Putin's Gallant Shawl Gesture toward Chinese First Lady Displeases State Media
The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Beijing this week besides sorting out political and economic agendas between the attending nations, also threw up some interesting tidbits on the sidelines.
Earlier, the awkward handshake between Chinese President Xi Jinpeng and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was doing the rounds and now it is the gallant gesture of President Vladimir Putin toward Chinese First lady Peng Liyuan.
President Putin slipped a shawl around Peng Liyaun's shoulders at an event to watch fireworks in Beijing on Monday night, it being slightly chilly the Russian president noticed and kindly offered the shawl. The Chinese president, meanwhile, was seen busy chatting with Barack Obama.
Peng Liyuan graciously accepted the offer but she quickly slipped it off and passed it on to her aide. The Chinese media initially showed the clip but it was soon taken off air as apparently it showed their President in an unflattering light. He came off as "gauche and inattentive" toward his wife, reports the Guardian.
The media censoring is seen as a sign of strict state control and obvious cultural differences between the east and west."China is traditionally conservative on public interaction between unrelated men and women, and the public show of consideration by Putin may provide fodder for jokes, which the big boss probably does not like," said the Beijing-based historian and independent commentator Zhang Lifan, reports The Guardian.
The Foreign Policy magazine has a very accurate description of the moment:
"While Xi was distracted talking to U.S. President Barack Obama, who was sitting on his right, Russia's tiger-shooting, horseback-riding president made his move. After a brief exchange - you can almost imagine Peng making appropriately cliché small talk like "my, isn't it chilly in here" - Putin abruptly stood up, grasped a tan coat in both hands, and wrapped it chivalrously around the first lady's shoulders. She smiled gracefully, thanked him, and sat down - only to surreptitiously slip the coat from her shoulders moments later into the waiting arms of an attendant."
