China Media
Reactions to Brexit in Chinese (Social) Media
News of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union is fully dominating international headlines and has become the number one trending topic on Sina Weibo. As Brexit is now also making front-page news in China, What’s on Weibo provides an overview of reactions to Brexit in Chinese (social) media
Britain’s vote to leave the EU is dominating the headlines worldwide. On June 24, ‘Brexit’ also made it to the number one spot of Weibo’s trending topics list under the hashtag of ‘Britain out of EU Referendum’ (#英国脱欧公投#). For many Chinese media outlets and netizens, the outcome of the Brexit referendum shows the risks of democracy and populism.
“We’re eyewitnesses to history.”
“We’ve become eyewitnesses to history,” Chinese netizens said (“我们竟然成为了历史的见证人”), with others already advising younger generations to remember this day: “Dear students, this will be an exam question. In which year, what month and what day did Britain leave the European Union?”
‘Brexit’ is the number one trending topic on China’s biggest social media platform Sina Weibo.
British prime minister Cameron announced that he would resign after the referendum outcome and that a new leader would be needed by October. That news was shared on Sina Weibo over 6050 times within twenty minutes after its release. “The UK is surely moving fast today,” one Weibo netizen responded. Another commenter jokingly writes: “Cameron says: ‘You stupid retards, I was just playing around and you fools took it seriously!'”
Other Chinese netizens also make fun of Cameron (卡姆伦), saying that by allowing this referendum over the UK’s EU membership to take place, he has “crushed his foot while trying to move a rock” (“搬起石头砸自己的脚”) – that he has fallen into the pit of his own digging. “You’re not careful for a second, and before you know it you’ve made history,” one netizen comments.
Chinese reactions to Brexit on Sina Weibo: “We’ve become an eyewitness to history”.
There are also netizens who seem to understand Britain’s choice for leaving the EU: “It is like a husband and wife,” one commenter says: “If you can go on, you stay together, but if you cannot go on, you get a divorce. Staying together would only intensify the conflict.”
“Britain leaving the EU is a reflection of the ongoing global trend of populism.”
On Tencent’s opinion and commentary In Touch Today platform, Chinese author Xi Yinghong (奚应红) says Britain leaving the EU is a reflection of the ongoing trend of populism (民粹主义) that is currently spreading not only in Europe, but throughout the world. Xi writes that the division between those voting to “remain” and “exit” the EU can be crudely seen as a disagreement between the British (political) elite and the ordinary people, who seem to “speak a different language” on a variety of issues, “making communication difficult”:
“While London’s social elite is still loudly debating the negative implications of Brexit for UK economy, migration, and national sovereignty, the masses are more likely to be infected by these kinds of slogans: ‘We want to control our own borders, formulate our own laws, and get our money back from Brussels.’ Although they are talking about the same issues, the way they are expressed reflect a different psychological and emotional stage – and this difference is especially evident when it comes to the issue of immigration.”
According to a Tencent opinion poll that accompanied the article, a majority of Tencent readers already expected Britain to leave the EU.
Opinion poll by Tencent: “Do you think the UK will leave the EU?” 31.47% says they will remain, 68.53% says they will leave.
On the question: “Do you think populism is a dangerous global trend?”, 35% of netizens indicated they do not perceive populism as a potential threat, whereas nearly 65% of participants do feel it is potentially dangerous.
The opinion poll by Tencent: “Do you think populism is a dangerous global trend?” 35.41% says no, 64.59% says yes.
One much-upvoted comment to the article says: “The issue of Britain leaving the EU is a very complicated one that involves political, economic, as well as diplomatic problems. It is an issue that should’ve been be left to the experts, not to ordinary people who do not have a fundamental understanding of economics and foreign diplomacy. Now the British need to bear the consequences of their choice.”
“The democratic system will drag Britain through the mud.”
Influential economic newspaper The Economic Observer (观察) made Brexit big front page news (featured image) today, with headlines saying: “Britain Leaves EU, Cameron Resigns”. In the leader, journalist Li Lin (李晽) wonders “whether Cameron will be condemned by history in the UK and throughout Europe” for the outcome of the Brexit referendum, that could cause a “butterfly effect” (蝴蝶效应).
One reader comments: “Some people will be happy and some will be sad that UK is separating itself from Europe. Fact is that the democratic system will further drag Britain through the mud. It seems that a major reshuffle in the world is really about to begin now.”
China’s biggest newspaper The People’s Daily (人民日报), the official news outlet of the Chinese Communist Party, did not make Brexit front page news. Instead, their headlines are all focused on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO, 海合作组织) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where Chinese president Xi Jinping met with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Not Brexit, but the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting was on the frontpage of China’s largest state media outlet.
The two presidents reportedly spoke about the promotion of the SCO in regional development and security. Apart from Russia and the PRC, the 2001-founded Shanghai Cooperation Organization currently has 6 other members, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan. Putin and Xi also spoke about enhancing the Sino-Russian bilateral ties and their strategic partnership. Brexit was not part of their agenda meeting.
“This day will go into the history books as the moment that led to the collapse of the European Union.”
Some media and netizens also discuss to what extent Brexit will influence China. According to the West Strait Morning Post (海西晨报), experts say the referendum’s outcome will be positive for Chinese students studying abroad due to the devaluation of the pound. They also state that Britain’s vote to leave the EU is expected to have a “limited impact” on the trade relations between China and Europe.
Many Chinese netizens follow the news about Europe with much interest. A post by the Chinese Wall Street Journal saying: “After Brexit, Dutch politician Geert Wilders has promised to organize a referendum about the Netherlands leaving the EU” has attracted much attention and was shared over 10,000 times within a couple of hours.
Dutch politician Geert Wilders is a much talked-about topic on Chinese social media today.
“First Britain leaves the EU, and then the Netherlands will follow. The EU is crying,” a Weibo user says.
“I can understand it,” one other commenter says: “Even countries like Turkey will enter the EU, and the Netherlands would not want that.” “Muslim immigration has greatly contributed to countries leaving the EU,” another netizen comments.
Overall, many netizens see Britain’s vote to leave the EU as the beginning of a further disintegration of the EU. Apart from a potential referendum in the Netherlands, there are also many expecting a second independence referendum in Scotland. News and analysis outlet Caixin.com writes: “The UK decision will encourage the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and other countries to also leave the EU,” reporting about a speech given by U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage earlier today.
“I have an inkling that this day will go into the history books as the moment that led to the collapse of the European Union,” one Weibo user concludes.
– By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo
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©2016 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.
China Media
Slip of the Tongue: Biden Accidentally Says He “Applauds China”
On Weibo, people joke that Biden’s gaffe was a Freudian slip: “He finally said how he really feels about China.”
It was a top headline on Baidu News on Saturday, March 25: while delivering a speech to the Canadian parliament on Friday, U.S. President Biden said he “applauded China for stepping up,” quickly correcting himself and saying he meant to say ‘Canada’ instead of ‘China.’
Biden was giving the speech in Ottowa during a state visit to Canada, during which the U.S. President and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau held bilateral talks discussing various security issues.
In the speech, Biden reaffirmed the strong relations between Canada and the United States.
At the moment of Biden’s gaffe, he said: “So today I applaud China for stepping up,” before correcting himself and making a quick joke: “Excuse me, I applaud Canada. You can tell what I’m thinking…about China. We won’t get into that yet.”
Ahead of the state visit, Trudeau spoke to CNN about U.S.-Canada relations and China, stating that there are areas in which they will “going to have to directly challenge China” on issues such as human rights and security. He said: “We’re going to have to continue to be wide-eyed and clear about the threat that China poses and wants to pose to the stability of our democracies.”
Regarding Biden’s gaffe, Chinese media were quick to jump on it and soon the incident spread on Weibo using various hashtags (“Biden Corrects Himself after Saying He Applauds China” #拜登称为中国鼓掌后改口#; “Biden Accidentally Says He Applauds China” #拜登口误为中国鼓掌#).
Chinese state media outlet Global Times (环球网) posted one of the most popular posts on the matter, which included a video of the moment, receiving over 82,000 likes.
But other big accounts, such as the Communist Youth League, also posted about the moment.
“Even if he dreams, he still thinks of China,” one top comment said, with others replying things such as: “He just can’t keep China out of his mouth.”
Some people also suggested it was a Freudian slip, and that Biden actually said what he was thinking: “Finally he said what he feels!” and “he loves China.”
China’s Communist Youth League also posted a meme about Biden allegedly also saying “US-China relations” instead of “US-Canada relations” during a bilateral meeting in 2021.
At one time in 2022, Biden apparently also mixed up “Ukraine” and “China” during a speech.
By now, Biden’s mix-ups and mistakes have become a regular occurrence, something that was already covered by The New York Times as early as 2019.
One meme on Chinese social media featured Joe Biden and Donald Trump side by side wearing a 1960s PLA uniform, the flag of the Communist Party in the background.
Trump was previously also jokingly called “Comrade Trump” on Chinese social media, saying he was the man “making China great again,” suggesting that his policies and actions inadvertently contributed to China’s rise. For this reason, he was also nicknamed “Build the Country Trump” (川建国) and ‘Comrade Jianguo’ (建国同志 [Comrade Build-Country]).
An older Trump meme, see Twitter thread here.
For a similar reason, Biden is now also nicknamed “Boosting China Biden” (拜振华). Both ‘Build the Country Trump’ and ‘Boosting China Biden’ are written in such ways that they could pass as Chinese names, which is part of the joke.
Some netizens playfully warned Biden and Trump about being careful not to give themselves away: “Please, comrades, be careful about hiding your true identity!”
“Comrade Boost China Biden, thanks for your hard work,” another jokingly wrote.
By Manya Koetse
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©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.
By Manya Koetse
With contributions by Miranda Barnes
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.
China Media
“New Chapter of Sino-Russian Friendship”: Putin Publishes Op-Ed in China’s People’s Daily, Xi in Rossiiskaya Gazeta
In Xi’s piece, the word “China” was the most recurring one. In Putin’s article, the word “Russia” was repeated the most.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Monday, March 20, for his scheduled state visit to Russia.
During his three-day Moscow visit, Xi will have one-on-one talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This is the first time Xi visits Russia since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On the first day of the top-level meeting, the Chinese state media outlet People’s Daily headlined that Xi Jinping published an article in the Russian government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta on the occasion of his state visit, while also featuring the news about Putin’s signed article on the front page (the actual article was published on page three).
Meanwhile, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta did the same: they also featured Xi’s publication on the front page of their digital newspaper, while also turning Putin’s contribution to the People’s Daily into one of the main headlines. The newspaper also published a special section dedicated to Sino-Russian friendship.
Xi’s article, in Russian here and in Chinese here, was also translated to English and published by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on their website here.
The article, titled “Forging Ahead to Open a New Chapter of China-Russia Friendship, Cooperation and Common Development” (“踔厉前行，开启中俄友好合作、共同发展新篇章”) mainly stresses the strong bond and mutual trust between China and Russia and the future of Sino-Russian relations, with the word “cooperation” being used 22 times and the word “friendship” used 8 times in the text. The most-mentioned word in the text is “China” (24 times); “Russia” was mentioned 22 times.
“Ukraine” was mentioned three times in one paragraph about the ‘Ukraine crisis,’ which emphasized China’s “impartial position” and its active promotion of peace talks.
Word cloud of Xi’s text for Russian newspaper (What’s on Weibo/Word Art).
The article by Putin is titled “Russia and China – A Future-Bound Partnership” (“俄罗斯和中国——面向未来的伙伴关系”) (link in Chinese, link in English) and it is similar to Xi’s op-ed in multiple ways, and also focused on stressing the special friendship between both countries and how similar they allegedly are in their culture, tradition, and foreign policy.
The article was actually also very similar to an earlier article titled “Russia and China: A Future-Oriented Strategic Partnership” published by Vladimir Putin for Chinese state media outlet Xinhua just before the Winter Olympics and Putin’s visit to China in 2022 (link in English).
The current article condemns America’s role in the international community and thanks China for its approach to the Ukrainian issue. The word that comes up most often in the text is “Russia” (20 times); “China” is mentioned 18 times. Words such as “cooperation” and “partnership” also come up a lot (7 and 5 times respectively).
Word cloud made from Putin’s text for People’s Daily, by What’s on Weibo via Word Art.
The hashtag “Xi Jinping Published Signed Article in Russian Media” (#习近平在俄罗斯媒体发表署名文章#) was posted on social media site Weibo by Xinhua.
China Daily posted images featuring several quotes from Xi’s signed article in Chinese and English.
While it was not the first time for Putin to post an op-ed in a Chinese state media newspaper, it was also not the first time for Xi Jinping to publish a signed article in a Russian government newspaper. He also posted one in 2015 (link in Chinese).
Xi previously also published letters or bylined articles in the media of other countries.
Ahead of his state visit to Finland in 2017, the Finnish newspaper Helsinki Times featured Xi’s article titled “Our Enduring Friendship” (“穿越历史的友谊”). Xi also stressed bilateral relations in letters to the foreign media of countries such as Myanmar, Greece, Nepal, North Korea, and others.
The term used by Xi in the article, “starting a new chapter” (“开启时代新篇章”) was repeated by many commenters replying to the topic on Weibo, where Xi’s Russia visit is covered by many media accounts in videos, text, and images.
In a recent post, political commentator Hu Xijin (@胡锡进) noted how Xi’s Russia visit made international headlines, underlining the major significance of the meeting. Hu wrote that no third party could hinder the “steady development of Sino-Russian relations.” At time of writing, only three out of more than a hundred replies to Hu’s post were displayed – the three replies consisted of hearts and thumbs up emoji only – with the other comments being filtered.
Although the meeting between Xi and Putin was promoted in the Weibo trending lists, most posts about the state visit only allowed some selected replies in the threads below, or simply closed the comment sections. This was also the case went Putin’s annual address in Moscow was featured by various accounts on Weibo.
For more articles on China-Russian relations and related Weibo discussions, check our archives here.
By Manya Koetse
With contributions by Miranda Barnes
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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