Gosh, I guess some people must think we are dangerous “commies“! There we were, in the middle of that military, dictatorial communist regime! Worse, waving and excited!
Not that I care, ignorance for many is a bliss. Some people are so damned paranoid and fail to grasp what is going on here.
Of course I also fume (openly) about certain things here, like the airtight shutdown of the Internet (OK, not so airtight if you know how and willing to pay for it). There is also enough paranoia here.
For sure the Parade served its purpose but according to the Chinese textbook. It was first of all for domestic consumption – make all Chinese feel proud (and nationalistic), show unity, progress and prosperity (even if…). Must say, they succeeded. The vast majority of Chinese people felt great – and proud to participate.
The floats are now on display on Tiananmen Square. In 2 days 1.5 million people visited the square. All enthusiastic.
But China also sent a message to the world: “I do it on my terms, you like it or not”. China has now progressed that far that it wants to make clear it is s force to be reckoned with. If some complain it all looked a bit like a Nazi parade, Beijing really doesn’t give a damn.
In other words, a very open expression of self confidence. Sitting on 2 trillion USD of reserves of course helps. So does having an economy that is less hot than before but still growing. While the rest of the world wonders (me including) if the recovery is a U or rather a W.
OK, now I just hope it’s all finally over and done with. No more 2008 Olympics, no more 60 Anniversary. Let’s hope Beijing returns to normal again, it was nice but we can really miss the mess that goes along with it.
So, when will Facebook be back by the way? And Youtube?