(See update below.) The Chinese state-controlled TV network shows the launch of China's latest ambitious "Tiangong-1" satellite to the stately orchestral strains of....
... America the Beautiful.
I am posting this in the middle of the night my time because I have no idea how long it will be until someone in CCTV HQ happens to notice. Tragically, no embeddable link. (That's just a screen shot, above. Won't play if you click.) And no way I can capture it for posterity. But if you see this in time, try the link.
Ah international harmony. Ah soft power. Good luck, 天宫-1!
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Update-update: Someone finally noticed, and by two days after the launch CCTV had removed the 'America the Beautiful' sound track. Sigh.
Update: I see that the Guardian has a story about this. The embed below comes from their site.
Update-update: Someone finally noticed, and by two days after the launch CCTV had removed the 'America the Beautiful' sound track. Sigh.
Update: I see that the Guardian has a story about this. The embed below comes from their site.
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James Fallows is a staff writer for The Atlantic and has written for the magazine since the late 1970s. He has reported extensively from outside the United States and once worked as President Carter's chief speechwriter. He and his wife, Deborah Fallows, are the authors of the 2018 book Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into the Heart of America, which was a national best seller and is the basis of a forthcoming HBO documentary.