Surest sign of political progress in China: Humour :)

[Watercooler]

When we talk about the problems with the Chinese political order, it's usually human rights, lack of democracy and censorship. All true, but I think there is also something else, humour. As in having a sense of humour, or lack thereof.

When we look at Chinese leaders, they are usually stiff and dull mannequins, looking pretty much alike (even if there are sharp differences in thinking between them). They actually harboured cunning and scheming minds behind their dim exterior, but from the outside, they are the prototypical humourless and grim authoritarian leaders.

Which is why it's interesting to observe the reaction in China of Obama's White House correspondent dinner. This dinner has a tradition where the president pokes fun at himself and sharing a laugh with the invited media guests as a result, a break from the usual serious and sober tone between them. Some jokes are quite funny, other jokes are not so funny, you can decide:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON2XWvyePH8

What is interesting is how this has become all the rage in China. The Chinese are pleasantly amused and surprised that a political leader (of the most powerful country in the world, no less) can share such humour quite openly. They think it makes him more accessible to the common people and show self-confidence, comparing him to Chinese officials, who are seen as overbearing and lazy:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_1...savvy-chinese/

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2...nese-audience/

Which brings to mind one thing. The surest sign of political progress is if these Chinese leaders can also display a degree of self-deprecating humour. It will reveal they are in in touch with the common folks but also reflect a greater acceptance of transparency. After all, to appreicate humble humour, you must also accept flaws in the the character of the leaders (and the country), and that so far is a big no-no in China.

Or is it merely a matter of culture? Confucian culture place the stress on hierarchical order, there isn't any room for a sense of humour in China. The emperor is there to be obeyed and followed. The very term "sense of humour" in Chinese was imported from Japanese because Chinese did'nt have such a concept. After all, if you look at the uber-serious folks in HK, you can be forgiven for thinking they really don't know how to laugh at a joke.

[Azuremain]

The day China kicked them commie heathens in the Yellow or South China Sea is the first sign of progress.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using GeoClicks mobile app

[chris_yang22]

I've been saying it since I got here. People here need to loosen up, lighten up, have more fun, relax.... Whatever you want to call it. I understand it is difficult in a such an expensive city, with everyone working their ass off just to make a buck -- but I really do believe Hong Kong people need to have much more fun. It's really too uptight for my taste!

[virago]

The human side of China's political leaders are shown every night there when they plaster one of the leaders for 20 minutes 'meeting the people', talking to the people and generally interested in the common Chinese.

I don't want to see Wen Jiabao in a crowd of people again! The amount of times I saw this I thought does he do anything else except these publicity stunts?

On the other side the general Chinese people are humourous, funny and social and love to enjoy themselves.

[Watercooler]

The human side of China's political leaders are shown every night there when they plaster one of the leaders for 20 minutes 'meeting the people', talking to the people and generally interested in the common Chinese.

I don't want to see Wen Jiabao in a crowd of people again! The amount of times I saw this I thought does he do anything else except these publicity stunts?

On the other side the general Chinese people are humourous, funny and social and love to enjoy themselves.

There might be a slight mix-up in your terms, What you described is the "propaganda" side, not "human side" of Chinese leaders.

That being said, I think I can understand why Chinese leaders tend to keep a stiff appearance in public. The CCP does have a bad record of charismatic leaders (namely Mao & the Gang of Four; and to a much lesser extent, Bo Xilai), who were meglomanics with dire consequences for the country. So I suppose Chinese leaders will tend to stick to the reserve side of things when in public as a reaction. Still, it would'nt hurt the leaders show a more human face every now and then. And not in the typical propagandistic ways (which no longer is as effective as before, we are dealing with an increasingly cynical Chinese public).

[HKITperson]

Do you have a whole stash tucked away somewhere?

[ouwen]

the family members of many top leaders of CCP and celebrities are green card holders, and they will also become US citizen after retirement

Stupid, really stupid.

[ouwen]

When we talk about the problems with the Chinese political order, it's usually human rights, lack of democracy and censorship. All true, but I think there is also something else, humour. As in having a sense of humour, or lack thereof.

When we look at Chinese leaders, they are usually stiff and dull mannequins, looking pretty much alike (even if there are sharp differences in thinking between them). They actually harboured cunning and scheming minds behind their dim exterior, but from the outside, they are the prototypical humourless and grim authoritarian leaders.

Which is why it's interesting to observe the reaction in China of Obama's White House correspondent dinner. This dinner has a tradition where the president pokes fun at himself and sharing a laugh with the invited media guests as a result, a break from the usual serious and sober tone between them. Some jokes are quite funny, other jokes are not so funny, you can decide:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON2XWvyePH8

What is interesting is how this has become all the rage in China. The Chinese are pleasantly amused and surprised that a political leader (of the most powerful country in the world, no less) can share such humour quite openly. They think it makes him more accessible to the common people and show self-confidence, comparing him to Chinese officials, who are seen as overbearing and lazy:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_1...savvy-chinese/

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2...nese-audience/

Which brings to mind one thing. The surest sign of political progress is if these Chinese leaders can also display a degree of self-deprecating humour. It will reveal they are in in touch with the common folks but also reflect a greater acceptance of transparency. After all, to appreicate humble humour, you must also accept flaws in the the character of the leaders (and the country), and that so far is a big no-no in China.

Or is it merely a matter of culture? Confucian culture place the stress on hierarchical order, there isn't any room for a sense of humour in China. The emperor is there to be obeyed and followed. The very term "sense of humour" in Chinese was imported from Japanese because Chinese did'nt have such a concept. After all, if you look at the uber-serious folks in HK, you can be forgiven for thinking they really don't know how to laugh at a joke.

China really needs to be represented by morons like George Bush jr or Hillary Clinton. Maybe you could get Timothy Geithner. The last time he was in China making a presentation to University students, the students were really laughing out loud. The only problem being that he was not joking, he was seriously explaining US monetary policy, and the value of the US dollar.

You need to learn to appreciate what you have, like the beauty of Peng LiYuan

[ouwen]

The day China kicked them commie heathens in the Yellow or South China Sea is the first sign of progress.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using GeoClicks mobile app

You sound like the product of Hoover/McCarthy era US public school social studies, used to produce brain washed American morons. Remember to only kill the yellow, brown and red people. Not the white people because they are "free", and not the black people, because we need them to pick cotton.

[Azuremain]

You sound like the product of Hoover/McCarthy era US public school social studies, used to produce brain washed American morons. Remember to only kill the yellow, brown and red people. Not the white people because they are "free", and not the black people, because we need them to pick cotton.

Sorry, I'm not the gifted rhetoric and highly respected President Ronald Reagan famous for his wit and disarming cold war humour about Commie shortcomings and insanity. He would sure find some apropriate words for today's China, but he's prolly looking down on us from his cloud now and having a good laugh about how naive the world is with China.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using GeoClicks mobile app