Peng Liyuan, wife to China's new president Xi Jinping, has the makings of a media darling.Thanks to her fashion sense and a glamorous background in music, she's earned favorable comparison to Michele Obama and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy's glamorous first lady, Carla Bruni.
However, not all of her background is so charming.
Peng's musical career is intrinsically linked with the Chinese military — she even attained the equivalent rank of major general as a "artist-soldier" in China's army.
The Associated Press image below features an undated photo of China’s new first lady in younger days, apparently singing to martial law troops following the 1989 bloody military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of people are believed to have died in the 1989 protests, which focused largely on Tiananmen Square, after a brutal government crackdown.
According to the AP, the photo — a simple snapshot of a publicly available military magazine — appeared online this week, but was swiftly scrubbed from the Chinese Internet before it could generate discussion online.
Such censorship is unfortunately common in China, especially in relation to the 1989 protests. Last year on the 23rd anniversary of the protests, "Tiananmen,""square,""six four", "never forget" and even "candle" were blocked on Chinese search engines.
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