In the latest example of unbridled Russian aggression, Vladimir Putin brazenly wrapped a shawl around the shoulders of Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan, sending the Communist country’s censors into overdrive.
During a chilly Monday night fireworks display at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing, state television caught the Russian president smoothly placing the shawl around the wife of his unaware Chinese counterpart, who sat chatting with President Obama just feet away. “President Putin has placed a coat around Peng Liyuan,” a government voiceover stated matter-of-factly.
The Chinese first lady endured the chivalrous gesture for an awkward five seconds before slipping off the shawl in exchange for a coat provided by an attendant. But news of the gesture quickly spread through Chinese social media, complete with hashtags and snarky comments on China’s Twitter-equivalent, Weibo.
But CNN reports that all evidence of the incident and the comments about it had apparently disappeared by Tuesday morning, leading many to surmise that China’s notorious Internet censors scrubbed all references to Putin’s advance. And China’s state news organs failed to mention the moment in their official reports on the event.
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