In the past week from April 5th to 12th, Chinese microbloggers posted comments on various news events. I have picked two most popular topics that attracted considerable amount of attention from Chinese microbloggers. For each topic, I will first provide the background knowledge relevant to the issue and then present the interesting posts that I collected from some Chinese microbloggers whom I have been following.
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Topic 1:
The Polish air crash
Background:
“On April 10, 2010, a plane carrying the Polish president and dozens of the country’s top political and military leaders to the site of a Soviet massacre of Polish officers in World War II crashed in western Russia on Saturday, killing everyone on board.” -- The New York Times
Comments from microbloggers:
The Polish President unfortunately died in an air crash. I was so impressed that the crashed airplane had been used for over twenty years, having served four Polish presidents. Although the President’s advisors had long suggested that he should replace the old plane with a better one, the President refused because of financial stringency. Did Poland really have no budget for a new airplane? Of course not. The Polish President’s decision to keep using the unsafe plane truly won respect from Chinese people.
-- XYZS
In the past a few days, what I heard and read most was the Polish air crash. The most popular explanation for the incident was that the plane was too old while the Polish government didn’t have money for a new plane. Comparing our government’s extravagant spending on luxurious cars with the Polish government, I only want to say, China is so much richer than Poland!
-- anonymous microblogger
I don’t think Poland is actually that poor. Then why is it so difficult to purchase a new plane for the President? The Polish government even has to disclose the government budget to the ordinary Polish people. Why do they bother to do that? We Chinese don’t care what our leaders purchase. Even if we want to care, we can’t care.
-- Pig Rain
My thought:
Chinese bloggers surprisingly had a highly unified tone in commenting on the Polish air crash. Instead of expressing regret for the incident, most of the microblog posts related the Polish incident to some domestic phenomena in China. With a lot of sarcasm, microbloggers compared the “poor” Polish government with the “rich” Chinese government. Microbloggers cleverly expressed their discontent toward the extravagance of Chinese government by talking about the Polish air crash, without directly challenging the Chinese authority.
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Topic 2:
Vote for Han Han on Time magazine
Background:
Whenever people talk about Chinese bloggers, Han Han is the one that no one should ignore. Born in 1982, Han Han dropped out of high school at 18 and then dedicated most of him time to writing novels. His unique style of writing blew fresh air to the contemporary Chinese literatus and established his credential among young Chinese people. On March 2, 2006, Han Han published his first blog entry, entitled Status and Future of the Post-80 Generation. Since then the number of Han Han’s blog followers increased to 0.35 billion, making him the most popular blogger in China and in the world. On his blog, Han Han published observations of social and political issues and criticized the Chinese government in many subtle ways. Han Han’s online activism won him the reputation of “public intellectual”. Recently, Time magazine initiated a public poll to elect the top 100 most influential people and Han Han is on the candidate list. Many microbloggers began to forward this news and ask people to vote for Han Han.
Comments from microbloggers:
Many people don’t understand why Time magazine chooses Han Han as one of the most influential people in the world. The answer is really simple. Han Han posted a lot of blogs to criticize the Chinese government, which is well-known to Chinese people. American media want the younger generation of Chinese to follow Han Han in criticizing the government. That’s why Time magazine put Han Han on the stage, hoping to spread his anti-government inclination to Chinese public.
-- angry snail
I always follow Han Han’s blog and have read several of his books too. He’s humorous in an intelligent way. I guess the Dear Chinese Communist Party did not cause trouble to Han Han because it has long-term considerations -- if Han Han gets elected as the top 100 most influential people, foreign people may feel that China has become a country with “freedom of expression”.
-- cat chelsea
I voted for Han Han twice on the Time magazine poll. But it seems a lot of Han Han’s Chinese fans don’t understand English and they can’t really vote. This is unfortunate. If Han Han actually gets elected this time, his name may become one step closer to the Communist Party’s list of “sensitive words”.
-- mywindson
My thought:
Han Han is a figure that deserves all my respect. His proactive style of writing fundamentally contributes to the awakening of the post-80s generation in China. In regard to the Time magazine poll, opinions from microbloggers are quite different. Some assumed the poll as a U.S. strategy to encourage Chinese to challenge their government. Some felt happy for Han Han and asked other people to vote for him. Some expressed worries because they thought Han Han went beyond the boundaries set by the Chinese government. Despite the variety of opinions, a common theme exists -- we should vote for Han Han and China is not that free.
I find these posts (and your comments) very interesting. In the case of the Polish air crash, it is curious that not much sorrow was expressed. I couldn't quite decide whether the microbloggers were using the crash to express Chinese superiority, or whether they were criticizing the Chinese government for pampering themselves with fancy new planes. The variety of opinion here is certainly healthy -- but there is a round-about way of expressing oneself here that seems very...cautious. Perhaps it's the translation. Perhaps it's a natural cultural resonance. But this American reader sense that there is, indeed, a political hesitance at work here. I'm looking forward to learning more.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I've been exposed to Chinese blogging, and I was surprised by the difference in writing styles in comparison to American blogs. The comment by Pig Rain where he said, "Even if we want to care, we can’t care." Helped me understand why the microbloggers had such a distinct tone. This statement reminded me of 1984 and explained the muted comments of the microbloggers as well as their reticence to criticize the government too harshly. The Chinese Government is addressed in nearly every microblog which further emphasizes the Orwellian overtones of the Chinese microblogosphere. This is really interesting material and I can't wait to read later posts.
ReplyDeleteI am now obsessed with Han Han. He has accomplished a lot in his short lifetime, and I love the talk of the "Post-80's generation".... I believe that our generation has the potential to change the world in significant ways, unfortunately, most young people in my country don't realize the capacity they have to challenge the status quo and help to create a different society. It might not be a good idea to measure my own achievements against Han Han's, but I'll keep him in mind as a benchmark :) I love people who are bold and opinionated. I'm not sure he's one of the world's most influential people, but with China's population, I can understand how he could be.
ReplyDeleteLike Karen, I was also really surprised by the lack of sympathy expressed by the Chinese microbloggers for the Polish air crash. I really liked your observation about how they quietly criticized the Chinese government's extravagance because I didn't originally pick up on it. But after I read your comment, I noticed that it was a subtle way of making a jab at the Chinese government without obviously insulting them. I really enjoy your blog because it shows how much the comments of microbloggers can reveal about a country.
ReplyDelete