Mass Media

Artist representation of the upcoming National Day march.

The thousands of troops preparing for National Day have given photographers from around the world plenty of opportunity to take pictures that show the unity/sameness/discipline/scariness… of China’s massive military.  The first picture I saw was stunning to me:

A press photo of practicing soldiers (REUTERS/Nir Elias)

They looked like some sort of Photoshop effect brought to life: a bunch of cookie cutter people practicing in the sun for hours to mark their country’s birthday. But then I saw the effect again:

Another press photo of cookie cutter soldiers practicing.

And again:

Whoa...

And again and again… Now I’ve seen so many Chinese in uniform strutting their stuff in tight formation I half expect to see an army division goose-stepping outside my building. I wonder what the international audience sees when they look at these pictures. Do visions of Pyongyang dance in their heads?

James Fallows a veteran journalist who just got back to America after living in China for three years, repeatedly tells the reader of his blog that the well organized masses of troops you see in all the pictures are not representative of day to day life or the mood of the country. I fully agree and think that the government is spending a lot of resources celebrating it’s birthday in a way that’s close to North Korea or Soviet Russia. It looks even more out of date when compared with the stunning show put on last year for the Olympics. That again was a large performance, but the mood was about celebrating a rich culture and history. The military was involved in providing a lot of the well drilled performers but there were no tanks or marching.

The government is putting on a show of strength with all the road closings, marching, long security checks etc. But it seems that such messages are unneeded nowadays. The military is not the face of the New China. Innovation, business and the hard work of hundreds of millions are what ensures this country’s bright future. There’s no question that the powers that be know this but you wouldn’t guess so from the photos that are being released.

Tags: Media, national day