There has been a lot of talk about frogs in Chinese online discussions following the G7 summit. Over the past week, the G7 summit, that was held in Hiroshima from 19 to 21 May, was criticized in Chinese newspaper headlines and by official media accounts, while China’s ministry of foreign affairs accused the G7 of “smearing” and “attacking” China.

The G7 was called a “failure” on the China Daily front page of May 22. On the same day, Global Times called the summit “manipulative” in its front page headline and suggested the Group of Seven had descended into an “anti-China workshop” in its op-ed, which featured an illustration by Liu Rui that showed the seven nations in a boat, not cooperating and barely moving.

The Global Times op-ed, including the cartoon by Li Rui. Source: Global Times.

But perhaps the most noteworthy criticism on the G7 summit came from Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying (华春莹).

On her official Twitter account (@SpokespersonCHN) Hua lashed out against the G7 and its participating nations in a series of tweets in which she condemned the summit as hypocritical, deceptive, and biased, while highlighting China’s contributions to global economic growth.

Some of the tweets posted by Hua Chunying in response to the Group of Seven “attacking” and “slandering” China.

The Chinese condemnation of the G7 is a direct response to the G7 Communiqué and to the summit’s supposed “hype around China-related issues.”

During the G7 summit in Hiroshima, the participating nations expressed growing concerns about China’s expanding global influence. The summit’s official statement emphasized the need to “de-risk” rather than “de-couple” from China in their relationship. The statement mentioned China 20 times, a significant increase from the 14 mentions in 2022.

The discussions focused on various aspects related to China, including its relations with Taiwan, human rights issues in Xinjiang and Tibet, interference in democratic institutions, and responses to Russia’s military aggression.

Prior to the summit, President Emmanuel Macron of France made it clear through one of his advisers that the G7 was not an ‘anti-Chinese’ coalition. However, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom went beyond the official statement, emphasizing the significant threat posed by China to global security. Speaking to reporters at the G7 meeting, Sunak stated that “China poses the biggest challenge of our age to global security and prosperity. They are increasingly authoritarian at home and assertive abroad.”

From China’s perspective, the Group of Seven is unwilling to go beyond their own distorted world view in which China is labeled a threat. And so, in one of Hua’s tweets, she posted an image showing a frog on the bottom a well, looking up to the sky and wondering: “G7 = world?”

The image tweeted out by Hua Chunying on 22 May, 2023. Source: Twitter.com.

The depiction of a frog in the well is a direct reference to the well-known fable by philosopher Zhuangzi about a frog in a well who does not believe it when a turtle tells him that the world is bigger than the view from the well. The frog stubbornly denies the existence of the wider world and asserts that nothing lies beyond what he can see. The fable has given rise to Chinese idioms such as “the frog at the bottom of the well” (井底之蛙) and “looking at the sky from the bottom of the well” (坐井观天). These idioms are commonly used to describe those who exhibit ignorance and resist broadening their understanding beyond their limited perspective.

Hua’s frog-tweet and others were also shared on Weibo by state media outlet China Daily, which initiated the hashtags “Hua Chunying Fires Back with Series of Tweets to Counter G7’s Smear Campaign Against China” (#华春莹连发多条推特回击G7抹黑中国言论#) and “Hua Chunying Uses Frog at Bottom of Well to Hit Back at G7’s Smearing Remarks” (#华春莹用井底之蛙回击G7抹黑言论#).

One nationalistic Weibo blogging account (@大大大餅乾丶) shared additional images of frogs, including one with a frog adorned with an American flag and the word “independence” written on its forehead. The blogger pointed out that some groups in Taiwan believed that Hua’s frog tweet was directed at Taiwan, stating: “It seems like their self-awareness is right on point.”

Post by Weibo account @大大大餅干丶, including the frog image. (Source: Weibo.com).

The connection between the frog idiom and Taiwan is not unfounded. In August 2022, during Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan, an illustration depicting a frog leisurely relaxing in a hotpot while the US increased the heat and mainland China held the lid also went viral online.

Illustration by Kokita Chang, circulating on Weibo in August of 2022.

Meanwhile, on Weibo, many praised Hua’s sharp criticism of the way in which China was targeted during the G7 talks and embraced the frog analogy. “One a frog, always a frog,” some wrote.

Other state media outlets, including Global Times, also reported about Hua’s tweets and argued that that the G7 is purposely hyping the “China treat” theory (中国威胁论). The louder their anti-China rhetoric is, the less impact it has, the article argues.

Other commenters, however, seemed to note some irony in the frog analogy. One blogger argued that since the frog in the image himself wonders if the G7 is really the entire world, he actually already does not have such a limited worldview. Several Weibo users wondered who the frog actually represented, suggesting it could either be the G7, Taiwan, or mainland China itself.

Within this context, some individuals expressed curiosity about Hua Chunying’s choice to post the original message on the American Twitter platform, which is inaccessible within mainland China. They humorously remarked, “Twitter? What is Twitter?”

By Manya Koetse & Zilan Qian

Follow @whatsonweibo

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

Subscribe

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.

An explosive argument between two female passengers on a high-speed train has gone viral on Chinese social media this week. The fight has triggered widespread discussions on the issue of ‘mutual assault,’ the problem of ‘brat children,’ and why it might be wiser to avoid intervening in these types of disputes altogether.

An argument between two female passengers on a Chinese high-speed train has recently attracted a lot of attention on Chinese social media. (See video, around the 4:10 mark.)

The incident, which has been dubbed “the high-speed rail slapping incident” (“高铁掌掴事件”), happened on the C6276 train on May 2, 2023, between Meishan East Railway Station and Chengdu East Railway station.

This is the incident that happened on a high-speed train to Chengdu that has gone completely viral over the past week, triggering discussions on right&wrong and long-standing social issues. https://t.co/vmgXWS8jqz pic.twitter.com/9MHcjIdZL6

— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) May 12, 2023

Two female passengers seated on the train got into an argument after one woman (Wang 王) got angry over the other woman’s children kicking against the back of her seat. She turned around and scolded them, after which the mother (named Yang 杨) got upset. Both women took their phones and argued while filming each other.

The situation soon escalated from there, and the argument turned physical when Yang first slapped Wang in her face. Several videos of the incident that have since gone viral show that Wang then also slapped Yang in the face, and did it again shortly after.

Train staff and other passengers tried to mediate the situation and calm the women down. One man in specific raised his voice to mediate, while also condemning the parents for not correcting their children’s behavior.

Wang posted about the incident on social media on the night of May 2nd, and it has blown up since then.

Wang was later summoned to the police station and reportedly was fined 200 yuan ($30) by the police for her role in the incident. On the night of May 4th, Wang arrived at the police station at 8 pm, and did not leave until 3.30 am.

In a video posted online, the woman explained that she refused to reconcile with the other party, insisting that they should receive the appropriate punishment for their actions (#高铁上被掌掴女孩坚决不和解#). She said she would accept the fine she received, but stressed that the party that initiated the fight should be punished more harshly.

“To give each one a flogging of fifty strokes” (各打五十大板)

One of the main reasons why the case became so big is because the incident was ruled as “mutual assault” (hù’ǒu 互殴). On Chinese social media, many netizens express that the judgement is not correct since Yang was the first to attack and Wang defended herself (zhèng dàng fáng wèi 正当防卫).

The issue of self-defense being ruled as a ‘mutual assault’ is a recurring one in Chinese social media discussions. A popular opinion is that the police often rule something as ‘mutual assault’ to just settle the matter and be done with it. This is also referred to as gè dǎ wǔshí dà bǎn (各打五十大板), a Chinese idiom that translates to “each person gets a flogging of fifty strokes,” meaning the guilty and innocent are being punished in the same way.

One post about the issue by Sina News received nearly 225,000 likes on Weibo.

Since the slapping incident continued to trigger discussions online, the Chengdu Railway Police issued a statement on May 10, in which they provided exact details on how the incident unfolded. They concluded that both parties were guilty of assault, and that Wang had received the 200 yuan ($30) fine while Yang had received an administrative penalty of 500 yuan ($72).

Still, many people feel that punishing the instigator as well as the person who strikes back is not fair, since it allegedly prevents people from trying to defend themselves.

“The woman who was beaten showed great perseverance,” one person commented: “Hopefully, this case can serve as a milestone event, thoroughly correcting the society’s long-standing habit of taking this approach [of ruling it as ‘mutual assault’] to smooth things over.”

In 2020, Jeremy Daum at China Law Translate published an article about self-defence and on how cases related to the right to protect oneself can evoke passionate public responses. The article describes how then-released guidelines help authorities navigate cases involving the right to protect oneself and the determinations of when such a defense is justified.

As Daum points out, one remarkable feature of the 2020 guidelines is their explicit concern for public opinion. In light of some cases triggering massive public debates, the guidelines call for greater transparency in explaining the law to the public and on how verdicts are reached.

The 2020 guidelines are evident in this specific ‘train slapping incident,’ as it is clear that the reason for penalizing both parties was clearly communicated to the public as the incident went trending online.

“Brat children” (熊孩子)

Another reason why this particular incident received so much attention has to do with the issue of so-called “brat children.” In Chinese, they are referred to as xióng háizi (“熊孩子”), which literally means ‘bear children’ and is used to describe unruly, naughty children (often boys) who are prone to cause trouble.

In The Historical Dictionary of Chinese Culture (Sullivan & Sullivan 2021), it is explained that the rise of the “xióng háizi” phenomenon in China during the 2000s was due to the prevalence of a parenting style known as “soft-touch parenting.”

This approach to parenting was significantly different from previous decades and emphasized gentle and nurturing methods. As a result, many of these children, who are often only children who are pampered by doting grandparents, developed a reputation for their disruptive and self-absorbed behavior in public places (p. 130).

The behaviour of these “little brats” often makes headlines. Like the time when security cameras captured how a young boy urinated in an elevator and broke it, or when a little kid crashed and destroyed a Lego sculpture within an hour after it was displayed in a Chinese mall.

Many commenters on social media say that they have had it with these “little brats” and their parents. In one of her social media posts, Wang argued that there should be designated carriages for passengers traveling with children on high-speed trains to avoid bothering other passengers.

Brat children on the train (via

Regarding the incident, many people believe that the intensity of the argument was due to the fact that people have become increasingly intolerant of unruly children and their parents who fail to discipline them. Although Wang also slapped Yang, many people still side with her, saying they understand her frustrations and supporting her right to criticize the children and their parents.

One commenter (@陌川_MC) writes: “Lots of things are happening every day, yet why do we always see incidents involving ‘brat children’ pop up in the trending lists? The basic reason is that it strikes our travel pain point: we constantly get annoyed by little brats. Behind every ‘bear child’ there is a ‘bear parent.’ People are very disgusted with such parents, but can not do anything about it, which is why they cannot help but feel indignant when they see these types of incidents happening.”

“I was on a high-speed train for three hours yesterday, and all of these three hours a brat child was crying. Didn’t it wear him out? Even I was exhausted by listening to his cries, and the train attendants didn’t do anything about it.”

The hashtag “Should Trains Set Up Special Carriages for Children” (#列车有必要设置携带儿童车厢吗#) received comments from many people who applaud the idea.

“Dongbei Brother” (东北大哥)

One of the other reasons why the train slapping incident has become such a big topic is due to the role played by one of the passengers who stepped in and ‘mediated’ during the fight. As he comes from Northeast China, the man has now come to be known simply as the ‘Dongbei Brother’ or ‘Northeastern big brother’ (东北大哥).

During the incident, the man came up and meddled in the argument. Although ‘Dongbei Brother’ has become an online celebrity, netizens also accuse him of taking sides during the altercation, labeling the child as a troublemaker and completely ignoring the fact that Wang was filming the children and yelling at them.

Others suggest he only intervened to gain attention for himself and increase his social media following.

The man approaching in the yellow jacket is “Dongbei brother.”

In response to these accusations, then man said on a recent livestream that he only stepped in because he saw the two parties arguing and wanted to prevent the altercation getting any worse. The man also stated that he received a call from the child’s mother, thanking him for his intervention. Neverthless, in light of all the negative comments he received, he also stated that he would not intervene in similar situations in the future. That topic also went trending (#东北大哥称不想再管吵架事件#), receiving 180 million views on Friday.

Some people took the backlash against ‘Dongbei Brother’ as a lesson, suggesting that it might be wiser to avoid intervening in these types of disputes altogether.

Lastly, the recent incident not only sparked discussions on the issue of “mutual assault” and “brat children,” as well as the role of those who intervene, but it has also shed light on the issue of cyberbullying. The individuals involved in the incident have all faced online abuse, highlighting the harmful impact of cyberbullying.

Despite all the people who have strong opinions about the incident and the various people involved, there are also those calling on netizens to stay reasonable above all else. After all, the best thing people can do to set the right example for so-called “brat children” is to try and stay civilized online.

By Manya Koetse, with contributions by Miranda Barnes

Follow @whatsonweibo

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

Subscribe

References

Daum, Jeremy. 2020. “Standing your ground, China Style.” China Law Translate, October 5 https://www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/standing-your-ground-china-style/ [May 12, 2023].

Sullivan, Lawrence R. and Nancy Sullivan. 2021. Historical Dictionary of Chinese Culture. New York and London: Rowman & Littlefield

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.