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The 25th Anniversary of Hong Kong’s Return to Chinese Sovereignty on Weibo

Chinese state media push the Hong Kong anniversary narrative on Weibo: “If Hong Kong is doing well, the nation is doing well, and when the nation is good, Hong Kong is even better.”

Manya Koetse

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July 1st 2022 marked the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty. The silver jubilee of Hong Kong’s handover from Britain to China was celebrated in various ways, including light shows, movie screenings, a flag-raising ceremony, and boat parades.

For the occasion, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hong Kong for two days – although he did not spend the night there – and spoke at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, praising “one country, two systems” and stressing that there is “no reason to change such a good system” and that “it must be adhered to in the long run.” During the ceremony, ex-police officer John Lee was sworn in as Hong Kong’s new chief executive.

While Chinese state media described the 25th anniversary as “festive” and “joyous,” Hong Kong Free Press wrote about “muted celebrations” and the event being overshadowed by the security blanket, media restrictions, Covid-19 concerns, and a typhoon.

On Chinese social media site Weibo, the event was completely dominated by the official narrative, and Chinese state media propagated the 25th anniversary through various hashtags and online posters.

The hashtag “Blessed Hong Kong, Blessed Motherland” (#祝福香港祝福祖国#) was initiated by CCTV and received over 189 million views. CCTV also published an online poster showing the Hong Kong skyline in the number 25.

One post by CCTV including the online poster received over 716,000 likes and more than 95,000 comments – most of them included hearts and well wishes to Hong Kong.

The hashtag “25th Annniversary of Hong Kong’s Return to the Motherland” (#香港回归祖国25周年#) received over 280 million views.

China Youth Daily initiated the “Hong Kong 25th Year Since Returning to Motherland” hashtag (#香港回归祖国25载#), while People’s Daily released a song video in cooperation with China Mobile to celebrate the event (#香港回归25周年纪念曲祝福#) featuring singer Zhou Shen (周深).

State media outlet Xinhua also released a song dedicated to the 25th anniversary. Titled “Hello Hong Kong” (你好香港), the song features the super popular mainland singer Wang Yibo (王一博). The video was reposted over a million times.

People’s Daily also published another post on July 1st, at 0:00 exactly, writing: “If Hong Kong is [doing] well, the nation is [doing] well; when the nation is good, Hong Kong is even better” (“香港好,国家好;国家好,香港更好”).

The hashtag “Ensuring That ‘One Country, Two Systems’ Is Always Heading in the Right Direction” (#确保一国两制事业始终朝着正确的方向行稳致远#) was promoted by the People’s Daily Commentary account – and even pushed to the top of the Weibo hot search lists – stressing the historical and future role of Hong Kong in ‘the great rejuvenation’ of the Chinese nation.

Meanwhile, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian (赵立坚) posted a lengthy Ministry statement on Weibo condemning some of the international responses to Hong Kong’s handover anniversary, such as that by the White House about Beijingh eliminating “any meaningful political opposition in Hong Kong and stifling dissent.”

According to the statement posted by Zhao, these kind of responses were just attempts to “smear” China’s “one country, two systems” policy and merely are meant to meddle in China internal affairs, disregarding “the basic norms of international relations.”

There was also some online controversy after Hong Kong singer and actor Jacky Cheung (张学友) cheered on Hong Kong by saying “Go Hong Kong!” [“香港加油!”] in a video celebrating the anniversary. Cheung was criticized on Chinese social media for not mentioning the “motherland” and only cheering on “Hong Kong”, with people accusing him of not being patriotic enough. The video was later taken offline.

Jacky Cheung issued a statement on July 3rd, clarifying that he is patriotic and loves Hong-Kong, and above all, is “proud to be Chinese.” That statement also went trending on Weibo (#张学友声明#), where many people also said they found the online storm over Cheung’s ‘Go Hong Kong’ comment exaggerated and unnecessary.

Some commenters wondered if all pop stars from Hong Kong and Taiwan would need to repeat “I am Chinese” all the time in order to be politically correct, avoid controversy, and avoid being accused of being a traitor. “It is a bit lamentable to force Jacky Cheung to prove his innocence like this,” one blogger wrote.

According to FreeWeibo.com, a website monitoring what gets censored on Weibo, many comments relating to ‘Hong Kong’ were censored these past few days.

For more articles about Hong Kong on What’s on Weibo, see our previous articles here.

By Manya Koetse

Get the story behind the hashtag. Subscribe to What’s on Weibo here to receive our weekly 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.

©2022 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

Manya Koetse is the founder and editor-in-chief of whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer, public speaker, and researcher (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends, digital developments, and new media in an ever-changing China, with a focus on Chinese society, pop culture, and gender issues. She shares her love for hotpot on hotpotambassador.com. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.

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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.”

Manya Koetse

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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 

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.

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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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.

Manya Koetse

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Op-eds authored by Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin were published in the other countries’ government newspapers ahead of Xi’s three-day state visit to Russia. Both articles emphasized the importance of partnership, mutual trust, and friendship between the two nations.

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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