are completely transparent, but at least it helps. And it serves as a show of force to “scare” the separatist, extremist, and terrorist in the Uyghur region.
China is a very pragmatic country, they don’t do things to just waste money, this is carefully planned to not be just a show.
Less Jews?
Come on guys it is about patriotism above all else and the benefits it entails. We have the Blue Angels, the best trained fighter pilots in the world – America, FUCK YEAH – flying around air shows all over the country. It isn’t that different. What is more cause for concern is the amount of control over the preparation, the lack of crowds, the strict rules placed on those living nearby, the paranoia… Everything must be perfect if you are insecure in your standing.
I watched the parade on PPStream. The video was fine, though a bit tiring (I couldn’t finish the two hours). Comparing it with the 1999 one by Eighty-One Movie Studio is not fair since it’s a live broadcast while the latter is a film. You known, cutting and reordering make all the difference.
Indeed, the two CCTV commentators have talent in ruining everything. I prefer a version with only background music such as this one by Dan Chung
http://vimeo.com/6853452
I can’t say the director has no humor. Every time a women procession was passing the gate, the camera turned to Hu’s big smile and energetic hand waving :)
Nice,
funny how the video skips Jiang Zemin’s picture. I think he he the most hated Chinese president by far.
Domestically, Jiang was well known for his incapability since he handled miserably in diplomatic affairs (Yinhe Incident in 1993, Third Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1996 and NATO bombing of the PRC embassy in 1999). He failed to defend China’s interests. The two Prime Ministers in his cabinet were targets by sides from both inside and outside the party. The first PM, Li Peng, earned his bad name by ordering crackdown on Tiananmen Square and the second PM, hardliner Zhu Rongji was hated by many for his tough administrative style (tempest reform on state-owned enterprises which resulted in soared unemployment, and brash rectification on banking system).
Their successors Hu and Wen, who had relatively more moderate domestic and tougher diplomatic policies, gained their much higher reputation than Jiang’s. But I would like to gave Jiang/Zhu some credits since those storming reforms in 90s laid foundation for Hu/Wen and everything after 2001 was basically as simple as two points: “keeping social stability” (aka Harmonious Society) and “maintaining economic stability” (aka 8% GDP growth baseline).
I hope the next group, Xi Jinping and Li Kexiang(?), can perform better, by pushing political reform to a new stage while strengthening Chinese companies’ global competitiveness. We shouldn’t always base our economy on making Nike shoes and fabricating lead tainted toys, should we? Instead, China should try its best in outputting innovative ideas and cool stuffs to make the world better!
what wang er said about jiang and zhu is very different from what i know of.
zhu rongji is always respected and revered by chinese people. it is only the corruptors who hated zhu. also, li peng is hated by almost everybody and was thought to be very stupid.
jiang and zhu were never lumped together by the people. when the camera cut to zhu (very briefly), i can see the reaction of the people i watched the parade with, diametrically different from what jiang generated.
btw, the guardian video is splendid.
cctv just has not aesthetism, already well know for the terrible cut and commentation during the olympic.
I give you my +1 since you made a good point on why so many love him, which I didn’t mention in my comment. Hate and love make a figure controversial and Zhu is probably the most controversial PM in PRC’s history. Not only corrupted officials hate, but also the conservatives in the party and millions of unemployed workers from state-owned enterprises (SOE). Meanwhile, people love him for good reasons too. Reformers in the party deemed him as their leader who charged into the minefield first and many commoner thanked him for his crusade against corruption. To make him even more controversial, his haters and lovers have intersection that a unemployed workers may favor his anti-corruption policy.
Anyway, public opinion on him evolved in time. More and more people realized that reforms on SOEs must be carried out sooner or later in order to save China’s economy and there’s a strong calling back among the people of Zhu’s iron fist against rampant corruption. That’s why his popularity surged these years.
People say Zhu is a technocrat, a type of bureaucrats that I like. To me, Zhu is not only a technocrat, but a HARDCORE technocrat. There’s anecdote about him. Once he was invited to another country to attend a international conference or something (I can’t remember exactly) and security officials couldn’t find him when the dinner started. They were literally mad you know, losing a PM from a country with 1 billion people is never funny. Finally they found Zhu in a restroom. No he’s not having diarrhea. He’s disassembling the water-saving toilet piece by piece and dwelling on its mechanism. As a PM he must know well how serious China’s water crisis is. Dude, that’s hardcore! As an engineer, I just can’t give more kudos.
Thanks for that link – a really impressive video.
DWR
You are welcome!
ALL IS LOST!
wahahahahahaha
it’s better than a movie about time travel!!
I feel like watching a 70s movie… so funny!!!
Laughable.
Complaining about CCTV hacks not managing to capture fascist-chic KITSCHFEST 2009 at the correct angle. No different from the manner in which the citizens of Nazi Germany used to make jokes about Hermann Goring’s belt size whilst utterly failing to come to grips with the bigger picture.
Stupid, backward, brainswashed, bastards.
Okay, Okay Pug. You are making a serious point here. Was going to mention Triumph of the Will and collective obedience, but the readership would have missed the point. Basically this was David Copperfield illusions writ large. High tech fairy floss, seen today and forgotten tomorrow…..reality will return with a vengeance, just like San Lu after the Games. I think you are being a bit unfair calling people brainwashed bastards….many citizens watching the program at home would have recognized it for what it was….a spectacle to be watched but not purchased.
Hello Comrades, you worked hard. No way HJ, we work for CCTV. Forget all this camera angle debate. Clunky kitch and so Old School…Romania, North Korea plus a bit of missile shock and awe for the neighbours. However, the uniforms of the female participants were 200%. Dead sexy and better than a visit to the undergarment section in Vanguard. Must have give the podium a collective diamond cutter and serious thoughts about visiting the second wife when the gig was over.
The second wife is probably off in Hong Kong buying YSL hand bags ‘n shit. No, it’s the poor san nai’s and si nai’s who catch the full force of the Hu-nami.
actualy female uniforms suck like hell. noone of them will run like that in a normal day around.
I felt the Taiwan ‘province’ (lol) float was a bit of a waste.
Rather than a perfunctory papier-machier Tapei 101, it could have shown all that Taiwan ‘province’ has achieved, such as people having normal, human conversations unpunctuated by government-implanted cliches and brainwashed nonsense, countryside folk greeting foreigners in a normal fashion without slobbering all over themselves whilst bellowing HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, a display of ancient Chinese artefacts untouched by the moronic vandalism of the cultural revolution, a mock-up of an eslite bookshop full of people reading at 2am contrasted with a subway carriage full of doltish mainlanders staring gormlessly ahead reading nothing whatsover.
@pug:
The parade is a celebration of sixty years of the founding of the nation, while the military parades gets the most press, it only a small part of the parade, a spectacle for the public and signal to the experts of the country’s progress. As an overseas ethnic Chinese person I definitely feel proud, and who wouldn’t? Parades of these type in every country elicit patriotism, pride and unity by design. But these patriotic feelings do not blind us to the many faults of the state and party and people. You underestimate us if you think we are all mindless drones parroting the party line.
Although what you posted are valid examples of many problems endemic to China, this is far from the complete picture. It is a profoundly pessimistic view that disregard the considerable strides the country has made in the last sixty years. Plus I think it’s a mistake to constantly refer to the cultural revolution of three decades ago as face of China when the leaders in charge today do not share the fanatic leftist ideals of the cultural revolution crowd, but the younger victims of that generation.
Imagine the roles being reversed, with Chinese people reading about America’s negatives such as rabid political polarization, manufacturing job loss, staggering corporate frauds and bankruptcies,decaying infrastructure, broken health care system, low-functioning educational system, massive government budget deficits and trade imbalances, terrorism, gun crimes, religious fundamentalism, and people would get a unwarranted and profoundly negative impression of its future.
“As an overseas ethnic Chinese person I definitely feel proud, and who wouldn’t?”
I wouldn’t (as an overseas ethnic Chinese person). At least I get to petition my government without being thrown in jail or locked up in a mental hospital.
And why is it when anyone criticizes the CCP (even when the points are valid), the assumption is they’re White/American? The response is ALWAYS, “Waahh! Uh… here are 10 things wrong with USA!” Geez, buy another script…
I am Chinese and I love China but I hate the CCP. If Mao and friends hadn’t f*#ked up the country for 30 years, China would be a much better place now.
I want to buy tc a beer.
I’m not Chinese, I’m American…and if America had a military parade like this I wouldn’t be proud, I’d probably be indifferent/apathetic or critical of it.
Why should people be proud of a military parade and not their own individual accomplishments?
I also like China (what I consider to be the “China”, i.e. China before Mao and the CCP) but I also HATE the CCP and a lot of people seem to assume that a country’s culture and government are identical/synoymous but, in actuality, I think it’s very possible to like a country and it’s culture while hating, or at least being critical of, the government.
It is foolish for so many people to assume that all Americans are white….there are plenty of white people in Europe and plenty of non-whites in America.
I’m sorta with you on this one tc. All the smart Chinese left China and either don’t live on the mainland or live in other countries. That’s why if you look at HK, TW, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand or whatever other place in Asia that has high concentrations of Chinese people, they’re better off than the Chinese people on the mainland. The few smart Chinese people stuck on the mainland that know that the ccp sucks stay silent or find a way out of the country. Perhaps in a few years, things will be different. China’s economy and political clout only appears to be growing right now, but the bubble will pop eventually.
And this is based of???? an epiphany that hit you like a retard?
Most of the Chinese living in Singapore, Phillipines, and Thailand were there long before the Qing fell, let alone CCP coming to power….
get your head out of your ass please.
Come on, you are putting words in my mouth. I am proud of the progress made in the last sixty years by the Chinese people, not of the communist party.
I assumed pug was American because that’s where most of the holier-than-thou attitudes originate from, if it isn’t accurate I apologize. and if you finish reading, my whole point was by presenting only one side of the issue even if all the evidence are true, it leads to distorted perception.
Corporate losses, unemployment, real estate speculation, gun violence, etc. doesn’t really equate with the depravity of Great Leap Forward or Cultural Revolution. Your point was valid up until that point.
“Imagine the roles being reversed, with Chinese people reading about America’s negatives such as rabid political polarization, manufacturing job loss, staggering corporate frauds and bankruptcies,decaying infrastructure, broken health care system, low-functioning educational system, massive government budget deficits and trade imbalances, terrorism, gun crimes, religious fundamentalism, and people would get a unwarranted and profoundly negative impression of its future.”
But, according to contemporary Chinese wisdom, aren’t Americans the only ones qualifed, capable of and entitled to criticize/evaluate America?
Many Chinese say, “You don’t understand China because you are not Chinese!!!” so doesn’t this “logic” apply to every country in the world?
I am pointing out the error of only focusing on the negative (though accurate) aspects and generalizing them.
It had nothing to do with “contemporary Chinese wisdom” or what “many Chinese say”, if you disagree with them, that’s a whole separate issue.
No, I agree overall with those problems of America…just thought it would be funny to adopt the role of a Chinese person copping out with the “You’re not one of us therefore you aren’t qualified to criticize us” line :D
“slobbering all over themselves whilst bellowing HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
there are many reasons why pug is right.
Thats just my favourite.
MOTHERLAND? HA.
Beautiful description of Taiwan…… I miss the place…..
A perfect simile for the PRC…nobody in the rest of the entire fucking world notices their infantile nationalist posturing, and those that do are too busy wanking over their flat-arsed, flat-chested unwittingly kinky asexual orgasm-free women to give a shit. Thanks China!
Lighten up Old Son or write a PhD. I would like to do a Charles Atlas course and then apply for a job as a close order combat instructor
orgasm-free women
Hey buddy, just ’cause you can’t give ‘em orgasms, doesn’t mean others can’t.
You have to admit he was right about them being flat-chested though.
Maybe others can indeed, but their several hundred million male compatriots are not among them.
Don’t worry, folks. I’ve heard that CCTV has already hired a psychic to contact Leni Riefenstahl for the directors cut DVD.
hmm chinese asking famous jewish producer of nazi propaganda? c’mon, our filmmakers have much longer tradition in such things.
Sorry, China Fan. Ms Riefenstahl is still in the Nubian Desert photographing the Masai in their one-with-nature poses. I would go with John Waters, a man who really knows his kitch or even George Romero….Beijing Zombies in Sexy Uniforms. Lets go overboard and hire Russ Meyer….Commando Vixens of the New World Order.
I like this pug guy but he’s being really unfair in comparing this parade to Nazi Germany. The Nazis had a much better sense of style and they didn’t kill nearly as many people.
Which in turn is nothing compared to how many Koreans the Japs killed.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmm………
THAT is an AWESOME comment PP.
When there is a large scale grand celebration, the producers should try to capture the filming so that it is as live as possible.
You have to admit the women’s militia in pink miniskirts and boots were pretty cool. I heard they were models actually.
The two women leading the detachment in the red dresses were models, called Zhang Xiaofei, and Zhao Na. Apparently there’s pictures of them modelling in bikinis going around the internet already.
The whole parade was lame. There was no kungfu. There weren’t enough chicks in it. I don’t get why they don’t at least have a float with a Ms. China on it? Why weren’t any of the chicks with go-go boots dancing in a cage? They should’ve put some chicks riding on top of the nukes at least. I also would’ve been more impressed if some paratroopers actually jumped out from one of the planes and landed in Tiananmen square.
I hope japan or S.Korea start having military parades now. They usually have better looking girls too. Maybe the Japanese could even start showcasing some of their mechs that their manga and anime always seem to talk about…haha.
Nice one. Cage dancing. Babes riding nukes….I recall a Cher mtv video
ok po king.
first of all: PLA doesnt use Kungfu.
second: it was all about professional army wich fights with weapons and not by blabeling funy magical words making them buletproof.
third: its CCP party. therefore no gogo bitches(aside some forign managers trying to behave like one)
4: there were no nuckes. only empty boxes. no real rocets no bitches on them. capiche?
5: thats not a porno shit full with halfsiliconed bitches. so live with it or kill yourself.
On the Taiwan float, they forgot to have a Chen Shui Bian look-alike handcuffed in a cage.
South koreans does have parades (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWicO98Me7c), it’s just the intro, but I should you can have the full video is you look hard enough. Japanese parade can be seen here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBikDDockJo)
a better japanese parade video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URMAssv9q7s
I’m actually quite impressed
the korean link seems to be broken, here is another one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJSo9nSkDdI
it seem, the S. Korean marching style closer to the Japanese rather than Americans or anyone else.
These kinds of parades are hilarious. Do you know why America doesn’t crank out this type of garbage on the 4th? Because we have no agenda to scare the shit out of our citizens with our military. Remember that the PLA is not a national defense force, it is simply the rebel army of the CCP yet to be disbanded. This is a military that has occupied itself with being fucked up by border skirmishes with the former Soviet Union, failing to capture Kinmen, a failed attempt to invade Vietnam, and a navy that is still called the People’s Liberation Army Navy. Nuff’ said. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of poor young men sent to fight in Korea as cannon fodder.
Maybe for non Chinese it would be scared by displays of military?
but for me and many chinese friends, this is a desmontration of our pride =)
Scared by displays of military? Wtf are you talking about, son. Speak English. No one is scared of shitty third-rate military. You guys get fucked up by rebels in Africa. Demonstration of pride? Spend this money on bettering the lives of the poor. Would that make you proud?
SCARED by displays of Military…. errr…. June 4th 1989 was quite a scary display of military… hardly a demonstration of your pride.
And… wouldn’t you be more proud if you taxes went towards better hospitals etc. etc. rather than a giant military parade? which shows nothing except how adept you have become at killing Tibetans?
Oh… and firing chemicals into the sky to make Beijing look half decent for a day.
Actually,
being the capatlist I am, I believe the funds went into the right direction =)
I find 5 foot Chinese boys, I mean men, who weigh 90 lbs and have no facial or body hair very UNintimidating.
Especially, when you’re walking down the street and they’re shouting “Helllllooooo” at foreign males as if they were trying to flirt with them.
I can imagine the Chinese army in combat skipping around and waving to the enemy saying, “Hello! Hello! What’s your name?” and giggling about it…not very threatening.
Will there ever be a Chinese Rambo?
Not likely.
we have jet li. offering to kick your butt in 50 different flavors without breaking a sweat while still maintaining an intelligible conversation at the same time.
jet li is a scrub. dude’s never fought competitively. the worst third-rate mma fighter would destroy him.
Rambo would shoot Jet Li with his gun.
Also, I don’t think Jet Li represents the AVERAGE Chinese male which is part of why he’s famous and wealthy and capable of holding an intelligible conversation :D
No, America’s military does not need to scare its citizens. With its performance in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is becoming really difficult to scare its enemies. That is the real trouble. A military has to scare someone!
Ever seen what the National Guards did during the Katerina disaster in New Orleans? They carried rifles ready to shoot looters in the streets. Ever seen what the PLA did during the Sichuan earthquake disaster? They were the first on site to rescue the people. With that track record the Chinese military does not need to scare its people. The parade was to warn off those who might be contemplating another incident similar to the missile attack on the Chinese Embassy in Yogoslavia in 1999.
The Korean war, the skirmishes with the former Soviet, Union, invasion of Vietnam (and you might add India), whether you think they had fucked up is not important. What is more important is that the borders were secured after these wars. As for failing to capture Kinmen, that was a valuable lesson to the PLA. It came after they had won the whole of Mainland but had yet to learn how to take off shore islands.
If you then accuse it of trying to intimidate democratic Taiwan, then you are seriously behind time. Mainland tourists are becoming common in Taiwan. Chen Shui Bian is in jail. Negotiations are being planned to bring about greater mutual trust on the military and political level. I must point out though, both sides are clear that mutual trust can only be based on one thing — that Taiwan must never declare itself independent.
Wow, this is totally not a collection of memes gleaned from the videos on anti-CNN. All that was missing was a reference somewhere to jiefangjun shushu, but don’t worry, you’ll work one in I’m sure.
“With its performance in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is becoming really difficult to scare its enemies.”
What you say is a serious insult to the men and women serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. If the enemy is not afraid why then does it not stand and fight instead of hiding within civilian structures or blowing up tons of civilians with bombs? It goes without saying that the enemy is scared shitless of a superior force such as the U.S. military, if it were the other way around I think you would be too.
You obviously don’t understand Katrina. The reason those soldiers carried rifles is quite simple. They are soldiers. The area that was hit the hardest in New Orleans is a ghetto. Before the hurricane hit, cops wouldn’t even dare drive down those streets. You also forgetting that these looters were looting automatic weapons. Within a time of crisis, soldiers must be able to neutralize an enemy whether foreign or domestic. Who would disagree with the use of force in this situation?
I cannot believe you would counter with an example like the botched rescue effort of the 2007 Sichuan Earthquake. Many PLA soldiers did lose their lives in the effort, and I extend my condolences to their loved ones for this. But overall, the effort was a poorly planned rescue operation which suffered significant military casualties, lacked proper equipment, and also lacked oversight. For you to even compare the two is quite hilarious.
The missile attack on the embassy in the former Yugoslavia was the correct course of action. At the time, the PRC was covertly using the embassy as a last comm link to Milosevics’ forces. Oh, China! Always ranting about the need to protect one’s borders, but at the same time supporting mass murderers in East Europe, dictators in Africa, madmen like Kim Song Il, or military juntas like in Burma.
So Vietnam was about securing the border? Is this a joke? The invasion of Vietnam in 1979 was nothing more than an attempt to force the Vietnamese to withdraw their forces from Cambodia (if failed btw). Therefore, in your eyes supporting such brave souls such as Pol Pot in Cambodia is nothing but an extension of “securing the borders”. Bravo, Comrade!
It is you, my friend, whom is far behind the times and also quite brainwashed from all the good CCTV you’ve been soaking in.
Sorry, but don’t be so naive by saying that china is supporting mass murderers and dictatorships. Yes, it is immoral and unethical, but this is how the real world works and if you think that just China works that way, then you should really open your eyes and look at your country.
In the real world, what matters is the country’s interest, not what is morally, ethically, and politically correct. I am sure that you know that Osama, Noriega, and others dictator, terrorist, mass murderer, and human rights oppressors (Saudi royal family) were / are USA allies.
A classic Stalin Era parade is an expensive way to “warn off” terrorists. And dont confuse the US national guard with the army & the marines. Warn off would be attackers? Well considering some of the comments in this site it might encourage an attack. What are you going to do the the perpetrators, send a fleet of missiles, a contingent of sexy well armed marching girls? Nothing USA had in its considerable armory warned off the 9/11 men. And the comment about the failure to capture Kinmen, they could have been trained and had the landing craft but no fleet and adequate air cover. My friend, if you want to defend a position dont undermine your own position with easiy rebutted “facts”.
“To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”
- Sun Tzu
The fact that Chen Shui Bian is in prison is the exact point that highlights the differences in the systemt that exists. Can you imagine?? The people OPENLY rallying in the streets after the news media OPENLY exposes someone in the position of Brother Hu for corruption and abuse of power….we are soooo far from seeing anything resembling that here
Maybe cause there is no evidence to suggest Brother Hu is involved in any degree of Corruption or abuse of power.
no evidence. thats right.
no EVIDENCE.
Tell me, how is there going to be evidence of such things if ‘BROTHER HU’ (ha!) is in control of all media and journalism?
Think for one fucking second, you stupid Chinese people. THINK…. IT’S NOT HARD…. JUST USE YOUR BRAIN……
so… whers your evidence?
all you’ve presented are your personal speculation.
Unless you can present a single piece of evidence to back up even a single portion of your theory, please stop spewing garbage…
However, being the conspiracy theorist you are, all evidence supporting the opposing idea is faux, and lack of evidence is evidence itself…. correct no ?
“We didn’t start the fire, it was always burning since the world’s been turning” – Billy Joel
Except anonymous, unsubstantiated reports which came out a while back about him having a harem of at least 47 wives/concubines/girlfriends
thank god for the trust worthiness of anonymous unsubstantiated reports
Losses of PLA in Korean conflict = 350,000 min
While I can see why they tried to show off China’s military might, I personally think that they should of spent the money bettering China.
A parade isn’t going to save anyone, but a few well placed RMB might change a few people’s lives.
There’s another possibility to consider: maybe it’s not the filming style that has changed that much since 1999, but rather the people’s perception. I mean we all love “backseat directing” but in reality there’s only that much you can do when filming something as dull and repetitive as a parade.It’s possible that the lack of “the sense of grandeur” that they mourn does not come from any fault of the director but rather from their changed perspective. People have much less of the “we live like shit but our army can nuke anyone” mentality. They no longer want to live poorly just to keep the military machine running. In fact they are living better now and after trying that it’s much more difficult to get high on the military display alone. They don’t feel the same as in 1999 not because this one was badly filmed, no, they don’t feel the same because they are not the same. They’ve seen and experienced much more, they’ve seen a lot more of the outside world, their mindset is slightly changed even if they don’t realize it themselves. Also many of the today’s posters were kids or at most very young adults in 1999. _Of course_ it seems better in retrospect, everything was bigger, better tastier and more wondrous when we were kids…
Really interesting thoughts Zorg….I think you might be on the right track.
Watch the 1999 video and the 2009 video and one thing becomes pretty clear: whilst the parades were almost identical, the 1999 coverage was way better – why?
BECAUSE AT LEAST THE 1999 COMMENTATORS KNEW WHEN TO SHUT THE FUCK UP. Seriously, those CCTV dweebs talk the whole way through like some annoying soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend.
I hate the fagot voice these commentators use whenever there are some sort of official event, they think they are exuding passion but its really just doucheness, no one talks like that
Yeah. Zorg’s right. Things sure have changed since 1999 – the token foreigner float was weird. Lot more colorful than previous parades. More shiny new weapons, more pink battalions. Aircraft toys. The inclusion of Mao seemed like it was an afterthought. But it leaves china-watchers with so many puzzling, unsolved questions – Will the party have Zhang Yimou direct every big event? Why does Jiang Zemin always look like he has a cork shoved up his arse? And why can’t Chinese pilots fly in a straight line ?
Have you ever seen Chinese drive a car? Same style. But it might be good for avoiding a missle :P
I like the comfort women corps in the pink uniforms… they will make the borthers happy after fighting a long hard day… see we do learn from Japanese in Nanjing
Now, if you could just learn to have decent-looking hairstyles like the Japanese :D
This is stupid. China’s military looks like something out of a toy factory with those white-centered tires and pink battalions. I guess this is supposed to be the “newer, friendlier, pinker” China? It’s clear that CCP bureaucrats don’t know how to do martial pride. But then there never was much of a Chinese military tradition after the Manchus took over and banned Han Chinese from important military positions, so I guess it’s to be expected.
And did you think the USMC fight in their Dress Uniform?
Use your brain.
Which part of my comment made you think that I thought the USMC, or the Chinese military, fought in their dress uniforms? I’m talking about the way the military presents itself. The Nazis were terrible people, but their military brass had a fashion sense, probably related to the old Prussian tradition, and which allowed the German army to exude a sense of presence and power. By contrast, the Communists of China come off as kids playing with their brand new toys. Their presence does not evoke the same sense of martial spirit.
“…the Communists of China come off as kids playing with their brand new toys. ”
INDEED.
And where did the Prussians get their “tradition” ?
@ Billy Joel – I think they march in parades in their dress uniform :D
What they fight in is actually a lot kinkier :D
dude.. pink uniforms are the para-police
nope
they are militias, and the pink uniform is specially designed for the parade.
Dude I never wanna hear the words “pink” and “uniform” in the same sentence and then hear someone talking about martial pride.
Dude.. swedens used yellow uniforms, french blue and germans mouse grey.. not to say about shiny red faggotry in a United Kingdoms army. that are MEN in red clothes! how gay is that?
Red uniform isn’t particularly gay, can’t say the same about the giant bearskin hat though, whoever designed it must have been compensating for the little boy downstairs.
Why the comparison with Nazi Germany?
Just because there is a military parade?
France still does military parades!
Lame
Is France run by a one-party dictatorshup?
Do French peole get riled up over military parades?
sooo???? they have been doing thee parades since 1949. How long did Nazy Germany existed?
NazY Germany never existed.
Ok, Nazi, happy now?
Yes….now kiss me you fool!
The military band music sounded like a school orchestra, truly shocking. China is right up there with Iran for totally crap military music and musicians.
“The ideal set up by the Party was something huge, terrible, and glittering — a world of steel and concrete, of monstrous machines and terrifying weapons — a nation of warriors and fanatics, marching forward in perfect unity, all thinking the same thoughts and shouting the same slogans, perpetually working, fighting, triumphing, persecuting — three hundred million people all with the same face. The reality was decaying, dingy cities, where underfed people shuffled to an fro in leaky shoes, in patched-up nineteenth-century houses that smelt always of cabbages and bad lavatories.”
George Orwell
1984 (1984 is a novel for those of you who don’t know)
The spectacle! All those metro sexual men with tidy uniforms and their leather accents, the butch women with their bright colors and toy machine guns. I just couldn’t place my finger on what it reminded me of and then I remembered. The San Francisco Gay Pride Parade!
Don’t ask, don’t tell, PLA ;)
Military parades are a common tool for helping boost national pride and many western countries also hold similar events.
Calling China communist shows a lack of intelligence because in no respect is this country still a communist state. If it walks, talks and acts like a duck….chances are it isn’t a chicken…it is a duck.
A single party state that oppresses opposition, believes in unrestrained capitalism and rampant nationalism with strong racial undertones….this sounds more like modern day China, and this form of government is better known as Fascism.
There is a difference between Fascism and Socialism (Nazi Germany) and if you Westerners are too stupid to actually know the difference then you really shouldn’t be commenting.
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) …is a socialist republic (specifically a people’s democratic dictatorship according to its constitution) ruled by the Communist Party of China under a single-party system.
The Communist Party of China (CPC), also known as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and the ruling political party of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the world’s largest political party….The Communist Party of China was founded in 1921, and came to rule all of mainland China after defeating its rival the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War.
A political party described as a communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government. The name originates from the 1848 tract Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels.
There are a number of Communist parties active in various countries across the world, and a number who used to be active. The formation of Communist parties in various countries was first initiated by the formation of the Communist Third International by the Russian Bolsheviks. Undoubtedly the most important of these parties were those of the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China.
WIKIPEDIA
Where can I buy/download/procure a high quality recording of the 1999 parade? I have a rather bad recording of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAYTF2Rsaz4
if you don’t have youtube, then there far better on verycd
All these years I’ve been telling others off for rolling out that stereotype of all Chinese looking the same. And now I see they really *do* all look the same.
The problem with them all looking the same is I just can’t pick the one I’d most like to spooge on!
The history of any country, presented as the history of a family, conceals fierce conflicts of interest (sometimes exploding, most often repressed) between conquerors and conquered, masters and slaves, capitalists and workers, dominators and dominated in race and sex. And in such a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, it is the job of thinking people, as Albert Camus suggested, not to be on
the side of the executioners – Howard Zinn
Some Singaporeans were anger when they saw a Singapore Permanent Resident in the troops too.