SubscribeLog in
Connect with us

China Media

The Social Media Spectacle of China’s Taiwan Military Exercises

The PLA also released a music video featuring the Taiwan military exercises, singing: “We vow to defend every river and mountain within our motherland.”

Manya Koetse

Published

on

The social media spectacle surrounding the Taiwan military exercises is by no means a one-dimensional media effort, but a dynamic one where state-led propaganda and grassroots nationalism meet.

 
This article by Manya Koetse was commissioned and published by Lowy Institute, visit The Interpreter here.
 

“The Old Witch has landed” was a much recurring phrase on Chinese social media on 2 August 2022. The so-called “Old Witch” was US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and for the entire day, anyone who was online was closely following the latest developments regarding her potential visit to Taiwan.

Up to the moment the plane touched down, Chinese bloggers and political commentators came up with different prediction scenarios as to whether Pelosi would really arrive in Taipei, how Chinese military would respond, and what such a visit might mean at a time of already strained US-China relations.

Shortly after Pelosi arrived, online livestreams covering the event stopped, and the local servers for China’s leading social media platform Weibo temporarily went down. The sense of anticipation that had dominated Weibo turned into sudden anger and frustration.

Chinese officials had repeatedly warned that China would not “sit idly by” if Pelosi would visit. One of China’s top political commentators, Hu Xijin, had even suggested that if US fighter jets would escort Pelosi’s plane into Taiwan, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would have the right to forcibly dispel or even shoot down Pelosi’s plane and the jets. Yet nothing had prevented Pelosi and her team from safely arriving in Taiwan. “Even our community guard who makes 1500 [$220] a month does a better job; if he says you can’t come in, you can’t come in,” one Weibo user wrote.

But sentiments shifted on 3 August when China’s propaganda machine started running at full speed. Chinese state media suggested that Pelosi’s visit was a strategic act by the US to meddle in Chinese internal affairs and heighten cross-strait tensions.

State broadcaster CCTV called the move a “road to ruin” and published an online post showing the characters for “China” with the middle stroke of the first character representing the number one. “In this world, there is only one China,” the slogan says. “The Motherland must be reunited, and it inevitably will be reunited,” the Chinese Communist Party-aligned newspaper People’s Daily wrote on Weibo.

CCTV posters declare: “In this world there is only one China”, with the last character 国 [meaning “nation”] incorporating the leaf-shaped island of Taiwan (Weibo).

A Chinese government white paper published this month also reiterates that Taiwan is indisputably a part of China and that “complete” reunification will be realised regardless of any attempts by “separatist forces” to prevent it.

 

A VISUAL BATTLEFIELD

 

A new wave of national pride and expressions of nationalism flooded social media after China announced countermeasures in response to Pelosi’s visit and began live-fire military drills around Taiwan.

“It’s begun!” People’s Daily announced on 4 August, posting an image with the slogan: “Seize the momentum to ‘surround.’” The move was applauded, with more than 115,000 likes on the post, many expressing pride in China’s “strikeback.” A typical comment said: “I believe in our motherland, I support our motherland.”

People’s Daily post on Weibo.

Various official military accounts, such as that of the Eastern Theatre Command (one of the five theatre commands of the PLA), frequently post action-packed short videos featuring cinematic music, Chinese military staff preparing for action, and military aircraft and vessels conducting exercises around the island of Taiwan.

Although the most recent military exercises were initially intended to continue until 7 August, China’s military announced new exercises around Taiwan on 8 August, followed by another round after a second US delegation visited Taiwan on 15 August.

Various official military accounts frequently post short videos featuring Chinese military preparing for action and conducting exercises around the island of Taiwan (Weibo).

Over the past two weeks, Chinese social media have become a visual battlefield. Dramatic spectacles disseminated by the government are instrumental in winning the hearts and minds of the Chinese people, while also being used as a symbol of power to intimidate so-called “separatist forces” and show off China’s military rise to the international community.

In The Camera at War, Mette Mortensen, who researches media and conflict, argues that digital visual culture has become increasingly relevant as a part of warfare, not just for recording unfolding events, but as a forceful weapon to guide public opinion and affect political debate.

The spectacle surrounding the Taiwan military exercises is by no means a one-dimensional media effort, but instead a dynamic one where state-led propaganda and grassroots nationalism meet. From TikTok to Weibo, China’s state media channels, official accounts, military bloggers, online influencers and regular online citizens engage in a collective effort to record, edit, dramatise and share the sometimes movie-like videos showing large-scale military exercises, including live-fire drills, naval deployments and ballistic missile launches.

From Fujian’s Pingtan Island, one of mainland China’s closest points to Taiwan, residents and tourists post videos of their front-row perspective of projectiles launched by the Chinese military and helicopters flying past. “I’m jealous of their view!” Chinese online users responded, with many sharing the “stunning scenes” of large-scale exercises that could be seen from the island.

This week, the Eastern Theatre Command also released a music video showing bursts of military drills, including the firing of missiles, while men sing: “Just waiting to be summoned … towards victory, no surrender, we vow to defend every river and mountain within our motherland.” (See fragment of video and other examples in Twitter thread below.)

Among hundreds of comments, there are many patriotic posters hoping that the developments will become more than mere spectacle: “We’re fired up,” one popular Weibo comment said: “Sooner or later, we’ll reunify.”

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

 

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.

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.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

China Media

Meanwhile in Panda News: After More Than Two Decades, Yaya Returns to Beijing

From Memphis to Shanghai to Beijing: every step in Yaya’s journey is closely followed by China’s panda fans.

Manya Koetse

Published

on

Yaya, the panda, made her way back to Beijing after a residence of more than two decades at the Memphis Zoo and completing her quarantine period in Shanghai. Now, netizens are advocating for the return of three other pandas currently residing in the United States.

It is time for the third ‘Meanwhile in Panda News‘ by What’s on Weibo to keep you updated on the trending panda topics, from the cute to the controversial.

This time, it is all about Yaya (丫丫), the panda that is trending on Weibo in various hashtags these days:

Panda Yaya became one of the most discussed pandas of this year. This female panda resided in the Memphis Zoo in the United States for most of her life and attracted significant attention on Chinese social media platforms after netizens expressed concern about her seemingly thin and unhealthy appearance.

Many netizens were concerned about Yaya due to the condition of her fur. Photo via Weibo user @如皋老猫.

Even though the Memphis care team stated that Yaya’s fur condition is related to her hormones and immune system, these online discussions further intensified in light of escalating tensions between the United States and China.

The concerns surrounding Yaya prompted an online campaign, with netizens advocating for Yaya’s return to China. After residing at the Memphis Zoo in the United States for two decades as part of a conservation and research project, Yaya’s second ten-year term had concluded, and the 23-year-old panda was set to return to Shanghai, China.

Yaya’s return in late April became a true social media spectacle, fuelled by state media outlets that created special posters and videos welcoming Yaya home.

Now, a month later, Yaya is trending again. This time, it is her move from Shanghai to Beijing that is hitting the trending lists. After finishing her quarantaine, Yaya’s new home will be in the Beijing Zoo. Yaya returned to China’s capital, where she was born, by airplane on May 28.

China’s flight home, via Chinese state media on Weibo.

While many people are cheering that Yaya has finally returned home, they are also sad that panda Lele is not with her. Lele (乐乐) was Yaya’s male partner, and the two arrived in Memphis together. Unfortunately, Lele passed away earlier this year due to heart disease.

Around 4 am in the morning on May 29, the official Weibo account of the Beijing Zoo posted a statement about Yaya’s return, confirming that the panda had arrived before 1 am on Monday morning.

A very early morning post by Beijing Zoo confirming the safe arrival of Yaya (screenshot of Weibo, via What’s on Weibo).

Beijing Zoo further wrote that Yaya has her own dedicated enclosure and will need some time to adjust to her new environment and will not be shown to the public for now. They did post a photo and a video of Yaya’s arrival, and promised to give more updates about Yaya via social media.

“Yaya has finally returned home,” some commenters said, “I hope she will have a happy and healthy life there.”

In the meantime, netizens have launched a new online campaign advocating for the repatriation of the pandas Xiao Qiji (小奇迹), Tiantian (添添), and Meixiang (美香), currently residing at the Washington National Zoo.

“They also wanna go home” poster advocating for the return of Chinese pandas Little Miracle, Tiantian, and Meixiang. Source: Weibo.com.

Those advocating for the return of the three pandas are also expressing concerns about their well-being and treatment at the Washington National Zoo. They worry that the pandas may not be receiving adequate food and are particularly concerned about Meixiang’s health.

In 2020, it was reported that the panda couple Meixiang and her partner Tiantian would minimally stay in Washington until December of 2023.

Another poster in the online campaign to advocate for the return home of the three pandas.

Concerned that Meixiang might face a similar fate to Yaya’s late partner Lele, panda enthusiasts on Weibo are urging for the prompt repatriation of the entire panda family. “I’m glad to hear good news about Yaya,” expressed one Weibo user, “Now, I hope we can get good news about Meixiang too.”

 

Read more panda news here.

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.

Continue Reading

China Insight

Why a “High-Speed Train Slapping Incident” Went Viral on Chinese Social Media

An altercation between passengers on a high-speed train to Chengdu has caused a stir on Chinese social media, sparking discussions about some long-standing social issues.

Manya Koetse

Published

on

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.

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

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

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.

Continue Reading

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay updated on what’s trending in China & get the story behind the hashtag

Sign up here to become a premium member of What’s on Weibo today and gain access to all of our latest and premium content, as well as receive our exclusive newsletter. If you prefer to receive just our weekly newsletter with an overview of the latest, you can subscribe for free here.

Get in touch

Would you like to become a contributor, or do you have any tips or suggestions for us? Get in touch with us here.

Popular Reads