'Wiping Sweat Gate' Breaks_中国实时报_华尔街日报_wsj.co...

来源:百度文库 编辑:神马文学网 时间:2024/07/05 17:14:39
When temperatures hit sweltering highs in south-central China's city of Wuhan, the political commissar for the local traffic police helpfully wiped sweat off officers' brows.

The gesture was caught on camera and published in the local newspaper, where it was hailed as a noble display of concern by the Communist Party for toiling workers.

Though such an intimate gesture would perhaps draw stares elsewhere, it's seen as an acceptable way for superiors to display care for subordinates. Despite decades of political and social upheaval, China still has lingering hierarchical Confucian habits.

But then the story took an unexpected turn. Prominent Chinese blogger Zhang Hongfeng (in Chinese and translated into English by ChinaHush) questioned the scenario. He wrote that a local policeman told him the whole thing was a propaganda setup. The traffic cops had been standing at attention half an hour in the sun waiting for the commissar to come and wipe their sweat for the cameras.

Thus was born the latest Internet scandal: Wiping-Sweat-Gate.

Newspapers interviewed the commissar. He defended himself, saying the cops just happened to be in the neighborhood. The anonymous tipster shot back that traffic cops don't tend to cluster like that.

Other than learning that it's OK for you to wipe your colleague's brow in public when he or she overheats, what's noteworthy here is what this shows about the growing skepticism of China's public.

Propaganda photos like this are routinely used to reinforce the paternalistic image of the Communist Party caring for its citizens. Selling the party is getting a little harder.