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It's amazing how much impact leaving this information out has.

by maest 7y ago

soneil 7y ago
Indeed. On it's own, it looks like .. I'm not sure "willy-waving" translates into American well. But once you realise they're sending them everywhere, it makes it look more like they've ramped production up to stupifying numbers (which is China's speciality afterall), and have realised their value in goodwill is far beyond their dollar value. (or, yes, propaganda - there's not a lot of real difference between PR, propaganda and goodwill. Ultimately, doing something good because the optics benefit you, is still doing something good.)
- jchw 7y ago
  Translates fairy well i think - though Americans will usually say “dick waving” instead. When two are competing it is a pissing contest.
- 2muchcoffeeman 7y ago
  I’m sure it helps that doing something good also makes them look good and shifts public perception of China from oppressive to we just helped save the world from an epidemic. There’s no way the leadership has thought out all the angles.
- untog 7y ago
  > I'm not sure "willy-waving" translates into American well. The translation you are looking for is "dick swinging" :)
meowface 7y ago
It's still a power move. Just a global one. I have no doubt his intention really is to save lives, but a secondary motive is surely also PR. Perhaps the Chinese state had some role in this, as well. I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist, but I could see a possible benign conspiracy like them using Jack as a proxy to distribute these. If they did it officially, it could be trusted less and the motive would seem more blatant. And Jack of course has enough money to do this himself, but such a big international move might require the approval of the government.
- _bxg1 7y ago
  > I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist Often ideas that might fall into conspiracy territory with most governments are actually pretty realistic when it comes to the CCP.
- fspeech 7y ago
  They officially aided Italy, Iran, Iraq and others with material and medical teams.
- scotty79 7y ago
  That's such amazingly american way of thinking. Like straight from cold war.
  - meowface 7y ago
    Is it? If the American government were doing this, I would think the exact same thing. And America has in fact done similar things many times in the past. Of course it's PR. It's always PR, probably regardless of what superpower's government is involved. The only difference here is that the Chinese government has more control over and knowledge of what private citizens are doing, so it can be difficult to disentangle private and governmental action.
    - remarkEon 7y ago
      >...so it can be difficult to disentangle private and governmental action. It's near impossible to disentangle private and government[al] action in China. It's also not a uniquely American way to think about it. Every country uses private proxies where it makes sense in order to project power.
    - antonvs 7y ago
      Do you feel the same way about Bill Gates' philanthropic work? Is what Gates does also "always PR"? Both of these men could afford to retire to a private island (or chain of islands) and never be heard from again. You think they do what they do primarily for PR reasons?

It's amazing how much impact leaving this information out has.

by maest 7y ago

It's amazing how much impact leaving this information out has.

Indeed. On it's own, it looks like .. I'm not sure "willy-waving" translates into American well. But once you realise they're sending them everywhere, it makes it look more like they've ramped production up to stupifying numbers (which is China's speciality afterall), and have realised their value in goodwill is far beyond their dollar value. (or, yes, propaganda - there's not a lot of real difference between PR, propaganda and goodwill. Ultimately, doing something good because the optics benefit you, is still doing something good.)

jchw 7y ago
Translates fairy well i think - though Americans will usually say “dick waving” instead. When two are competing it is a pissing contest.
2muchcoffeeman 7y ago
I’m sure it helps that doing something good also makes them look good and shifts public perception of China from oppressive to we just helped save the world from an epidemic. There’s no way the leadership has thought out all the angles.
untog 7y ago
> I'm not sure "willy-waving" translates into American well. The translation you are looking for is "dick swinging" :)

meowface 7y ago

It's still a power move. Just a global one. I have no doubt his intention really is to save lives, but a secondary motive is surely also PR. Perhaps the Chinese state had some role in this, as well. I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist, but I could see a possible benign conspiracy like them using Jack as a proxy to distribute these. If they did it officially, it could be trusted less and the motive would seem more blatant. And Jack of course has enough money to do this himself, but such a big international move might require the approval of the government.

_bxg1 7y ago
> I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist Often ideas that might fall into conspiracy territory with most governments are actually pretty realistic when it comes to the CCP.
fspeech 7y ago
They officially aided Italy, Iran, Iraq and others with material and medical teams.
scotty79 7y ago
That's such amazingly american way of thinking. Like straight from cold war.
- meowface 7y ago
  Is it? If the American government were doing this, I would think the exact same thing. And America has in fact done similar things many times in the past. Of course it's PR. It's always PR, probably regardless of what superpower's government is involved. The only difference here is that the Chinese government has more control over and knowledge of what private citizens are doing, so it can be difficult to disentangle private and governmental action.
  - remarkEon 7y ago
    >...so it can be difficult to disentangle private and governmental action. It's near impossible to disentangle private and government[al] action in China. It's also not a uniquely American way to think about it. Every country uses private proxies where it makes sense in order to project power.
  - antonvs 7y ago
    Do you feel the same way about Bill Gates' philanthropic work? Is what Gates does also "always PR"? Both of these men could afford to retire to a private island (or chain of islands) and never be heard from again. You think they do what they do primarily for PR reasons?