TEHRAN, March 18 -With pictures of ecstatic citizens standing in applause, happily tearful legislators and even a social media game, China’s propaganda drive has kicked into high gear following Xi Jinping’s unanimous reappointment as president.
TEHRAN,Young Journalists Club (YJC) -With pictures of ecstatic citizens standing in applause, happily tearful legislators and even a social media game, China’s propaganda drive has kicked into high gear following Xi Jinping’s unanimous reappointment as president.
Xi’s face dominated the front pages of major Sunday newspapers, many carrying the same editorial from the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily using language once more associated with Mao Zedong to say he was a “leader loved and respected by the people” and “helmsman of the country”.
“The voyage of a great country cannot do without a helmsman,” the paper wrote.
The military’s official People’s Liberation Army Daily pledged its loyalty to Xi in its editorial, saying his election would ensure the country’s long-term peace and stability. Xi is also head of the armed forces, the world’s largest.
There was never any doubt that the largely rubber-stamp parliament would not have re-elected Xi as president on Saturday, especially following a constitutional amendment a week earlier which lifts presidential term limits, meaning Xi can stay on indefinitely.
While the amendment was passed with just six dissenters - two no votes, three abstentions and one invalidated ballot - none of the roughly 3,000 legislators voted against Xi, a point made repeatedly in state media coverage.
State television showed images from the floor in the Great Hall of the People of some legislators in tears after Xi swore an oath to the constitution following his re-election, a vote it described as a “solemn and sacred historic moment”.
Source:Reuters
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