# Putin's China flap- I don't get the controversy.. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 12, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putins-china-flap-i-dont-get-the-controversy/704408 "2014-11-12T02:57:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putins-china-flap-i-dont-get-the-controversy/704408/1 "2014-11-12T02:57:36Z")
Seems like a tempest in a teapot to me. Can anyone explain whats wrong with a gentlemen assisting a lady with a shawl? Geez, check out this blatantly[misleading freeze frame](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/11/11/1415695619328_Image_galleryImage_BEIJING_CHINA_NOVEMBER_10.JPG). [Here it is in context.](http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/vwZRiKPXQwoOW4C6IBJ6Nw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTM3NztweG9mZj01MDtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz02NzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/b99517c95d2f182c650f6a706700f8ab.jpg) Completely relaxed moment. Putin has a heavy jacket on too.[It must have been cold.](http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE0LzExLzExL2U3L3B1dGluMi5mMTg1MC5qcGcKcAl0aHVtYgkxMjAweDk2MDA-/19f9f744/379/putin2.jpg) Whats up with this? Do the Chinese have some phobia about being offered a shawl? 😕 btw, Putin must of been in a good mood. He even [gave Obama a pat on the shoulder.](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/11/11/1415725736954_wps_53_epa04484678_US_President_.jpg) > **[Cut the shawl talk: Chinese censors wipe Putin’s move on China’s first lady |...](https://www.cnn.com/2014/11/11/world/asia/putin-liyuan-shawl-apec/index.html)** > > Russian President Vladimir Putin creates a flap when he places a shawl on the shoulders of China’s first lady. > [@](#): > > Putin caught on camera placing shawl over shoulders of Chinese leader’s wife > > Censors were quick to delete comments on Chinese social media > > CCTV anchor said: “President Putin has placed a coat on Peng Liyuan” > [@](#): > > A smiling Peng kindly accepted the offer, but seconds later deftly slipped the shawl off into the hands of a waiting aide. > > The small act of chivalry, quickly but politely rebuffed, unfolded live on state television, with voiceover from a CCTV anchor stating simply: “President Putin has placed a coat on Peng Liyuan.” ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putins-china-flap-i-dont-get-the-controversy/704408/2 "2014-11-12T04:00:07Z")
I get the vague sense that it’s a more intimate act than we might perceive… that only a husband or family member should do so. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putins-china-flap-i-dont-get-the-controversy/704408/3 "2014-11-12T04:14:56Z")
It seems like just a friendly gesture to Westerners and I’m sure Putin meant it that way. But apparently it’s perceived differently in China. From what I’m reading, in China doing things like this for a wife is considered part of the husband’s role. And that’s been reinforced lately because the Chinese media has made a point of showing Xi doing little personal services like this for Peng to reinforce their public image as China’s first couple. So to Chinese eyes this was Putin doing something for Peng that people would normally see Xi doing - which made it seem a lot more intimate than was intended. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putins-china-flap-i-dont-get-the-controversy/704408/4 "2014-11-12T05:49:23Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It seems like just a friendly gesture to Westerners and I’m sure Putin meant it that way. But apparently it’s perceived differently in China. > > From what I’m reading, in China doing things like this for a wife is considered part of the husband’s role. And that’s been reinforced lately because the Chinese media has made a point of showing Xi doing little personal services like this for Peng to reinforce their public image as China’s first couple. > > So to Chinese eyes this was Putin doing something for Peng that people would normally see Xi doing - which made it seem a lot more intimate than was intended. Yeah…I’m seconding this. I’m a “westerner” living in a “Chinese” society… \*\*As a westerner, \*\*I would think nothing of offering my coat to a friend - even to the extent of “forcing” it on her IF I knew she was cold and just being polite to refuse. However, as a “westerner” I would never place my coat around an "acquaintance, or worse, the wife of a business contact without first asking very politely for permission. It strikes me as rather presumptuous. I also feel, that in this sort of situation at an International Political summit, it is something of a “power play” for a foreign leader to “force” a jacket on another leaders wife (it seems obvious he didn’t ask / offfer) - it seems at best insensitive, and at worst a rather deliberate insult / attempt to usurp the power of China’s leader. In short - I can see why the censors would be pissed, think annoyance on the part of China would be fully justified and also think the China first lady handled it with decorum. Not to mention that Putin is being an overbearing boor. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putins-china-flap-i-dont-get-the-controversy/704408/5 "2014-11-12T13:46:20Z")
That clears it up nicely. Thank you for setting me straight. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putins-china-flap-i-dont-get-the-controversy/704408/6 "2014-11-12T15:38:17Z")
I think it’s sort of like when Dubya gave the German president a shoulder massage that time. It implied a level of intimacy that was not there. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putins-china-flap-i-dont-get-the-controversy/704408/7 "2014-11-12T16:09:48Z")
The shawl gesture. The pat on Obama’s shoulder… Russians can be very charming and disarming in this respect. It’s usually quite genuine and equally calculating. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putins-china-flap-i-dont-get-the-controversy/704408/8 "2014-11-12T16:22:52Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > The shawl gesture. The pat on Obama’s shoulder… And then come the foot massages. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putins-china-flap-i-dont-get-the-controversy/704408/9 "2014-11-12T16:26:11Z")
> [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > And then come the foot massages. …in the Turkish baths. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putins-china-flap-i-dont-get-the-controversy/704408/10 "2014-11-12T17:01:53Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > \*\*As a westerner, \*\*I would think nothing of offering my coat to a friend - even to the extent of “forcing” it on her IF I knew she was cold and just being polite to refuse. However, as a “westerner” I would never place my coat around an "acquaintance, or worse, the wife of a business contact without first asking very politely for permission. It strikes me as rather presumptuous. I also feel, that in this sort of situation at an International Political summit, it is something of a “power play” for a foreign leader to “force” a jacket on another leaders wife (it seems obvious he didn’t ask / offfer) - it seems at best insensitive, and at worst a rather deliberate insult / attempt to usurp the power of China’s leader. As a female Westerner living in a Western society, if a guy who’s not allowed to take them off put clothes on me I’d be pretty pissed. But then, Putin has long struck me as one of those people who overstep other people’s boundaries all the time and if you say anything, it’s you who is being “too sensitive”, he was “just being friendly!” ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putins-china-flap-i-dont-get-the-controversy/704408/11 "2014-11-12T18:32:43Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > As a female Westerner living in a Western society, if a guy who’s not allowed to take them off put clothes on me I’d be pretty pissed. But then, Putin has long struck me as one of those people who overstep other people’s boundaries all the time and if you say anything, it’s you who is being “too sensitive”, he was “just being friendly!” This was political theater on a world stage. It will play well at home for him. Even better if the west continues to react provincially. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putins-china-flap-i-dont-get-the-controversy/704408/12 "2014-11-12T19:00:31Z")
I think even in the West, if a woman’s husband (or gay man’s husband for that matter) is sitting right there then taking the liberty of doing his manly/spousal chivalrous duty is insulting and in Putin’s case, I wouldn’t be surprised if it weren’t a deliberate case of pissing on another man’s leg, as it were.