From China Daily, My Favorite Newspaper on Earth™, with several related manifestations of hyper-earnest Chinese "soft power" all at once:
My favorite part of this story about China's new leader is the headline, and my favorite part of the picture is the coordinated attire and natural-looking poses.
Note for insiders: the gentlemen shown above are the "Magnificent Seven," the newly announced members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo who constitute China's supreme leadership. The man in the non-regulation attire on the right -- not a black windbreaker but some kind of sports coat, with buttons -- is a veteran of US-China negotiations named Wang Qishan. He was also the only one of the seven to daringly wear a blue rather than a red necktie when the lineup of the group was announced in Beijing last month. Some people are born rebels.
AFP/Getty photograph, as noted here; thanks to WY and BB.
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James Fallows is a national correspondent 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 new book Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into the Heart of America, which has been a New York Times best-seller and is the basis of a forthcoming HBO documentary.