[Driew]

Wow...first the fireworks now this?! I'd curious to see how you guys spin this one...

[HispanicCausinPanic]

I think it's funny! What's not funny is the government probably took the little girl who was too ugly to sing to some sort of concentration camp for the rest of her life! I'll think of her the next time I read......." Made In China"!

[ProZach]

I didn't have a problem with the fireworks thing, but to do this to a 7 year old girl....

"The audience will understand that it's in the national interest," Chen Qigang said in a video of the interview posted online Sunday night.

That's pretty ****ed up right there...

As concerned as they are about looks, the country looks pretty hideous after that.

[hasoos]

Well, hey it worked wonders for Milli Vanilli's career didn't it?

:smoothcriminal:

[B_&_B]

I'm not cute enough to post on in this forum anymore. Moving forward, HCP will stand in and lip sync my posts.

[2k]

Corporate Americhina is one nation. In the 50 states we do this Mili Vanili style.

[HispanicCausinPanic]

Originally Posted by B_&_B

I'm not cute enough to post on in this forum anymore. Moving forward, HCP will stand in and lip sync my posts.

Come on man. I couldn't do your words of knowledge justice at all! I would make you say GO DUCKS!

[MARIS61]

Besides showing the world that the US isn't the only Superpower that's ruled by utter morons, I question their qualifications for judging beauty in 7 year-old girls.

Yang Peiyi is cute as a button.

[ATLien]

I never totally got that expression.

Buttons aren't cute!

[MARIS61]

Originally Posted by ATLien

I never totally got that expression.

Buttons aren't cute!

They're cuter than a bug's ear!

[Hector]

They are "clean as a whistle." You know, that thing full of spit.

[angrypuppy]

It was very symbolic.

They massage their entertainment the same way they massage their "information".

[maxiep]

Originally Posted by angrypuppy

It was very symbolic.

They massage their entertainment the same way they massage their "information".

It blows my mind how the media is ignoring much of the dark side of China. I recall seeing several stories about the blight of Atlanta just outside the shining structures built for the Olympics. Where are the tales of human rights abuses? Where is the discussion of the environmental damage done to move China into the 21st century? Why has no one brought up the massacre at Tiananmen Square when they broadcast from there?

I despise double standards. If we're going to be called out on every little thing, why are the Chinese immune?

[mook]

David Brooks wrote a really interesting article (before this story broke) about the fundamental difference in outlook between individualistic cultures (ours, some of Western Europe) and collectivistic cultures (China, Asia):
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/op...=1&oref=slogin

This is a divide that goes deeper than economics into the way people perceive the world. If you show an American an image of a fish tank, the American will usually describe the biggest fish in the tank and what it is doing. If you ask a Chinese person to describe a fish tank, the Chinese will usually describe the context in which the fish swim.

These sorts of experiments have been done over and over again, and the results reveal the same underlying pattern. Americans usually see individuals; Chinese and other Asians see contexts.
....
The individualistic countries tend to put rights and privacy first. People in these societies tend to overvalue their own skills and overestimate their own importance to any group effort. People in collective societies tend to value harmony and duty. They tend to underestimate their own skills and are more self-effacing when describing their contributions to group efforts.

Really good read. My excerpts don't do it justice.

Anyway, maybe the "ugly" Chinese girl (and her family and the Chinese government) felt like she was providing her small skill to add to greater harmony, and actually appearing at the presentation didn't really matter. It wasn't about individual accolade, but adding to the greater good.

I'm not trying to justify this perspective. (I personally think how she was used was obnoxious. I have a more individualistic outlook.) But just because I don't agree with it doesn't mean I can't appreciate the different perspective.