While Twitter is removing the video that shows the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley by an ISIS jihadist, China is broadcasting it on a big screen in the heart of Beijing.
Mounted on a large building connected to Dongzhimen station, the city’s major transportation hub, a giant screen showed over and over the gruesome footage of the American reporter’s execution.
Steve George, editor-in-chief of That’s Beijing Magazine told Quartz website that the video being shown includes clips of tumult in Ferguson and Ukraine, played alongside clips of “happy families skipping in front of various Beijing landmarks” for propaganda purposes.
“This type of juxtaposition is fairly common in China,” says George. Idealized images of peace and prosperity in China are contrasted with clips of violence around the world, promoting the idea that chaos looms beyond the Chinese borders.
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