China’s Spring Festival Gala robot show not innovation, but ‘carefully staged deception’: Report

Colombo, March 9 (IANS) China’s Spring Festival Gala robot performance turned out to be more of a carefully “staged deception” than a celebration of innovation thus exposing the Chinese Communist Party’s obsession with optics, its readiness to weaponise propaganda for profit, and its disregard for the festival’s cultural authenticity, a report has highlighted.

According to a report in Sri Lankan media outlet Daily Mirror, the scandal has raised doubts about both the robots and the credibility of the Chinese authorities who staged the show, with the Gala’s robots representing not the future of technology but the “future of illusion”.

“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long used the Spring Festival Gala as a cultural megaphone, projecting an image of technological prowess and national pride to both domestic and international audiences. This year, however, the spectacle of ‘autonomous robots’ performing on stage has backfired spectacularly. What was marketed as a dazzling showcase of cutting-edge artificial intelligence turned out to be little more than a high-tech puppet show,” the report detailed.

“On February 17th, videos began circulating online that revealed the truth: behind every robot was a human operator, remotely controlling the machines like shadow puppets. The choreography, hailed as evidence of China’s robotics supremacy, was nothing more than pre-programmed sequences triggered by manual commands backstage. One clip even showed a robot waving to the crowd while a man stood nearby, hands clasped around a remote controller,” it mentioned.

The report highlighted how the “illusion of autonomy” collapsed instantly, triggering widespread backlash across social media platforms around the world. The controversy, it said, is not simply about a fabricated act but about the CCP’s broader strategy of building illusions.

“For years, China has sought to position itself as a global leader in artificial intelligence and robotics. The Gala’s robot performance was meant to symbolise this ambition, projecting an image of unstoppable progress. Yet the reality is far less glamorous,” it added.

The report cited Blue Whale News, which had previously exposed similar practices in the robotics industry, where companies “assembled cheap aluminium frames, programmed basic movements, and boldly marketed them as ‘fully autonomous’ robots”.

“The Spring Festival Gala simply scaled up this deception, turning it into a national spectacle. The CCP’s reliance on such staged performances reveals a deeper insecurity: the need to convince both its citizens and the world that China is technologically invincible, even when the evidence suggests otherwise,” it noted.

Asserting that the “commercialisation of deception” reflects the CCP’s willingness to blur the boundaries between propaganda and profiteering, the report said, “The Gala was not just a cultural event; it was a marketing campaign disguised as national pride.”

–IANS

scor/as