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China Health & Science

Rejected for Being Blind: Shaanxi Normal University Denies Female Student Braille Entrance Exam

No exam, no entrance – this student ran into a brick wall at the famous Chinese university.

Saga Ringmar

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The story of a young blind woman whose application for a Chinese university’s entrance exams was rejected due to her visual disability has sparked discussion across Chinese social media.

Last week, Shaanxi Normal University made headlines in China for rejecting a blind student from their psychology Masters program.

Debates arose online about how universities should accommodate disabled students. The related hashtag (#盲人女孩报考陕西师大研究生遭拒#) received 41 million clicks and about 2,600 related posts on social media platform Weibo.

According to Chinese news site The Paper, the female student named Wu Xiao (吴潇) was turned down after she tried to apply for Shaanxi Normal University’s postgraduate entrance exam. The university reportedly claimed they were not equipped to teach students with visual impairments.

In an interview, the 24-year-old Wu Xiao said that, despite encountering obstacles, she had managed to study with non-blind students for the past four years already. As a fourth-year student of applied psychology at the Nanjing Normal University of Special Education, all she needed was a chance to take the entrance exam, but this request was denied. The university allegedly stated they could not provide a Braille version of the exam.

Wu Xiao said she was perplexed about the rejection, especially since Shaanxi Normal University previously organized a college tour for students with physical disabilities.

Shaanxi Normal University, located in Xi’an, is a well-known university under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education of China.

In the news report shared by Lifeweek, a staff member at Shaanxi Normal University explained the situation, saying that psychologists need to be able to see their patients in order to treat them. Students with vision loss should therefore aim for another career, the man said.

The university cited guidelines from 2003 issued by the Ministry of Education and the China Disabled Persons’ Federation. These guidelines allow for a physical examination to affect the chances of studying a certain subject.

According to article 3.6 of the guidelines, students with visual impairments are “unsuitable” to study psychology. Among other things, the guidelines also state that universities can reject students from studying journalism if they have a stammer or hunchback.

On Weibo, one of the main issues discussed was whether or not Wu Xiao was right in speaking out against the university.

Some Weibo users defended the university’s decision, arguing that nonverbal, visual communication plays a vital role in the field of psychology. There were also those saying that Wu could not demand the school to adapt to her needs.

But there are also many social media users advocating equal opportunities and equal access for persons with disabilities. “A lot of people are acting as if she’s asking for special treatment…but she hasn’t even been able to get equal access to education,” one person commented, “It’s not her fault she can’t go to this school – it is the fault of backward universities and society.”

Over the past few years, stories of Chinese blind people encountering ignorance and accessibility issues have been receiving more attention on social media.

Earlier this year, a video showing the failed design of a tactile-paved path in Inner Mongolia caught the attention of web users. The tactile paving steered blind and visually impaired pedestrians straight into trees on the sidewalk. Local authorities later fixed the paths.

Another video posted on Douyin (the Chinese version of Tiktok) in August of this year also attracted a lot of attention, receiving over 150,000 likes. The video, posted by a visually impaired blogger (@盲探-小龙蛋), showed the difficulties encountered by Chinese people with blindness or low vision when using public transportation. In Shenzhen, where the blogger lives, most buses do not have speakers announcing their direction, making it impossible for him to know which bus to take. Shenzhen has to do better if it wants to call itself a “city without hindrances” (“无障碍城市”), he argued.

Over recent years, the Chinese government has done more to strengthen the protection of rights and interests of persons with disabilities in the country. Although there is a focus on the prevention of birth defects and disability – even launching a “National Disability Prevention Day” – there seems to be a lesser focus on transforming China’s social organizations to actually help those with disabilities.

Children with visual impairments often attend specialized schools isolated from the rest of society. Only since 2015 have blind students been able to take the university entrance exam (gaokao) in Braille. According to Toutiao News, Wu Xiao was the only student in Shaanxi to take the Braille version of the gaokao.

To promote more inclusivity for disabled citizens in the workforce, China has an employment quota system in which companies must reserve at least 1.5 percent of their positions for disabled persons, yet many companies do not meet the quota.

On Weibo, some commenters argue that people such as Wu Xiao will continue to face discrimination in society unless something changes in the education system.  “We can only build a fair society if our education is fair,” one person writes: “Caring for the disadvantaged and giving them equal opportunities is a measure of a civilized society. We have to care for them and help them fulfill their dreams.”

By Saga Ringmar ( follow on Twitter

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.

©2020 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

Saga Ringmar is a researcher for Kinapodden, the Swedish public radio’s podcast about China. She covers digital culture and social media trends. Previously, Saga worked for City Weekend Magazine and Time Out Magazine in Beijing. She is interested in China's changing media landscape and the tensions between internet culture and politics.

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China Food & Drinks

Japanese Restaurant in Shanghai Faces Backlash for Offering “Anti-Radiation” Meals

Amidst the panic surrounding Fukushima, this Shanghai-based Japanese-style restaurant ventured into a new business approach.

Manya Koetse

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Since August 24th, when Japan started the release of treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima power plant into the ocean, a myriad of related topics have surged across Chinese social media platforms.

The dissemination of news concerning the Fukushima wastewater discharge, amplified by Chinese media outlets, has sparked considerable unrest in various ways.

Among these is the phenomenon of salt hoarding. There have been dozens of posts on Weibo showing extreme examples of people stockpiling salt. In some places, people queued for up to an hour to buy salt while early-bird shoppers left stores with heavily laden shopping carts.

China also saw instances of salt hoarding in 2011, just after the tsunami and Fukushima disaster. Some people equate ‘salt’ to ‘sea salt’ and they are concerned that salt stocks could potentially become contaminated due to the Fukushima wastewater. But there is also a general belief that salt consumption could provide protection against exposure to radioactivity.

Nonetheless, regular table salt does not actually provide protection against radiation, and consuming excessive amounts of iodized salt could potentially pose health risks on its own.

While scientists and critics find the recent panic to be unfounded – emphasizing that Japan’s actions fall within the safety limits of the Atomic Energy Agency and that the environmental impact is minimal, – a prevailing skepticism toward Western powers combined with official media boosting news concerning the discharge of radioactive water, ensures that Fukushima-related fears and misconceptions remain pervasive.

The concerns surrounding Fukushima have already had negative consequences for many business owners in China, especially for some Japanese-style restaurant owners who felt the need to change their theme, change their name, or explicitly state that their ingredients are not actually coming from Japan.

Meanwhile, there are also some who are trying to capitalize on the situation for profit.

One Japanese-style restaurant in Shanghai’s Hongqiao recently starting offering a so-called “anti radiation” set meal (“防辐射”套餐). The set meal, which was first introduced on online platform Dianping, included ingredients such as tomatoes, edamame, tofu, and spinach.

The Japanese restaurant introduced the menu on the 25th, a day after Japan started discharging the first batch of wastewater into the ocean. While various Chinese media write that there is no scientific basis for the radiation-blocking effects of these foods, the restaurant stated they no longer use any products from Japan and that ingredients used are all sourced locally.

According to various news posts, the restaurant compiled the menu through research and seeking advice from a nutritionist. The restaurant also associated each dish with particular benefits, including claims of “reducing skin damage” or “stimulating cell growth.”

But soon after the restaurant had put their anti-radiation menu online, it became a big topic of discussion, with one related hashtag on Weibo getting over 140 million views (#上海一日料店上架防辐射套餐#).

“Of course, the next step is to make a quick buck by pushing anti-radiation products,” one popular comment said (using the phrase gē jiǔcài 割韭菜, ‘harvesting chives,’ also explained in our latest newsletter).

Other people wondered why one would order such a menu if you might as well cook the exact same things at home. “Why would I pay 28 yuan for tomato with seasoning?”

Meanwhile, Chinese media outlets, citing legal experts, focused more on the legal problems surrounding the menu, suggesting that making false claims is against the law.

Following the controversy, the restaurant has now pulled its menu offline.

Nonetheless, the restaurant won’t be the first or the last business owner to profit from Fukushima fear and anger. While some are selling anti-radiation tablets, others are selling t-shirts with slogans opposing Japan’s decision to discharge the wastewater.

T-shirt sold on Taobao opposing the “ocean dumping” of Fukushima wastewater (screenshot via Whatsonweibo).

On Weibo, local authorities and media accounts are cautioning consumers against purchasing ineffective products that offer no protection against radiation exposure, reiterating that buying loads of salt will not help either.

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.

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China Health & Science

Confirmed Case of Monkeypox in Liaoning (Updated: and in Changsha, Tianjin)

After hearing about a reported monkeypox case, some netizens think it’s time to dust off their disinfectant again.

Manya Koetse

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A suspected case of Mpox (monkeypox) reported in Shenyang, Liaoning, has become a top trending topic on Chinese social media this week.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the results of local lab tests, giving a positive result for the monkeypox virus.

The case was first reported on June 29th and official diagnosis with the monkeypox virus was confirmed on July 3rd.

The patient is currently undergoing isolation treatment in a designated medical institution, and their condition is stable.

Monkeypox (Mpox) is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. It is characterized by symptoms such as a skin rash or ulcers, accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes. Mpox can be transmitted to humans through physical contact with infected individuals, contaminated materials, or infected animals.

On Chinese social media, there is a significant concern expressed by many individuals regarding a possible outbreak of Mpox. People are seeking information on preventive measures to avoid contracting the virus and expressing their strong desire for the virus to remain distant from them. After experiencing the impact of the Covid pandemic for years, another virus outbreak is the last thing people want to encounter or hear about.

“Retreat! Fetreat! Retreat!” meme posted on Weibo in response to the monkeypox case in Liaoning.

“Do not come over” meme.

“This is still an issue that needs to be taken seriously because once the first case emerges, there may be subsequent cases,” one commenters says: “It requires the collective efforts of various local departments to thoroughly control and contain it from spreading any further.”

“When I see this kind of news, I silently pick up my face mask, take my Vitamine C, and take out my dusty disinfectant again,” another person writes.

During May 2022, an outbreak of monkeypox was identified in the United Kingdom. Two months later, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the outbreak as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” As of March of the current year, over 113 countries had reported a cumulative total of 86,516 confirmed cases. However, in May, the WHO declared the global health emergency to be concluded.

At the time of this global outbreak, there was some controversy when a chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention warned locals against touching foreigners to avoid getting infected. This happened a day after the first case in China was detected in September of 2022.

Update July 8: Another case of mpox went trending on Chinese social media on Saturday, this time it concerns a case detected in Tianjin.

On July 6th,the suspected case of monkeypox was reported. The Chinese Center for disease Control and Prevention later confirmed the case through testing. The patient is undergoing isolation treatment in a designated medical institution, and their condition is stable.

On Weibo, the hashtag “Case of Monkeypox Detected in Tianjin” (#天津发现一例猴痘#) attracted over 150 million views on Saturday. On Friday, three new cases of monkeypox in Changsha also attracted attention on social media (#长沙发现3例猴痘病例#).

“Why do I feel like this is 2019?” some people write, seemingly concerned about another major outbreak. Nevertheless, the way of contracting monkeypox is vastly different and not comparable to Covid, as it mostly spreads through close, personal, often skin-to-skin contact (or mouth-to-skin, mouth-to-mouth). People who have contact with clothing, bedding, towels, objects, electronics, and other surfaces that have been touched by someone with monkeypox are also at risk.

 
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.

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