China Local News
News of Shanghai Illegal Garbage Dumping Leads to Online ‘Shanghai Bashing’
Chinese netizens have responded with anger to recent news reports that tons of construction waste from Shanghai is being dumped outside the city. The news led to an online ‘Shanghai bashing’ galore, with some netizens defending the city’s reputation.
On Friday, July 1, eight vessels from Shanghai carrying around 4000 tons of construction waste were caught while secretly trying to dump it in the Suzhou Taihu National Tourism Zone (苏州太湖西山岛).
Authorities were able to intervene before the garbage was illegally dumped, but they later reported that over 20,000 tons of waste, mostly construction materials, were also found across 2400 square meters of the bank, Shanghai Daily writes.
On Sina Weibo, various Chinese media reported about the event, saying the owners of the vessels and those involved have been detained. The related construction company is currently under investigation.
For many angry netizens, the news was a reason to bash Shanghai: “This is typical for Shanghai people,” some netizens say. “Aren’t their morals high?”, another Weibo user sarcastically responds with smileys.
Others are not happy that the waste scandal is connected to Shanghai local culture: “Oh, here’s a chance again to bash Shanghai people,” one netizen responds. One female netizen responds to the Shanghai bashing with a long post: “4000 tons of garbage from Shanghai has illegally been dumped near Lake Taihu, which was reported by state media and then led to many reactions bashing Shanghainese. But this is typically Chinese. They don’t even know how other cities or backward regions handle their garbage.”
She also defended Shanghai by saying those responsible for the waste scandal originally are not from Shanghai.
Others agree with the girl, saying: “It is no use to bash the people of Shanghai for this – they were not the ones who all smuggled this waste to Suzhou.”
But there are many who say that the reason they bash Shanghai people is because “it is Shanghai people who always bash people from outside their city” and that “people producing so much trash deserve to be scolded.”
Earlier this year, another Weibo trending topic also led to ‘Shanghai bashing’ when a girl who called herself “a pure Shanghainese” broke up with her boyfriend from outside Shanghai after his parents served her a ‘disappointing’ countryside Chinese new year’s dinner.
Shanghai’s reputation recently also became a topic of discussion on the online forum Reddit, where netizens connected the city’s reputation to an ongoing rivalry between Beijing and Shanghai. “Half of China things Shanghai is full of stuck up twats. The other half think Beijing is full of stuck up twats,” one Reddit user wrote.
Other netizens say the supposed Shanghai-Beijing rivalry is comparable to that of other big cities like Sydney and Melbourne, or Tokyo and Osaka.
Besides the Shanghai bashers, there are also some netizens who do not link the recent Shanghai waste scandal to the city but to China’s way of dealing with garbage: “China does not have a good recycling system. If the government does not solve this problem, the pollution created by waste will become an increasingly serious issue.”
– By Manya Koetse
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China Local News
Streamed Without Realizing: Chinese Village Cadres Suspended after Sex Scene Video Leaks Online
“Village cadres are so hard-working. Besides conducting conferences, they also do live-streaming!”
Two cadres working in Weicheng District in Shandong Province were suspended this week after an “inappropriate video” that showed them engaging in sexual acts started circulating on Chinese social media.
The two got a bit too cozy together in a meeting room, and the moment allegedly was unknowingly caught on camera after a secretary did not turn the camera off after a video conference.
On October 6, Phoenix News (@凤凰网) reported that the subdistrict office in question denied that such an incident took place in their jurisdiction.
The local Discipline Inspection Commission, however, confirmed that the incident did take place and that the case was under investigation, although they would not confirm which positions the two cadres held. Online, it was claimed that they are a thirty-something male secretary in and a fifty-something female director.
Two officials working at a local subdistrict office are suspended after a leaked video showed them engaging in sexual acts. The secretary allegedly forgot to turn camera off after a team meeting. News says it's not clear what their positions were, but I think it's pretty clear 🫢 pic.twitter.com/eRCX3owLDo
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) October 6, 2023
Some Chinese media sources noted that the video in question seems to have been recorded from a security camera system screen, raising questions about whether the two had forgotten about the security cameras, or if they actually forgot to turn off a conference call camera, or if the incident was captured by both the security cameras and the webcam.
On Weibo and other Chinese social media, the incident has caused some banter among netizens.
“At least our Party comrades are now addressing their needs internally without causing harm to society – that could be considered a form of progress,” one popular comment said.
“It’s not bad, it’s just bad that they forgot to turn the webcam off,” others replied.
“Ah, so this is officially what officials do?” others wondered.
“Village cadres are so hard-working. Besides conducting conferences, they also do livestreaming!”
By now, it’s been confirmed by a staff member at the Wangliu St. Office in Weifang that the two individuals involved, both village cadres, have been suspended. They are currently under investigation by the Disciplinary Inspection Committee. By early Saturday, a related hashtag had garnered over 200 million views on Weibo (#两干部流出不雅视频被停职#).
By Manya Koetse
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