Chinese military dips into American songbook to entertain US defence chief James Mattis
Rare musical gesture eases tensions after a day of tough territorial talks
The American songbook is not usually inspiration for the People’s Liberation Army but on Wednesday it set the tone for a banquet held in Beijing for visiting US Defence Secretary James Mattis.
The tough official talks of Mattis’ three-day trip were set aside for the dinner as – in a rare gesture – PLA performer Cai Guoqing sang Edelweiss, a standard from the US musical The Sound of Music.
“Edelweiss, Edelweiss, every morning you greet me. Small and white, clean and bright, you look happy to meet me,” Cai sang, welcoming Mattis to the banquet hosted by Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe.
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The 50-year-old military singer is a fixture on Chinese state television, holding the record for the most appearances in one of the biggest TV events of the year, the Lunar New Year gala.
Mattis declined an offer to sing but one other guest and a US military officer at the gathering joined in as Cai made a circuit of the huge banquet table.
