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2 Mar, 2015

Smug, Snide, and Shallow – ‘The Three Superiors’ of the BBC – People’s Daily Online

On 25th February People’s Daily unveiled President Xi Jinping’s “Four Comprehensives”: A moderately prosperous society, Reform, Rule of law, and Party discipline. They are the blueprint for his government’s future strategy, and they represent a significant statement about what the future holds for China in the coming years.

In an article on its website the same day, the BBC decided to helpfully inform its readership about this important development, which it introduced with the following sub-heading: “Chinese leader Xi Jinping unveils the “four comprehensives” as his latest political philosophy, following in a long line of Communist sloganeering.”1 To describe it as “smug, snide and shallow” would probably be an unwarranted compliment.

Let us be clear on one thing at the outset. “Sloganeering” is not a neutral word. It carries deep pejorative implications. The word is deliberately designed to invoke the contempt of the reader. And “Communist sloganeering” multiplies the impact.

Read the rest: Smug, Snide, and Shallow – ‘The Three Superiors’ of the BBC – People’s Daily Online.