"Sorry, Sir. Did I Happen To Leave My Cannon At Your Gas Station?"

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: April 8th, 2011

sorry sir did i happen to leave my cannon at your gas station

This is a good one from TheTycho, now doing business as Carnewschina.com. We are instructed to ignore the flowers. Probably the byproduct of the camera in a Chinese “hand phone”, as they call it.

So there’s that army convoy, each truck pulling one cannon. Minutes later ….

The convoy is gone. However, they left a little memento behind. Or do they drop off one each at every Sinopec station? That could mean sky-high gasoline prices! Get the jerrycans!

Nice catch, Tycho. Now who was the girl with the phone?

#BertelSchmitt #China #TheTycho #WTF

Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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Signal11 on Apr 08, 2011

The PRC blue helmets I've been around rolled in BJ2020s, though I have seen the BJ2022s in recent years and wondered what the hell they were. I've been seeing more and more Chinese peacekeepers around. It took them a while, but they finally figured out that medical and construction units in conflict areas is pretty good publicity for the coming Chinese century.

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- Bertel Schmitt on Apr 09, 2011
  
  I hope this was in Haiti and not in Sudan ...
  
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- Signal11 on Apr 09, 2011
  
  @Bertel Schmitt Darfur and South Sudan is where I've seen large numbers of them but the I first saw Chinese peacekeepers was in the Congo, in the Kivus in and around Bukavu and Uvira, north of Lac Tanganyika. The Chinese really are all over the Sudan. It's crazy. Can't throw a rock without hitting a Chinese blue beanie. I never saw that many PRC units in Haiti. A lot more Chileans in the areas where I was. (Incidentally, I used to have a lot more respect for Chilean military but the goofs in Cap Haitian can be held responsible for light the match that really set off the violence in the north of Haiti back in November.) The Chinese guys I did see were more UNIPOL. Normally, it's pretty easy to tell UNIPOL and peacekeepers apart at a glance - peacekeepers are obviously military and roll in their own nation's vehicles painted white while UNIPOL rolls in civilian SUVs (usually Toyota Land Cruisers/Prados but in Haiti, Nissan Patrols). In big missions, this can sometimes get a little messy. It's interesting to watch what different UN contingents bring into a country in terms of fleet and logistics for a lot of reasons. The most entertaining is seeing the UN get bent over a barrel by clever locals.
  
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Advo on Apr 09, 2011

"That cannon looks like something left over from the Korean War." Were they trying to lose the gun on purpose in order to justify a claim to the government finance department for a modern upgrade? It could be how military funding works there, lol.

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