What Charlie Sheen tells us about China!

In "The Global Times", the national English daily newspaper published by the Communist Party in China, the newspaper excoriates the actor, jumping at the case of his two girlfriends he lives with, and asking: "Is he too poor to set up his wives and mistresses in different houses?" Like a good Chinese philanderer should? The paper further points out "racism, spousal abuse, addiction, politics, mental illness, boasting about mistresses are all subjects best dealt with behind closed doors! If you are wondering whether this is a joke - it indeed is. But it also isn't: The Global Times is not in the business of emulating the popular online spoof newspapers, but in the serious of exercising Chinese soft power by providing its take on news around the world. Chief editor of the English paper, Hu Xijin, has said that the paper reaches millions of readers, and that readers "trust The Global Times and its representation of China's diverse society". It is fascinating that one of the hallmarks of authoritarian states is that they don't get the joke. Editors with no sense of humor just let a story print.