Oba Mao: China has Obama’s number
Some entrepreneur in China has designed a hot little item just in time for Obama’s Asian tour. Feast your eyes:
In case you can’t quite tell, let me explain that the T-shirt shows President Obama in the uniform of the Red Guard. I would say that this shows remarkable insight into personality (including “the cult of…”) on the part of whatever Chinese genius thought of this marketing ploy. But the T-shirt has caused trouble because authorities are clamping down on sellers, fearing it will embarrass the visiting President.
In general, though, the Chinese seem somewhat underawed by the prospect of the visit:
A survey by China’s leading Web portal Sohu.com and the English newspaper China Daily asked, “What’s your viewpoint on Obama’s visit to China?” Almost 40 percent of respondents said “I don’t care” or “I have no expectations.”
When asked “On what issues do you think China and America will reach more agreements after Obama’s trip?” 56 percent answered, “I don’t think the two countries will reach any more agreements.”
And when our NBC News team went to Wangfujing, one of Beijing’s most popular shopping areas, to speak with people about Obama’s visit, more than half of the people we approached were unaware he was coming.
that’s only cause an anagram would be racist…
Obamabo…
or perhaps…
the poltics
Obamao
the dance
Obamambo
the island man
Obamabo
the breakfast drink
Obamapo
the new species of shark
Obamako
the new car painting company
Obamacco
the new instrument
Obamaphone
the new drink flavoring
Obamadine
lets get the merchandising go before they nationalize it to pay for some rare fish or snail, or perhaps a bacterium… (at what size do we stop)
there is a movie called Mabo – Life of an Island Man…
(so if anyone wants to comment, see the director)
icarusfilms.com/new98/mabo.html
I wonder what the Chinese text on the shirt says.
How long before our own people see?
Cultural note: The Chinese will always be underwhelmed by any foreign visitor. Obama is no different. He’s just another foreign devil there to pay his tribute to the Middle Kingdom. Should he repeat his bow to Hu Jintao that he did to Emperor Akihito, Obama would only confirm his subservient status to the latest Son of Heaven. Thus it has been in China for at least 2,000 years, whether there was an Emperor, a Warlord, a Generalissimo, or a Chairman in charge, and it won’t change any time soon. This is not some “racist” fear-mongering towards the Chinese. It’s a cultural aspect of the Chinese psyche and civilization that should be kept in mind by all who have serious dealings with Mainland (especially) companies or the PRC government. Any outside negotiator forgets this at his (and his company’s/government’s) peril.
Like ricki, I wonder what the shirt says.
Obamao?
From the article linked, “T-shirts that superimposed Obama’s face over that of China’s late Chairman Mao Zedong on the front, and the words “Oba Mao” on the back.”
A friend of mine with Chinese connections (educational exchanges) tells me that people there can’t understand how someone could denigrate their own country.They see him as a fool.
I just returned from 2 weeks in China. Two weeks do not an expert make, but I can share some impressions.
1. There is not as much freedom there as I expected. The government owns 98% of the real estate. All buildings sit on leased land. There are many government owned high rise apartment buildings where the heat and electricity is governmment controlled (and rationed!)
2. The young people I came in contact with are bright, energetic, ambitious, and optimistic. They also believe China is the emerging economic power of the world. They know a censored version of the Mao years. One young man told me Mao was a great man who made great mistakes. Mao is entombed in Tianamen square much as Lenin was in Red Square. There are thousands whop view his corpse everyday. The young man was also not conversant with the massacre in Tianamen Square. The young also believe Tibet has always been a natural part of China.
3. They have built an enormous number of new buildings, roads, railroads, airprts, and power plants in the last 20 years. What they have failed to do is build a decent under structure (sewer and water.) Stayed in five star hotels and the tap water was not safe to drink. Modern airport restrooms had holes in the floor and the toilet paper could not be put in the hole but in a waste basket provided for that purpose. I call this the “big diamonds and ragged underwear” model of economic wealth.
4. The growth has come at huge price of environmental degradation. The air and water are polluted. In Beijing the smog is as bad as anything I’ve ever seen and I was in LA back in the 50s when they used smudge pots to keep the orange groves from freezing.
5. They are very enterprising. Everywhere you go you are accosted by street vendors selling everything from Mao’s Red Book to kites. They are not unfriendly toward Laowais (White Devils) as long as there is money to be made.
6. English is pretty common in the cities. A lot of people speak and understand at least some words. It would be nice if more of our young people were learning Chinese. We will need it going forward.
7. Can China continue to grow as if on steroids? IMO it’s an open question at this time. They keep on building, but there are huge problems – Not enough food production, pollution, an aging population (1 child policy), Tibet and the far west (Uigher area), and more.
All-in-all, a fascinating and surprising place to visit. I don’t think most of them care too much about Obama. they are only interested in whether he will be good for their economic welfare. In their opinion it is too soon to tell. (They have no inkling of the devastation he is trying to wreak here.)
J.J. formerly Jimmy J.
so your saying the truth, even what you can see, is more like what i am saying, than what others are saying.
Art,
Yep, what I could see in a short time was a country with big ambitions, but a lack of true freedom and a some purvasive rot under the surface. If that’s close to your thesis, then we agree.