Tuesday, April 13, 2010

A Picture Says A Thousand Words

Bow To the Chinese (Hat Tip: Drudge)

Another shot of this greeting is here.

My Comment: This is not the image that you want Asia to see from us. It is acceptable (to a point) to bow to the Emperor of Japan, the Saudi King, The Queen, The Pope, etc. .... but not to the head of the Chinese Communist Party .... and not when you are President of the United States.

What is infuriating is that it appears (in the AP photo) that Chinese President Hu Jintao is grinning at President Obama while he bows down. I guess he knows how silly this looks.

A prediction .... in the next few days this picture is going to be played out over and over again in China and elsewhere in Asia.

1 comment:

Supare Aude said...

I, and my associates, all Americans, worked with many Japanese for many years with everybody bowing to everybody and only them knowing what it all really meant. For us it was simply an expression of politeness. I am sure that it was the same with the President and I suspect that most educated Asians will see it as such.