Does this man remind you of anyone?
This is Mao Xinyu, the 38-year-old grandson of Chairman Mao.
Grandson Mao is a senior colonel in the People's Liberation Army. He's now become well-known here as a blogger. The readers of the People's Daily online have just voted his blog the most popular of the last year.
Mao's blog is largely dedicated to an appreciation of his grandfather, who died when he was six years old. The founder of communist China is still admired by many people here - despite the fact that millions died because of famine and conflict during his rule (an official Communist Party verdict delivered after his death ruled - with precision - that Chairman Mao was 70% right and 30% wrong).
"The greatest happiness of my life and satisfaction come from a real understanding of a great man. And he is my grandfather," grandson Mao writes.
In an interview, grandson Mao leaves no doubt about his feelings...
Q: You have said that your grandfather is god; is he a perfect man to you?
A: Yes.
Mao Xinyu's resemblance to his grandfather means that he tends to get stopped whenever he goes out in public. Last March, I watched him try to make his way to a political conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, held just a few metres away from his grandfather's mausoleum. Grandson Mao had to stop every few steps to pose for pictures with delighted Chairman Mao fans (my own attempts to speak to him didn't go so well - he ran down the steps of the Hall to avoid doing an interview). Enjoy his blog.
I’m 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~18~RS~)
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James, next time just try to offer him a cup of tea, nothing more...
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Thanks, that was a nice blog entry.
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He is the stupidest guy in China ever. Most people see him as a joke. I hope one day he will wake up.
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No Chairman Mao, no new China!!!
My parents (they are over 60s) think this way, my friends think this way (most of them are in their 30s), I think this way (currenly living in the UK for nearly 10 years).
Chinese people should treat his grandson well.
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what #4 said
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Come on, leave this poor guy alone.
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Anyone who believes that Chairman Mao was a great man must be a few bags short of a load. As long as this man is not ina position to do much harm I suppose we should not worry unduly.
Roy, Hamburg, Germany
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Quote: "with precision - that Chairman Mao was 70% right and 30% wrong"
- In chinese, Qi Fen Gong, San Fen Guo (70% right and 30% wrong) is not a precise description but an approximation.
despite the fact my families was a victim of Mao's policies, i believe he has done much more good to the Chinese people than harm and he deserve the respects he has got.
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I am no fan of Chairman Mao, however, it might be more appropriate to say "Anyone 'in Hamburg, Germany' who believes that Chairman Mao was a great man must be a few bags short of a load.".
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He is a great man to china. but we should look forward. his theory does not suit this world. i appreciate his dedication to his grandfather. it may be left as a literatural remain in the future.
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by the way , i dont like this guy at all. have a look at his photo-such a fat man. he must have a very luxious and corruptive life. doesnt he ever think of the poor people in poperty, or the crying child because of hunger?
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The lunatic is in the hall
the lunatics are in the hall
the paper holds their folded faces to the floor
and every day the BBC brings more...
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9 RoyBear06
Why? I though Mao was only followed the principal of Max who is a german. He is still great in a way that most of the people in this world can not surpass.
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The blog linked to by this page is unreadable - does it have an English language (or even alphabet) version?
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James:
[This is Mao Xinyu, the 38-year-old grandson of Chairman Mao. ]
Congrats to Mao and to his success in both the military duties and also on his blog....
Thanks James for the excellent blog reportage!
~Dennis Junior~
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I think it's sad that Mao Xinyu is still living off the legacy of the old man. The country has moved on, its people have moved on. I'm not sure Chairman Mao would approve of this in his grave, after all, he is the last person on earth to try and create some sort of a Mao dynasty and allow his descendants to live off his fame and fortune. After all He sent his oldest to Korean War and was killed in combat.
With regards to Mao's mistakes and contribution to modern China, I think it's fair to say that Mao is the first person in the history to put China firmly on the map of the world, and he is the first person after the world wars to have stand up to both U.S. and the Soviet Union. To this degree, I think Mao has certainly earned the respect of most Chinese people. It's hard to imagine what China could be, or indeed what the world would be without Mao. Respect is the key word here.
As for his mistakes, most people in China are fully aware of it, whose life has probably been shaped in one way or another by the policies he endorsed. However I don't agree with people here (BBC especially) comparing him with Hitler, Emperor Qin and so on who have committed crimes against humanity with full intent and firm resolute.
Of course Mao's image has been tainted by these mistakes and he should bare full responsibility, but there is big difference between policy mistakes and deliberately causing human suffering. To this day I think no one in China is questioning the motive of these policies he had made.
Last word about James sarcastic comment (an official Communist Party verdict delivered after his death ruled - with precision - that Chairman Mao was 70% right and 30% wrong) - James you have once again misinterpreted and it shows your ignorance about Chinese people. This is actually a clear demonstration of the Chinese culture, we Chinese are fuzzy about numbers like this, we'll say 70, 30 causally, and what it really means is that the communist party thinks Mao's contribution is greater than his mistakes and nothing more. Given that the party itself is founded by him, I think it's probably fair enough.
James, again I hope you should go and take some lessons in Chinese Culture and its language, otherwise please let someon else in BBC to have a go at it.
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A better story would have been to re-trace some of those villages on the the Long March where you'll find a few claimants to be Mao's descendants. I would really suggest getting out into the countryside to feel real China. Take a fluent Mandarin speaker with you (ensure it's a Westerner as they will translate everything and not worry about face of their country) and find out what the masses think and feel about modern China. You'll get some fascinating stories. You could even travel by train in 'yingwo' class so you can gauge the mood of the returnee migrants. Ask them if they are going to return to the city after the Spring Festival, ask them how bad petty crime is now, and if they think China will have universal free healthcare as the government has discussed. The city is what the government want you to see.
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He reminds me of China's rare giant panda, reveling in all the attention that he himself may never understand!
I am sure it is not difficult for James to catch him next time, just run a bit faster and offer him his favourite food.
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Although mao did his best, his ideas did not pan out as he intended such as the great leap forward and Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. What he was successful at was getting China on the map so that it couldn't be ignored or bullied at an international level which is basically what happend after World war 1 and increasing literacy rates and increasing the life expectancy greatly. I would say though that in my opinion China's overall success has more to do with the past 30 years of its trade with the US and the world more so then mao and his policies.
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[ Following on from #4 ]
.. He's not the only one who needs to wake up. But who can blame 'em for receiving such one-sided news?
Still, one would have great respect for their elders, just for the human being that they are. That is definately within him (and respectable that it is!).
[ & to poster #9 ]
We should worry.. he's the senior colonel of the People's Liberation Army mwuahhahha!
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To Roy, Hamburg, Germany,
I hope you don't find my comments on yours offensive.
To most Chinese people, Chairman Mao is a great man. Reasons:
1. In modern Chinese history, only Mao successfully unified China from warlords, european/japanese control and invasions. He is the man who can say no to Russia and the US.
2. Mao was not selfish; he even sent his son to fight and die against US invasion of Korea.
3. Mao gave freedom to slaves in rural areas, promoted sex equality and implemented unverisal education and health care system.
4. Under Mao, China got nuclear power, which was used by the US to stop the Japanese invasion of China in WWII. From that time onwards, no countries dare to invade and humanilate China anymore.
Mao did not do well in his late years and was controlled by the gang 4. He was a good leader during the war time, although he economy policy costed millions of people's lifes.
Roy, if you understand what foreign countries did to China you will not think Mao is a bad leader.
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James, the world economy crashed, and china is taking a heavy hit, so why are you writing about this guy?
Also James, you know why his blog is more popular than yours? because he chooses topics many care about.
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Yes James, please leave this poor man alone.
He is the only living grandson of Mao Zedong. That's the only reason why he is being taken care of by the government, which in the eyes of most Chinese people, is just fair. And as you can see he is holding no important position or power at all.
The widely known fact is that he is not terribly smart - due to the hardness that his mother had to go through when pregnant with him. People don't take him seriously, but people with a certain degree of kindness would not make fun of him, at least not in the public.
And to #15, no he may be stupid but he is not corrupt at all. He is just living a simple life.
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Mao contributed a lot to China in his early political life. I agree with YeTingSong that "Mao is the first person in the history to put China firmly on the map of the world, and he is the first person after the world wars to have stand up to both U.S. and the Soviet Union." No doubt about it.
But his mistakes were shocking. I will give him a 50 to 50 assessment.
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First of all, very happy to see the implementation of the House Rules has been reinforced.
Then about Chairman Mao. I can't remember since when this grandson of him has come to the public light. Naturally I know very little about him.
However after having spent almost 20 years abroad and compared with many other leaders, Chinese and foreign, I believe it is fair to say, Chairman Mao IS a great leader for China. Without him, there would have been no the People's Republic of China, and biologically no many generations of the Chinese who were born after the birth of New China. By the way, in this terms, the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics didn't mention him was a biiiig regret. It does not reflect the true Chinese culture, or it reflected the exact Chinese culture. For me, I feel shamed it could happen because they simply do not understand the basic logic. Nevertheless his fatal mistake was/is not establishing the basic principle of ruling the country by law. But after all, he is not God, he can't be perfect, he is human and a traditional Chinese. What more can one expect from him. I don't think the Chinese people will forget or even be less grateful to what he had done to China because of his mistakes.
I will always remember him as the greatest leader of China at that time, if not all times.
Thank you, James for doing an outstanding job of reporting from China.
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This is an idiot. Anyone who graduates from a university and has a little of brain could know that every human being after death is just a small particle of the nature, so what reason can justify a mortuary in the middle of Tiananmen square, peculiarly for people who study Marxism that reckons anything has a termination. You may argue it is not the idea of Maozedong, but as the grandson and a holder of Doctor degree of Objectivism, should you criticise it as a evidence that you are sane instead of thoroughly chanting outdated slogan?
He never mentions or totally has no idea that at the beginning, the Chinese communist party was only a branch of the ex Soviet party and without its help including numerous money and weapons, the CCP wouldn't succeed.
He never realises that under his 'grand, correct , glorious' grandfather, China had come to the brink of collapse.
He will never involve the above, because he may recognise that his present welfare is based on the false shining circle of his ancestor, with this regard, he is pretty clever.
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Chairman Mao is a great liar and a cruel dictorship. He never cares about Chinese as a nation but his own power.
Chinese Communist party made very little contribution to anti- Japanese war. It was the national party who was fighting hard with Japanese. But the funny thing is that in all of China's history books, CCP claimed all of the efforts that national party made. If there was no communist party, it won't take national party so long to fight Japanese.
A great leader should care about his people. But he caused millions of chinese people die of starving in peace time. And he organised korean war where millions of Chinese soliders have lost their lives in the foreign land. Luckily, his elderly son died in Korean war as well. Otherwise China would become North Korea now.
I hope one day Chinese people can wake up and realise all they've heared about him is a lie.
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Most of people take him as a joke. With apparently lacking of intelligence, he managed to get a PhD title in the studying of his grandfather. He has no contribution to the society. All he have done and could do in the future is repeating the old story of how great his grandfather was.
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Very nice of you to add your bit to the insults this poor man gets daily for just being himself, James!
What has he done to deserve this? I mean, yes, he's not terribly smart and he's receiving benefits he doesn't merit but what do you want him to do? He's got nothing to do with anything and probably wondering why he's the butt of all these terrible jokes the whole nation's making.
Mao's dead and China has moved on. Let a dead horse lie and leave the boy alone!
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#35: "Chairman Mao is a great liar and a cruel dictorship. He never cares about Chinese as a nation but his own power. Chinese Communist party made very little contribution to anti- Japanese war. It was the national party who was fighting hard with Japanese. But the funny thing is that in all of China's history books, CCP claimed all of the efforts that national party made. If there was no communist party, it won't take national party so long to fight Japanese. A great leader should care about his people. But he caused millions of chinese people die of starving in peace time. And he organised korean war where millions of Chinese soliders have lost their lives in the foreign land. Luckily, his elderly son died in Korean war as well. Otherwise China would become North Korea now. I hope one day Chinese people can wake up and realise all they've heared about him is a lie."
That is as close to the facts as one can probably get. Bar aside threat of Soviet invasion and uncertainty of cold war, the inexcusable damage to my country is all down to Chairman Mao and his lackeys.
People talk as if he didnt exist, China wouldn't exist. That's not true, what about Liu Shaoqi, what about Den Xiaoping? All of them might have led China to a better future.
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You know he is the laugh stock in China, don't you?
There are comments in China saying the reason why he is kept in some a "prominent" profile is precisely to reduce the influence of Chairman Mao.
Maybe you just try to be kind to him.
Some people say he might be borderline retarded.
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Mao Xinyu most popular blogger of year?!...Oh i got it, for the People's Daily only (just think who regularly reads this paper XD). This guy's a real inspiration to me: even he can get a PhD, no doubt I can do it too!!!...Wait, I forgot I don't have a powerful grandfather.
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#35, kelly4732
A few of my opinions:
China's history text books did claim all the effort in fighting against invaders, but that was long time ago. Nowadays this part of the history is taught to the children in primary schools a lot more fairly and subjectively. This clearly shows that a country CAN change. Additionally, even my generation (mid 20s) who went through the propaganda education of the history of communist party are all aware the significant contribution made by the nationalist party, because we have the inquistive spirit to come closer to the truth.
I agree with you that a great leader should care about his people, but making a wrong decision is different from delibrately causing suffering, and I absolutely don't think the intention of his decision was to kill all those people.
I do not want to argue with you about the Korean war as it may upset some other people, I just can't believe how naive and spoiled some western people are now, you clearly forgot how your ancesters fought and died for your country's security or interest. Accordint to your logic, every leader that wasn't in a peaceful age was a devil.
It's sad that in the west he has been portrayed as a slaughterer, a tyrant, a lech, or even the embodiment of evil. It's understandable though, because he represented communism, which is somthing only second to fascism to the west; because he stood up to the west and made them afraid of him.
I am fully aware what he has done, good or bad, and I totally agree with the "30%+70%" verdict. We suffered from his wrong decisions, but we are still benefiting from his wise ones (unfortunately, many Chinese are not even realising).
With regard to his grandson, James could you leave him alone? he didn't do anything wrong, doesn't deserve your sarcastic remark, and I agree with " yetingsong " that you definitely need to learn more about Chinese culture and language to avoid more embrassment.
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I did some study of mental health while I was a college student in China. I remember that one lecturer used Mao's family as an example of schizophrenia's genetic links. He mentioned that Mao had no mentally healthy offsprings except his oldest son who die in Korea war. His Children borned to different mothers were all mentally unfit. Mao was extremely suspicious and made many crazy policy based on his own delusions in his late years. The lecture did not draw a conclusion that Mao was schizophrenic but I think he suggested such possibility.
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For those of you who so harshly criticized this man, who has done nothing wrong, I'd like to suggest you to go look into the mirror, and let the world know how smart, how gentle, how good looking the one you see is.
Even you are not "an idiot", "a fat man", ... yourself, I hope your children, grandchildren will not be one, or become one.
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#35: "Chairman Mao is a great liar and a cruel dictorship. He never cares about Chinese as a nation but his own power. Chinese Communist party made very little contribution to anti- Japanese war. It was the national party who was fighting hard with Japanese. But the funny thing is that in all of China's history books, CCP claimed all of the efforts that national party made. If there was no communist party, it won't take national party so long to fight Japanese. A great leader should care about his people. But he caused millions of chinese people die of starving in peace time. And he organised korean war where millions of Chinese soliders have lost their lives in the foreign land. Luckily, his elderly son died in Korean war as well. Otherwise China would become North Korea now. I hope one day Chinese people can wake up and realise all they've heared about him is a lie."
Totally agree.
For CCP, it is probably true that Mao is 70% right and 30% wrong. But for the country and its people, Mao is 100% wrong!
Without Mao, without CCP, China would be a much greater country now.
It is understandable that some people yearn the old times under Mao's rule, but I doubt anyone would want to go back to the past.
It is a shame to the country that a muppet like Mao Xinyu can still perform on the stage.
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#26 sorry, but your comments do not make sense. China got nuclear power and this was used by the US to stop the Japanese invasion of China? That is the most convoluted, cock-eyed view of history I have ever seen. The US developed their own atomic bomb with British help and dropped the thing on Japan to stop a bloody war which was killing many Japanese and Americans. I don#t think it was to stop the Japanese invading China and in fact the Japanese had already invaded China some time before.
You also say "He was a good leader during the war time, although he economy policy costed millions of people's lifes." His economic policy cost millions of people's lives but he was still a great leader? What do you have to do in China to be a bad leader? Again, backwards reasoning - he might kill you but that does not make him a bad leader. I give up. There is no reasoning with this sort of mentality.
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If you study Mao enough, you will find that he had actually done many things that the current government wouldn't want you to know - he actually thanked the Japanese who invaded in WWII and he once advocated the breaking up of China into separate countries (Taiwan? Tibet??).
Of course many of us know there's no so-called natural disaster. Mao is ultimately responsible for the millions died in the Great Leap Forward.
The 'compromised' 70% verdict is rubbish and Chinese people should remember how all those disasters could had been avoided.
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Fascina ting set of comments - real sense of debate about the historical importance of Mao.
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You tried to interview him James ?
I suspect he couldn't speak English, that's why he didn't answer any of your questions
Try speaking Mandarin next time
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"No Chairman Mao, no new China!"
Of course not. Any contribution Mao might have made to the creation of modern china is purely accidental.
If you told me that when Mao instigated the "Great Leap Forward" he actually expected to create a semi-capitalistic and industry-based economy that actually thrives on the free trade of goods to other countries? Why'd he kill off all the intellectuals then? Not to mention making everyone live on farms?
In a state which does not believe in God, you worship Mao way too much.
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To MidnightJunkie:
In a state which claims believing in God, but doing or supporting something that "God" will not feel happy, it makes God embarrased ...
Jurish, Muslims and Christians believe in the same God, but why there are so many wars among them today? Tell me which war today does not involve them?
God feels very sad today...
But because Chairman Mao, Chinese people can live peacefully in China. There is no war, no starvation, no other country dares to invade China ... You can try if you like!
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Hi, James. I think every nation has things that outsiders find very difficult to understand. For example, I, as a Chinese, find it quite difficult to understand why Princess Diana is still so much adored by many British people. Yes, I know she is very pretty, or perhaps, beautiful. But apart from that, what other achievements had she got? As for the kind of care and interest that many Chinese people show to Mao Xinyu, the only grandson of Mao Zedong, I think it also takes a Chinese to understand.
However, not to be able to understand is one thing -- at least you can still show some sensitivity and respect for the differences you have observed in other cultures. Not to even bother to understand is another thing -- sometimes, I must say, I detect this in the sarcastic tone of James, which, I'm afraid, betrays a kind of Western arrogance towards anything not western.
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To 47.
Obviously they meant that China got Nuclear weapons. These weapons (the nuclear weapons, not China's nuclear weapons) were used against Japan. Once China got the weapons the world no longer dares to pick on them.
Grammatical mistakes which can be easily spotted, my friend.
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@48 heyone.
"he actually thanked the Japanese who invaded in WWII and he once advocated the breaking up of China into separate countries (Taiwan? Tibet??)."
I am not a fan of Mao. But baseless accusations is not the way to do it. During Mao's era China reasserted control over Tibet. China had wars with whoever dared to touch China's land or had the intention to do so. Mao or CCP have never ever want to break China into separate countries. If they did you will not see today's China. You would see probabaly 10 countries on the same piece of land. Mao thanked Japanese invation? The sun must come out from the west on that day.
Mate, learn little bit more about China, would you?
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Frankly James, I find that you have very few, if any, positive comments RE: China on this blog. It's starting to get a bit tiresome don't you think?
When without news of substantial negativity RE: China, you poke fun with stories like this one, or the one about the altered photographs. We're supposed to assume that it's your dry British humor finding it all a bit drole. I'll believe your alleged objectivity when I see it James. Humor me with a positive article on occasion, at least?
RE: this man ... he is no more guilty of receiving undeserved privileges and position in life than the British royal family, including that foul-mouthed Harry who has certainly made news recently with regard to his offensive remarks on those who choose to wear a turban. I suppose his brown-shirt-wearing party days are not too far behind him. Better a simpleton like Mao's grandson getting a few extra dumplings at lunch than an institution which shall uselessly perpetuate itself for generations to come in Britain, don't you think?
Now how about something positive about the Chinese New Year? Aren't dumplings and fireworks great? All of us here in the US will be trying to watch the CCTV gala with great anticipation. If you're wise, you'll get a good interpreter and do the same ... and enjoy yourself. The last song is always a tear-jerker (nan wang jin xiao)!
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the most popular blog of the year in China? with just over 10,000 hits/visits in total since Mista Mao Jr. established his blog? it does not make any sense to me. again, can Mista Reynolds investigate? peace up
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#56 funnyanotherblogger
Sounds like a very official account of Mao? Of course your text books tell you everything you're supposed to know.
Read more about his early life and some of his earlier writings and you'll be surprised.
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There is nothing wrong with a child calling his gran god. But to make everyone else believe that your gran is god - this is selfish.
Selfishness extends further when one has ruling power - people are forced to say that your gran is god and worship him, people disagree and refuse to do so result in them being persecuted etc.. If these crimes are the cases, then whether this man god sir is guilty or not should only be judged in an independent court of justice, provided that it is a country run by law.
Oh, if his gran is god, why did he die?
Anyway, not a type that I would look at in a pub. He's not the special envoy to Gaza, is he?
We understand that Mr. Reynolds tries to find himself a blog competitor, just please do make sure it is a decent one.
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Mao?s toxic blunder is his choice of method to stand up against the West. He embraced confrontation instead of openness. As a result China projected the image of a nation with deep rooted animosity and resentment towards the West. And the west became suspicious and distrustful
of China?s closeness and attitude.
where as Mahatma Gandhi embraced non-violence and openess. And got India independent from the jaws of the British Empire with Indians greet ancient culture, tradition history and religion intact. And today the two nations are enjoying very cordial relationship.
Gandhi ji is greatly respected from all conners of the World and he is greatly loved by his people.
c.t.
n.y.
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Mao chose confrontation instead of openess? Did he or CCP or China as a nation have any choice? You think the western power in its cold war mood would accept a country run by a bounch of communists? Who defeated their long term friend KMT? When neutral countries such as Sweden started diplomatic ties with the newly established PRC they were threatened with sanctions by the USA.
Was India a friend of USA since it was established? They were more close to Soviet Union back in the past.
China is an independent country with herown policy. The country has stood up against all major powers. Like it or not, China is growing strong. All the best to PRC.
Learn some real history pls. It is far more complcated than what you perceived.
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@Heyone
You think we only know Mao from text book? You know too little about Chinese socienty. His early writings? We have learnt too much of every little part of his life. If Mao did thank Japanese for their invation of China then he would not be able to claim any leadership within CCP. CCP is not a forgiving party especially in the past. He would have been treated as a traitor.
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@61.
Mao's gradson is not mentally fit. He might believe his grandfather was a living god and still a god after he passed away. Most Chinese do not believe any living god of anykind. Mao is a human with lots of mistakes especially in his late political life.
Tibetans in TAR still worship Mao because it was Mao who liberated them from serfdom and slavery. They have Mao's photo hang up in their rooms. As I said Mao is a 50-50 polititian. Some major achievements and some major mistakes.
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And there was I thinking it was Mr Bean or Benny Hill, tut tut.. oh well so much for an education wasted.
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As a native Chinese, I know little about this guy and have no interest at all. Personally, I think Chairman Mao is a great learderer even if he failed in his late years although I like Zhou Enlai and Deng xiaoping better than him.
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It is not a singularly extraordinary achievement that Mao united China. The British united India. Abraham Lincoln united America.
And to give the impression that China was so victimized by the British and America is not creditable. Even at the height of Mao?s power, China was perceived as too war torn and fragmented to be a threat or asset. During the War, America and the British was on the Chinese side and fighting against the Japanese invasion of China. And it was the A-bomb that spared China from a possible invasion or long, bloody and costly war.
It is an accepted fact that Mao was not an expert military strategist nor did his successors convinced that Mao?s political philosophy was invulnerable to the advancing world events. Indeed the countries that once greatly reverenced Mao began to decline or deteriorate altogether. And apart from support to North korea , and Vietnam in 1970s,Mao's China influenced little military power out side it?s own border(well apart from some neighborly skirmishes). Infact Mao?s greatest military power was turned inward.
C.T.N.Y
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First, his blog seems to be closed or removed. Interesting thing. Second, from the blog content which I had read before the close, I think he is either a stupid man or very arrogant. Those articles, marked written by him, addressed himself as "Colonel Mao"!
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#53,
I would be very surprised if you knew what God was thinking this very moment.
Oh, and by the way, could you please try not to evade my question and answer me if Mao was really thinking of creating the modern China when he started the "Great Leap Forward?" I remember you stating a while back that Mao was directly responsible in creating the China of today.
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#57 I don't know how you people connect blogs with objectivity.
I suppose your main argument would be that since this blog is on the BBC, it should at least be neutral and objective, right? wrong.
Blogs are not meant to be objective. If this was a proper news article, you'd have every right to complain, even file libel charges, even. And remember, the BBC is not solely a news company, it's a broadcasting company.
Oh and by the way, I don't suppose the CCTV is anymore objective than James Reynolds. So much for being the official news agency in China, huh?
Happy Chinese New Year. I'll certainly be enjoying the fireworks and moon cakes.
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#69:
"And it was the A-bomb that spared China from a possible invasion or long, bloody and costly war."
Your history is incorrect. China was invaded by Japan by 1933. The "long, bloody and costly war" you speak of that is WWII, for the Chinese, ran from 1933-1945 and cost millions of Chinese lives.
Your sentence should read: "And it was the A-bomb that spared the U.S. from [having to stage] a possible invasion or long, bloody and costly war [on the Japanese mainland]."
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#72
You're right, my expectations of objectivity for James and the BBC are far too high. I should be ashamed of myself. I never said CCTV was objective. How dare I hold the BBC to a higher bar! I'll remember never to do that again.
Moon cakes aren't eaten around Chinese New Year, although they are quite tasty. They are typically served around the Middle Autumn Festival. But you should certainly enjoy the dumplings, fireworks, and CCTV New Years Gala. :-)
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