East Timor Calls Chinese Warships “Gucci Knockoffs” Then Buys them

Chinese have pretty good language skills but they often dont understand nuance and sarcasm. This is not such a case, but shows the Chinese crazy nationalism and failure to understand when a compliment can actually be a put down. East Timor called Western warships “Guccis” and the Chinese versions “knockoffs” or “fake Guccis”. To me this is hilarious, I cannot imagine anyone taking pride in selling a knockoff, but the China Daily proudly has this posted on page one. “CANBERRA, Australia – East Timor would prefer to buy a “fake Gucci ship from China” than pay extra for Western military hardware, the nation’s president said after acquiring two Chinese warships. East Timor this month took delivery of two Shanghai class navy patrol boats from defense company China Poly Group in a move widely interpreted as a diplomatic rebuff to near neighbor Australia, which has been the biggest military supporter of East Timor since it became independent of Indonesia in 1999. Australia developed a purpose-built patrol boat for its South Pacific neighbors in the 1980s as part of its foreign aid program and 12 island nations now use them for maritime surveillance. But East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta on Wednesday likened military technology produced by developed countries to the expensive Italian fashion label Gucci. “It’s a bit like buying … a genuine Italian Gucci ship against buying a fake Gucci ship from China,” Ramos-Horta told the National Press Club during his first state visit to Australia.”