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Chinese Cartoonist Badiucao: Twitter Is Dead

Chinese political cartoonist Badiucao has left Weibo for the more liberal Twitter. But now that Twitter has appointed Kathy Chen, a former member of China’s People’s Liberation Army, as its first regional chief, Badiucao and other Chinese rights activists feel betrayed.
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7 years ago

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Chinese political cartoonist Badiucao has left Weibo for the more liberal Twitter. But now that Twitter has appointed Kathy Chen, a former member of China’s People’s Liberation Army, as its first regional chief, Badiucao and other Chinese rights activists feel betrayed.

The life of China’s political cartoonists is not all roses. One of China’s most famous cartoonists Badiucao (巴丢草, pseudonym) knows that “China” and “political activism” do not exactly stroll down the hutongs hand in hand.

In one example making headlines just last year, Badiucao published a cartoon on Sina Weibo in support of five women’s rights activists detained in China after planning a campaign to raise awareness on sexual harassment in public transport. After the cartoon went online with the hashtag #freethefive, Baidiucao was reportedly met with a storm of online abuse.

Born in China but living in Australia, Baidiucao (www.baidiucao.com) is one example of those Chinese who have climbed onto the barricades in a bid to challenge Chinese authorities. He does so from a substantial distance for fear of persecution, yet still on a typical China social media platform: Sina Weibo. Until recently, that is.

In late February of this year, the artist stated in an interview with RN Drive that “it is no longer a very efficient way to speak on Weibo as the platform is monitored very carefully by the government and manipulated all the time. Weibo has now become a desert for expression.” His account was shut down more than 30 times, a telltale sign that his language and drawings remain provocative, controversial even, and not too well-received within China anno 2016. “Unfortunately so,” he added.

With Weibo no longer a viable option to distribute his ideas within the boundaries of the Great Firewall, Badiucao opted for Twitter, a “second-best option” as the platform is blocked across mainland China. However, it seems this particular social media forum too has now lost its sustainability the cartoonist, as well as a number of Chinese rights activists, declared Twitter “dead” earlier this month.

The uproar erupted after Kathy Chen, a military engineer in China during the late 1980s and 90s, was named as the social network’s managing director for mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Ironically, Chen had formerly been employed by an American-Chinese joint venture which had produced software used to filter “information of political sensitivity and harmful information”, The Guardian reported on April 20.

In light of Chen’s appointment, Badiucao tweeted: “#TwitterIsDead: Twitter announced yesterday that the new China manager is @kathychen2016. BBC reported that she previously worked for a corporation in which China’s Ministry of Public Security was an investor as the person responsible for information security services. If that’s true, #Twitter, a bistro where Chinese people can be free and safe, comes to an end.”

Although he declared Twitter dead, Baidiucao has continued to tweet daily since Chen was appointed. Twitter may be declared dead for its regional leadership, it is still alive and kicking at its grassroots.

– By Elsbeth van Paridon

Additional editing by Manya Koetse.
©2016 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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Elsbeth van Paridon is a sinologist and fashion writer. Since 2010, she has been living in Beijing, where she has become an expert on all the ins and outs of the world of China fashion. She has her own blog on China fashion: Chasing the Fashion Dragon.

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China Celebs

Hong Kong Police Find Head of Murdered Model Abby Choi in Soup Pot

“Reality is more gruesome than fiction,” some commenters wrote on Weibo, where the Abby Choi murder case has drawn wide attention.

Manya Koetse

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4 weeks ago

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February 26, 2023

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The gruesome murder of the 28-year-old Hong Kong socialite and model Cai Tianfeng (蔡天鳳), better known as Abby Choi, has been all the talk on Chinese social media this week.

The Hong Kong influencer went missing on Tuesday. Just a week ago, Choi was featured on the cover of the magazine L’Officiel Monaco.

On Saturday, South China Morning Post and Hong Kong Free Press reported that Choi’s partial remains, including her dismembered legs, were found cooked and stored inside the freezer at a village house and that four people had been arrested for murder.

The village house at Lung Mei Tsuen in Tai Po was allegedly set up as a “butchery site” equipped with a choppers, hammer, an electric saw and a meat grinder that had been used to mince human flesh.

Choi was entangled in a financial dispute with her ex-husband’s family over luxury property in Hong Kong’s Kadoori Hill. The persons arrested in relation to her murder are her ex-husband named Alex Kwong, his elder brother, his mother and his father, who reportedly is a retired police officer.

Abby Choi and Alex Kwong had two children together, a daughter and a son.

Cho was last seen in Fo Chun Road in Tai Po on Tuesday afternoon. CCTV footage captured her before she went missing. Choi was supposed to pick her daughter up on Tuesday together with Kwong’s elder brother, who drove her. She was reported missing after she did not show up to collect her daughter.

While earlier media articles reported that some of Choi’s remains had still not been found, news came out on Sunday that the decapitated head had been found in a soup pot. Seeing over 300 million views, the topic went trending on Weibo (#蔡天凤头颅在一大汤煲中找到#), where many people have closely been following the latest developments in the case. Later on Sunday night, the topic hashtag was taken offline.

Local police disclosed that the head remained “intact” although it is believed that someone tried to “smash” it. Some of Choi’s ribs were also found.

“Reality is more gruelsome than fiction,” some top comments said. “What a terrifying family,” others wrote, calling them “inhuman” and “devilish.”

Another topic related to the case also went trending on Sunday, namely that Choi’s ex-husband and his family allegedly had been planning the murder for a month (#蔡天凤前夫家1个月前开始布局#, 180 million views).

Some Weibo bloggers said the case reminded them of another well-known and gruesome Hong Kong murder case, namely the 2013 murder of Glory Chau and Moon Siu. At age 63, the couple was murdered by their own 28-year-old son Henry Chau Hoi-leung and his friend. After killing them, the two chopped up Chau’s and Siu’s bodies and cooked their remains and stored them inside the refrigerator. The 2022 crime film The Sparring Partner (正義迴廊) was based on this story.

About the Kwong family, some Weibo users write: “Too bad that Hong Kong law does not have the death penalty.” Capital punishment in Hong Kong was formally abolished in 1993.

By Manya Koetse 

 

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China Arts & Entertainment

South Korean Actor Yoo Ah-in Dropped as Brand Ambassador in China after Propofol Scandal

The current drug scandal involving Yoo Ah-in also has consequences for the South Korean actor’s activities in China.

Manya Koetse

Published

2 months ago

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February 9, 2023

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The South Korean actor Yoo Ah-in (刘亚仁) has become a trending topic on Chinese social media for getting caught up in a drugs scandal in his home country.

Yoo Ah-in (1986) is an award-winning actor who is known for starring in various well-known dramas and renowned movies, such as Voice of Silence, Burning, and Hellbound.

Yoo is currently being investigated for alleged illegal, habitual use of the anesthetic drug propofol and has been banned from overseas travel.

On Thursday, the hashtag “Yoo Ah-in Admits to Using Drugs” (#刘亚仁确认吸毒#) received over 310 million views on Weibo, where several accounts reported that Yoo allegedly started using propofol in 2021.

Yoo issued a statement via his management, saying he is cooperating with the police in the investigation. He also apologized for causing concern among his fans and followers.

The drug scandal also has consequences for the actor’s activities in China. Liu was the brand ambassador for the Chinese men’s clothing brand Croquis (速写), but Croquis immediately removed him as their representative after the scandal.

Croquis issued a statement saying the company has been closely following the latest developments regarding the investigation into the actor’s alleged drugs use, and stated that they have “zero tolerance” when it comes to drug use and therefore would temporarily take all content offline in which Yoo represents their brand.

South Korean media reported on Feb. 9 that Yoo is among a group of 51 people that is part of an illegal drug use investigation initiated by the Food and Drug Administration, which found that Yoo went doctor hopping and “hospital shopping” to obtain multiple prescriptions.

Propofol is a sedative that is widely used by anesthetists for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia and for long-term sedation. Over recent years, the abuse of propofol in South Korea has been getting more media attention.

Although propofol is classified as a controlled substance in South Korea since 2011, the recreational use of the drugs has been a problem and various celebrities have previously been charged for illegally using the drugs.

On Weibo, some people say that there indeed should be “zero tolerance” for drug abuse among celebrities and artists, but there are also those who think Yoo Ah-in’s drug abuse is a result of his alleged (mental) health problems, and that he needs help instead of punishment.

By Manya Koetse 

 

Get the story behind the hashtag. Subscribe to What’s on Weibo here to receive our newsletter and get access to our latest articles:

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.

©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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