I’m the last one to be a China fanboy, and I have no problem stating the various ways that China is fucked up.
But this story still seems odd. It’s not like America, where a kid with a particularly good sob story can end up at the Mayo Clinic. An ordinary person going to a top Chinese military hospital is roughly equivalent to you and I being able to take a ride on Airport One because the commercial flights were not convient. These facilities simply do not serve ordinary people. Even when “ordinary” people (often foreigners) can gain admittance, it’s strictly cash-up-front and far beyond anyone approaching normal’s means.
Let’s put it this way- I went to the best top-notch hospital in my city of three million people. It had some modern equipment, such as a relatively new MRI machine. It also so many people in it that every hall was lined two or three deep with people in beds trying to sleep in the haze of cigarette smoke coming from the hundreds of people camped in the halls. The head trauma room was like a nightmare- not sterile in any way, soaked in blood, just absolutely horrifying. Bandages, needles, dressings…even sheets…needed to be purchased upfront. It was a hellish place to be. And this was the good hospital, the one they sent foreigners to.
the DETAILS seem odd
1)It’s not hard to believe a 2 year old is run over in China
2)Nor is it hard to believe nobody would help
3)It is impossible that a poor unknown child goes to the best hospital
4)It is very lucky perhaps too lucky that this happens on CCTV
-The problem is…are we to believe somebody actually set up a 2 year old to get hit by a truck, twice? I think somebody with PULL got invovled very quickly, and arranged for the child to go to the best hospital, and so on. Perhaps the city is trying to cover up a local government scandal and decided that this was the best way out of it.
-I don’t see,even the CCP, hiring 3 actors, creating back stories, and using a 2 year old as the fall guy. Seems too many actors for good agitprop.
Let us not forget that China has a much lower crime rate than the United States, and that the Chinese have a low crime rate wherever in the world they live.
I have encountered mention of this on another website. I suspect that it is emphasized by those who want to justify their hostility for China and Chinese.
MSNBC is reporting the child died. That’s the kind of commitment to a role we haven’t seen since John Malkovich prepared for his role in Being John Malkovich by spending his entire life being John Malkovich.
the people in the video may have a very real fear for not wanting to help. what are the justifications for those who would be hostile against more than 1/6th of the total world population by the actions of a handful?
What are the mechanics of the suspected hoax, anyway? Staged scene, real toddler introduced, then jump-cut to… what? Midget stuntman? Tiny crash-test dummy? Or is the whole thing CGI?
Do you really think with $100 or so, you couldn’t produce an equally convincing video? I’m sure I could, and I’m sure Chinese people are just as clever as I am.
This is the country that builds absolutely empty cities. The country that probably bred Yao Ming. The country that put huge banners of blue skies and green hills all over smoggy overbuilt Beijing. A little slight of hand is nothing. It’s absolutely nothing. Illusion is routine in China.
I’d imagine the mechanics would be that some university media majors put together the video to sell to the news for beer money, and the video goes viral and everyone is talking about it. The government, realizing this is a big thing, feels compelled to take control of the story and does some spin control. They go to the local hospitals and find a likely looking young girl with head injuries and promise the parents top-notch care in exchange for playing a bit of a role. At this point, the parent’s don’t have a huge amount of choice. The BBC gets invited in to the carefully prepared hospital room, the mother gives some canned speeches (the stuff she says is borderline ridiculous) and cost everyone is happy.
The simple old granny rag picker with a heart of gold is very, very precious. It’s a classic stock character in Maoist mythology. The story here is that we are all so wrapped up in wealth and status that our hearts have gone bad, and we need to go back to the happy humility and goodness of the barefoot poor heros. A timely little story for a time when news of economic slowdown is hitting the presses.
Now, I have no idea if this is what happened or not. But it’s not completely outside the realm of possibility.
but the majority of the chinese populi look heartless at best, evil at worst. Such a thing is th e opposite of what a harmonic society wishes to spread to the world. Chinese hands know what I mean… Why would a CCP wish to spread such a messege?
This has been said of every conspiracy theory ever, which usually get eviscerated (rightfully) on these boards. Without evidence you shouldn’t posit it.
So far, the vast majority of skepticism seems to focus on the Chinese government’s embrace of propaganda, rather than on the video itself. I’d like to hear some technical analysis of exactly what gives it away as fake. I’ve watched it several times now, and I really don’t see any obvious cut or shift at the point of impact, as China Guy claims he can detect. It looks sickeningly real to my eyes. If there are telltale signs of manipulation, I wish someone would point them out in detail.
Conspiracies happen in America, too. Doesn’t mean the moon landing was faked or 9/11 was an inside job. Skepticism is a positive thing, but after a certain point, it starts to sound like the kind of rationalizations Bible literalists use to justify their worldview in the face of the overwhelming evidence against them.
I didn’t say they don’t. I’m saying “It’s not outside the realm of possibility” is so meaningless that it should never be uttered by anyone trying to make an argument. If you are making the claim that the video is faked, you need to find some evidence, not a hypothetical. People have made hypotheticals that the moon landing was done on a sound stage, but they’re wrong.
Check out “Ancient Aliens” on the so-called “history” channel, “it’s not outside the realm of possibility” is the crazy panelists’ go-to line, literally every other sentence starts with it.