China Central Television (CCTV) will report from tomorrow’s award ceremony for the Nobel Prize in literature for the first time. The station has posted this excited message to its Tencent Weibo:
CCTVnewsroom: First Time CCTV Invited to Nobel Literature Prize Ceremony: Signal for Mo Yan? The winner of the Nobel prize in literature will be announced on October 11 at 7 p.m. Beijing Time. AFP reports the prize could very well go to either Chinese author Mo Yan or Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. Only three TV stations in the world are given permission to report from the award ceremony, and this year CCTV has been invited for the first time. Could Mo Yan become China’s first Nobel winner?
Mo Yan is the vice-chair of the Chinese Writers’ Association, an official Communist Party body founded in 1953. Mo’s position is the likely impetus for state media’s attention.
AmazeNews captured some of the outraged responses CCTV’s post elicited:
BigEcho: First? Isn’t Mr. Liu Xiaobo Chinese?
强回声: 首位？刘笑薄先生是中国人吗？bear8: Heh heh, first? If he gets it he’ll be the third. It’s just that one can’t get in and the other can’t get out.
熊8: 呵呵，首位？得了奖也是老三吧，只是一位进不来一位出不去wangji: What this really means is he’d be the first Chinese person who doesn’t win the Nobel from jail.
望纪：确切的说是首位没在监狱里获得诺贝尔奖的中国人foggyDreamV: You should say that he would be the first Chinese citizen to be recognized by the authorities for winning the Nobel.
梦里有雾V：应该说是首位中国当局承认的获得诺奖的中国公民。1000yearstepmom: First?
千年后娘：首位?william2: The Big International Joke: CCTV is invited to report on the Nobel prize in literature, @CCTVnewsroom shouts for joy, @PeoplesDaily hollers back, “Could Mo Yan become China’s first Nobel winner?” The Meaning: In the social media age, the two greatest mouthpieces have no clue that our country had Nobel prize winners long ago. Just who are they cracking this international joke with? I’m at: http://t.cn/zlWSzes
william2： 【开国际玩笑】：cctv获邀参与诺贝尔文学奖报道，@CCTV新闻值班室 激动发声，@人民网 跟着起哄 :“莫言能否成为首位获得诺贝尔奖的中国人？ ” 【亮评】：自媒体时代，两家最高喉舌，浑然不知本国早已有人拿过诺奖，这国际玩笑是跟谁开的? 我在:http://t.cn/zlWSzes
Read more about China and the Nobel from CDT.
@BigEcho deliberately misspells Liu’s name (刘晓波 Liú Xiǎobō) as “Liu Laugh-Thin (刘笑薄 Liú Xiàobó). Back.
