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THE globally respected British
Broadcasting Corporation networks also disseminate news and features
accessed by the print media, including The National. *** GOOD morning. Occasionally Aunty BBC makes somewhat vapid efforts to be trendy – consider the BBC article we published yesterday. The writer breathlessly reported that during the recent whirlwind foreign tour of the new Oz PM, Mr Rudd did not bow his head to the Queen but grasped her hand, and managed a rather strangled salute to the US president and grinned like a toothpaste advertisement. *** MEANWHILE in China, the writer noted the Australian PM, speaking in fluent Mandarin, used a “pointed finger at the Chinese” to demonstrate his disapproval of their recent activities in Tibet. The article ended with readers being questioned: “What did you think of the regal handshake, the presidential salute and the Mandarin put-down?” *** ISN’T he asking the wrong people? It would be more interesting to find out what the Queen thought of having her tiny fingers crushed by the Queensland MP’s vice-like grip. Then we might question what George W Bush, direct from the bible-bashing, gun-toting south of the US thought of the painfully cheesy salute and fixed grin of his Oz counterpart. *** FINALLY – and this is much more difficult – we wonder what Mr Rudd’s inscrutable Chinese hosts thought of his pointed political attack in Mandarin on their treatment of the Tibetans. Certainly his hosts issued a broad-based but no-nonsense statement rejecting foreign interference in China’s affairs soon afterwards. *** WHILE on matters Chinese, we note that a member of the neighbouring Solomon Islands parliament has called on his government to protest against the Chinese treatment of Tibetans. What is the stance of the PNG Government on this issue; will PNG be sending athletes to the Beijing Olympics and if so, does the Prime Minister intend to be there for the opening of the Games? *** PLEASANT surprise yesterday – the venerable presence of the ABC in PNG is to be boosted by a researcher/producer with strong current affairs skills. The position was advertised in The National yesterday; we urge well qualified and experienced PNG journalists to apply. Cheers! |
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| - Dee Nesenolis | |
| Editorial | |
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