Music backed by political parties is almost always going to sound bad – that’s a truth that unifies the world. China's Communist Party, which released a hilarious song last year to mark its new five year plan, has a new one to add to the cacophony.
The video above, a rap song titled This is China, attempts to set the media narrative on China straight. It was posted on Weibo – China's Twitter and Facebook rolled into one – by China’s Communist Youth League on Tuesday. According to a BBC report, a post said, “Our friends from the West, if you still get to know China from foreign media such as CNN, AP, and Reuters, the China you know surely isn’t the real China.”
The story, interestingly, is not one of denial: since China is a developing and populated country it is hard to manage, and its cities are quite polluted. Acknowledging that China has problems, the song even refers to the 2008 milk scandal where dairy products were found tainted with melamine, a compound used to make plastic. It also mentions Taiwan's problematic political status, and corrupt politicians, among others.
The chorus, part Mandarin and part English goes, “What’s your name? This is China. We love the country, we the Chi-phenomenon. The red dragon ain’t no evil, but a peaceful place. The beautiful land with rich culture remain.”
The track has been produced by the Communist Youth League and CD REV, a rap group from Chengdu.
“This is a song for Westerners to understand China,” Wang Zixin of CD Rev said. “We want Westerners to know that Chinese know our problems and we are trying to make a change.”
The song has received a range of responses, from praise to embarrassment, Sixth Tone reported, citing Weibo users.
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