The ties that bind

Hu Jintao wears same tie when meeting Kim Jong-il and Harry Reid

hu kim 1 .jpg
Hu Jintao and Kim Jong-il, August 2010

This post was written by occasional Danwei contributor Spelunker

China's President Hu Jintao wore the exact same tie today on Capitol Hill with Harry Reid that he wore back in August 2010 when meeting (and hugging) "dictator" Kim Jong-il in Changchun, China.

I have analyzed the photographic evidence from my home computer collection of Hu Jintao photos and can confirm that the tie he wore today on Capitol Hill shaking hands with the congressman who called him a dictator is exactly the same blue striped one that he wore when hugging a dictator from North Korea.

hu reid.jpg
Hu Jintao and Harry Reid, January 2011

The photos in Changchun were taken during Kim Jong-il's second trip to China last year when he brought his son to Jilin province in late August. President Hu Jintao met Kim Jong-il in the parking lot of the Jilin provincial capital because Kim did not want to go all the way to Beijing.

The photos on Capitol Hill were taken from news articles that were published today as Hu left Washington DC to visit Chicago. It is clear from the photos taken today that the tie in question is indeed the same one that Hu wore back in August when meeting Kim in Changchun.

hu kim hug .jpg
The hug
There are currently 6 Comments for Hu Jintao wears same tie when meeting Kim Jong-il and Harry Reid.

Comments on Hu Jintao wears same tie when meeting Kim Jong-il and Harry Reid

I think it's only fair to note that, recycled or not, it is a very sharp tie.

Does this same-tie-wearing mean anything? I have no ties.

It does not mean anything. It is merely an amusing personal detail about a man who displays so little of his personality in public.

It means Hu Jintao's family will likely be giving him new ties for Chinese New Year.

For women, it's like Cinderella wearing the same necklace to the ball that she was painted wearing as a part-time nude model.

now that's what i call journalism

Perhaps the blue-striped tie was Hu Jintao's way of telling Harry Reid that a single-party authoritarian regime strongman such as Kim Jong-il should be praised and even embraced instead of being frankly described as a dictator.
The analogy in the post above to Cinderella's necklace goes right to the heart of the matter.

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