The assassination of prominent American activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk, 31, became a trending topic on social media all over the world, including on Chinese social media platforms Weibo, Douyin, Toutiao, and Zhihu.

Kirk was shot on September 10 while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. At the time of writing, a suspect was apprehended after a manhunt of two days (#特朗普称柯克枪击嫌疑人已被拘留#).

Using hashtags such as “Trump’s Political Ally Shot While Speaking” (#特朗普政治盟友演讲时遭枪击#), Chinese media outlets, online commentators, and regular netizens have been discussing Kirk’s death, with a focus on Kirk’s ideologies and the deeper issues in the United States that may have contributed to him being shot.

Although Charlie Kirk (查理·柯克) is not widely known among the mainstream Chinese audience, avid social media users are familiar with him. His past videos, with added Chinese subtitles, are popular on platforms like Bilibili, and his persona and viewpoints have sparked debate on sites like Zhihu.

Charlie Kirk is a highly visible figure on global social media for engaging in face-to-face debates with left-leaning students (or anyone who disagrees with him) on university campuses in the United States and even in the United Kingdom. These debates often became heated, as they touched on some of the most polarizing political issues.

Kirk defended his anti-abortion, pro-gun, pro-Trump, and anti-immigration stances and criticized transgender identities and same-sex marriage.

There are various discussions on Chinese social media related to his death.

A central part of the discussions surrounding Kirk’s death on Chinese social media focuses on American gun laws and Kirk’s own views on gun control.

On Zhihu and Weibo, many commenters echoed a sentiment also seen on Western social media, noting the irony of Kirk being killed while advocating for gun rights. In 2018, Kirk tweeted about a mass shooter being shot, writing: “guns save lives” (#查理柯克宣扬枪支拯救生命#).

Kirk was discussing and defending his pro-gun stance in Utah at the moment he was shot.

With this in mind, as well as taking Kirk’s other conservative viewpoints into account, many Chinese netizens do not necessarily empathize, with some even creating light banter around his death.

One popular comment on Weibo said:

Others claimed that Kirk “got what he wanted”:

This sentiment was quite prevalent on Chinese social media, where others also stressed that the very gun freedoms Kirk advocated for ultimately killed him, calling it the “gunshot of freedom” (“自由的枪声”).

Another commenter (元锡损) on Zhihu even described the killing of Kirk as a form of “art,” presuming that he was shot by someone who opposed gun ownership:

But some argue it all goes beyond a pro-gun stance, like the international news commentator Zhu Xi Er Ming (@逐汐而鸣), who also showed little empathy for Kirk:

These kinds of reactions often appear on Chinese social media whenever political unrest or major incidents occur in the United States, with netizens expressing anti-American sentiments and criticizing America’s “so-called freedom” — especially since human rights are a sensitive topic in China–US relations.

Criticism of America’s gun laws is often part of such criticism, such as after the Orlando shooting or other major shootings. This, in part, has to do with how US and China are practically polar opposites on the issue of gun control and what it means for ‘freedom.’

As one Xiaohongshu blogger (@民间观察员张向强) wrote, before news of the suspect’s apprehension came out:

China has some of the world’s strictest gun control laws and the ban on civilian gun ownership – as well as extensive surveillance systems for public safety – is generally supported by the public.

But reactions are mixed; not everyone is unsympathetic toward Kirk, nor do all commenters link his pro-gun stance to his death. Many voices also pushed back against claims that Kirk “got what he deserved.”

Yan Feng (严锋), a prominent commentator and Professor of Chinese Literature at Fudan University, called for a more compassionate response. He wrote:

In other comments, he said he opposed private gun ownership, but also suggested he did not believe Kirk was shot due to his pro-gun stance, while also stressing that Kirk never supported the use of guns to kill people with opposing views.

Luo Yiming (@罗祎明医生), a medical doctor at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, wrote:

There were also posts highlighting how Dean Withers, a left-wing influencer and long-time opponent of Charlie Kirk, reacted to the news of his death during a livestream — with shock and tears. That reaction also sparked discussions about how, even if you hold opposing views, you can still feel sorrow over someone being killed.

Although the initial discussions over Kirk’s death on Chinese social media seem to remain a bit on the surface, focusing on gun control and going from questions of karma to compassion, there are also other discussions placing his assassination more into a context of American social and political polarization.

One of China’s most famous online political commentators, Hu Xijin (@胡锡进), argued that political assassination is an inherent, dark part of American modern history. He wrote a lengthy column on Kirk’s death, calling it “a crash of the software of American democracy” (“这是美国民主软件的一次死机”) and also saying:

Well-known Chinese internet commentator Wanghu de Jianqiao (@王虎的舰桥) blamed American social governance for Kirk’s killing. He wrote:

Others agree with the notion that something is inherently amiss in American society, with some suggesting that the shooting shows the “unusually intense class struggle in the United States” (“凸显了美国阶级斗争的异常尖锐”).

Zhihu user Wenhou (文猴), who also runs a WeChat account focused on men’s self-improvement, blamed Kirk’s death on leftist policies and suggested that American feminism was complicit in the country’s “social decay.”

Hu Xijin, as well as other commenters, think that the Charlie Kirk shooting might be a turning point for what is yet to come. On Zhihu, some predict an ideological hardening that could push America closer to more political violence and societal fragmentation. Others think that it will weaken the radical left and unite the modern right-wing factions.

Some commentators are especially pessimistic about America’s future. One example is the active Weibo commentator, entrepreneur and public persona Xiang Ligang (@飞象网项立刚), who tied Kirk’s assassination to the recent shocking murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska while driving a train home in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Xiang wrote:

Zhihu blogger ‘Patrick’ wrote:

One anonymous Weibo commenter wrote:

By Manya Koetse

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For a long time, Chinese netizens have criticized how photography of Chinese news events by Western outlets—from BBC and CNN to AFP—makes China look more gloomy or intimidating. During this year’s military parade, the so-called “AFP filter” once again became a hot topic—and perhaps not in the way you’d expect.

In the past week following the military parade, Chinese social media remained filled with discussions about the much-anticipated September 3 V-Day parade, a spectacle that had been hyped for weeks and watched by millions across the country.

That morning, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, welcomed international guests on the red carpet. When Xi arrived at Tiananmen Square alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, office phone calls across the country quieted, and school classes paused to tune in to one of China’s largest-ever military parades along Chang’an Avenue in Beijing, held to commemorate China’s victory over Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II.

As tanks rolled and jets thundered overhead, and state media outlets such as People’s Daily and Xinhua livestreamed the entire event, many different details—from what happened on Tiananmen Square to who attended, and what happened before and after, both online and offline—captured the attention of netizens.

Amid all the discussions online, one particularly hot conversation was about the visual coverage of the event, and focused on AFP (法新社), Agence France Press, the global news agency headquartered in Paris.

Typing “AFP” (法新社) into Weibo in the days after the parade pulled up a long list of hashtags:

• Has AFP released their shots yet?
• V-Day Parade through AFP’s lens
• AFP’s god-tier photo
• Did AFP show up for the parade?

 
The fixation may seem odd—why would Chinese netizens care so much about a French news agency?

Popular queries centered on AFP.

The story actually goes back to 2022.

In July of that year, on the anniversary of the Communist Party’s founding, one Weibo influencer (@Jokielicious) noted that while domestic photographers portrayed the celebrations as bright and triumphant, she personally preferred the darker, almost menacing image of Beijing captured by Western journalists. In her view, through their lens, China appeared more powerful—even a little terrifying.

The original post.

The post went viral. Soon, netizens began comparing more of China’s state media photos with those from Western outlets. One photo in particular stood out: Xinhua’s casual, cheerful shot of Chinese soldiers contrasted sharply with AFP’s cold, almost cinematic frame.

Same event, different vibe. Chinese social media users compared these photos of Xinhua (top) versus AFP (down). AFP photo shot by Fred Dufour.

Netizens joked that Xinhua had made the celebration look like the opening of a new hotel, while AFP had cast it as “the dawn of an empire.”

Gradually, what began as a dig at the bad aesthetics of state media turned into something else: a subtle shift in how Chinese netizens were rethinking their country’s international image.

Under the hashtag #ChinaThroughOthersLens (#老中他拍), netizens shared images of China as seen through the lenses of various Western media outlets.

This wasn’t the first time such talk had appeared. In the early days of the Chinese internet, people often spoke of the so-called “BBC filter.” The idea was that the BBC habitually put footage of China under a grayish filter, making its visuals give off a vibe of repression and doom, which many felt was at odds with the actual vibrancy on the ground. To them, it was proof that the West was bent on painting China as backward and gloomy.

These discussions have continued in recent years.

For example, on Weibo there were debates about a photo of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, shot by Peter Thomas for Reuters, and used in various Western media reports about Wuhan and Covid as early as 2021. The top image shows the photographer’s vantage point.

“Looks like a cockroach in the gutter,” one popular comment described it.

Top image by Chinese media, lower image by Peter Thomas/Reuters, and was used in various Western media reports about Wuhan and Covid since as early as 2021.

Another example is the alleged “smog filter” applied by Western media outlets to Beijing skies during the China visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in 2024.

The alleged “smog filter” applied to Beijing skies during Blinken’s visit. Top image: Chinese media. Middle: BBC. Lower: Washington Post.

AFP, meanwhile, seemed to offer a different kind of ‘distortion.’

Netizens said AFP’s photos often had a low-saturation, high-contrast, solemn tone, with wide angles that made the scenes feel oppressive yet majestic. Over time, any photo with that look—whether taken by AFP or not—was dubbed the “AFP filter” (法新社滤镜).

AFP has clarified multiple times that many of the viral examples weren’t even theirs—or that they were, but had been altered with an extra dark filter. They also refuted claims that AFP had published a photo series of Chinese soldiers titled “Dawn of Empire” to discredit China’s army.

AFP refuted claims that their photos discredited the Chinese army.

Nevertheless, the “AFP filter” label stuck. It became shorthand for a Western gaze that cast China not as impoverished or broken—as some claimed the “BBC filter” did—but as formidable, like a looming supervillain.

One running joke summed it up neatly: domestic shots are the festive version; Western shots are the red-tyrant version. And increasingly, netizens admitted they preferred the latter, commenting that while AFP shots often emphasize red to suggest authoritarianism, they actually like the red and what it stands for.

So, when this year’s V-Day came around, many were eager to see how AFP and other Western outlets would frame China as the dark, dangerous empire.

But when the photos dropped, the reaction was muted. They looked average. Some called them “disappointing.” “Where are the dark angles? Not doing it this time?” one blogger wondered. “Where’s the AFP hotline? I’d like to file a complaint!”

“Xinhua actually beat you this time,” some commented on AFP’s official Weibo account. Others agreed, putting the AFP photos and Xinhua photos side by side.

AFP photos on the left versus Xinhua photos on the right.

To make up for the letdown, people began editing the photos themselves—darkening the tones, adding dramatic shadows, and proudly labeling them with the tag “AFP filter” or calling it “The September 3rd Military Parade Through a AFP Lens” (法新社滤镜下的9.3阅兵). “Now that’s the right vibe,” they said: “I fixed it for you!”

Netizen @哔哔机 “AFP-fied” photos of the military parade by AFP.

Official media quickly picked up on the trend. Xinhua rolled out its own hashtags—#XinhuaAlwaysDeliversEpicShots (#新华社必出神图的决心#) and #XinhuaWins (#新华社秒了#)—and positioned itself as the true master of a new aesthetic narrative.

The message was clear: China no longer needs the Western gaze to frame itself as powerful or intimidating; it can do that on its own.

The “AFP v Xinhua” contest, the online movement to “AFP-ify” visuals, and the Chinese fandom around AFP’s moodier shots may have been wrapped in jokes and memes, but they also pointed to something deeper: the once “demonized” image of China that Western media pushed as threatening is now not only accepted by Chinese netizens, it’s embraced. Many have made it part of a confident, playful form of online patriotism, applauding the idea of being seen by the West as fearsome, even villainous, believing it amplifies China’s global authority.

As one netizen wrote: “I like it when we look like we crawl straight into their nightmares.”

Chinese journalist Kai Lei (@凯雷) suggested that these kinds of trends showed how the Chinese public plays an increasingly proactive role in shaping China’s global image.

By now, the AFP meme has become so strong that it doesn’t even require AFP anymore. Ultra-dramatic shots are simply called “AFP-level photos” (法新社级别).

For now, as many are enjoying the “afterglow” of the military parade, their appreciation for the AFP-style only seems to grow. As one Weibo user summed it up: “AFP tried to create a sense of oppression with dark, low-angle shots, but instead only strengthened the Chinese military’s aura of majesty.”

 
– By Ruixin Zhang and Manya Koetse
 

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