China Tweets #5
Musk does a Zuckerberg on China
In case you haven't heard yet, Elon Musk penned an article for the official magazine of China's cyberspace regulator, the CAC. If you don't know why this is the most hilarious thing on the internet today, some context... https://t.co/TXNelFzi33 1/x
— Kendra Schaefer 凯娜 (@kendraschaefer) August 15, 2022
I can speak badly about you, but you're not allowed speak badly about me.
I caught state TV news at breakfast the past 2 days at my hotel in Beijing. The program should be called “Why America is bad”, nothing but guns and poverty. But it got me thinking: why on earth is the Chinese govt upset about foreign media reporting “negative news” about China?
— Don Weinland (@donweinland) August 16, 2022
China's cyberspace regulator is looking into algorithms:
1) Here is the full list of products whose algorithms have been submitted to the Cyberspace Administration of China:
— KΞVIN XU (kevinxu.eth) (@kevinsxu) August 16, 2022
- Netease news app
- Yidian Wangju's news app
- Qihoo360 search engine
- Phoenix TV news app
- Zhaopin's recruiting app
...
Highlights from the latest issue of CCP journal Qiushi:
Qiushi Issue 16 published https://t.co/A7kVMpR8GC
— Jean Christopher Mittelstaedt (@jcmittelstaedt) August 16, 2022
My favorite articles in this issue, quick 🧵 pic.twitter.com/tFCGCoYWLu
US intelligence mindset analyses Chinese mindset after Pelosi's visit:
NEW THIS WEEK: Former senior CIA analysts on China, Chris Johnson and @JohnCulver689, unpack the Chinese mindset and military response to Speaker Pelosi's trip to Taiwan.
— Intelligence Matters (@IntelMattersPod) August 15, 2022
SUBSCRIBE:https://t.co/1c0mdI5ipm pic.twitter.com/iEzek9OGxJ
Beijing and the Streisand effect
Chinese Embassy to the Indian media: Don’t report on Taiwan, don’t call Taiwan a country, ask your government to reaffirm their commitment to the One China policy.
— Sana Hashmi | 胡莎娜 (@sanahashmi1) August 16, 2022
India media: Let’s go to Taiwan.
Houses are meant for living in, no wait, actually buying more properties is true CCP loyalty.
“买了三套买四套”
— Hao HONG 洪灝, CFA (@HAOHONG_CFA) August 16, 2022
This has gone viral on Chinese internet.
“I call on every comrade to take the lead to buy a property.
If you are on your 1st property, then buy a 2nd one; if on 2nd, then buy a 3rd; already on 3rd? There’s always room for the 4th.”
Now let the buying begin. pic.twitter.com/veieI3cD6V
Returning to the roots of reform by letting the provinces lead:
China’s Premier Li Keqiang asks local officials from six key provinces that account for 40% of the economy to bolster pro-growth measures https://t.co/o3pORUL1rg
— Bloomberg (@business) August 16, 2022
Ukraine MFA view on the position of China towards Russia's invasion.
MFA of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba in an interview answered the question of whether China supports Russia. /1
— Yurii Poita (@PoitaYurii) August 16, 2022
Important conclusion from the UN on forced labour in Xinjiang:
BREAKING: new U.N. Special Rapporteur's Report on Contemporary Forms of Slavery "concludes" that forced labor is taking place in Xinjiang (and mentions similar phenomenon in Tibet): /1https://t.co/DxCu8QFJ1H pic.twitter.com/YyFxkaitaH
— Adrian Zenz (@adrianzenz) August 16, 2022
What people living in and from Taiwan want:
Latest poll by respected Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation, like other surveys, reinforces that Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian was blatantly wrong when he told the @PressClubAust this week that most people in #Taiwan want unification: pic.twitter.com/fbKb19sCt8
— Bill Birtles (@billbirtles) August 16, 2022
Hackers linked to China are targeting overseas human rights groups:
Hackers linked to China have been targeting human rights groups for years | MIT Technology Review https://t.co/QIqHb5JFGB
— Devin Thorne (@D_Thorne) August 16, 2022
Zhao Lijian giving us the alternative intro to US-China relations:
Again, this is a clearly doctored video, now being pushed by CCP officials. In the original address, Carter clearly states that "the government of United States of America ACKNOWLEDGES the Chinese position" that Taiwan is part of China, NOT that the U.S. supports this position. https://t.co/vezNDSIM24
— John F Sullivan (@JohnF_Sullivan) August 16, 2022
Intro to US-China relations: "America acknowledge's the Chinese position"
Some simple history knowledge for those that do know but are trying to rewrite it: pic.twitter.com/dpoUBDVx5V
— Jessica Drun 莊宛樺 (@jessicadrun) August 16, 2022
On US export controls process vis-a-vis China:
NEW: The U.S. has identified China as a top national-security threat. But a Commerce Dept-led process that reviews tech exports to the country approves almost all requests & has overseen a rise in sales of some especially important tech, trade data showshttps://t.co/kEMJhZXQ2X
— Kate O'Keeffe (@Kate_OKeeffe) August 16, 2022
Names added to Xi's naughty list.
China announces sanctions against 7 more so-called "Taiwan independence diehards" -- 6 are from ruling DPP, and 7th is minor party NPP's chairwoman (bottom right).
— Wen-Ti Sung (@wentisung) August 17, 2022
Again, this posturing is undermining Beijing's own Taiwan & united front policy.
'coz the NPP isn't a diehard. /1 pic.twitter.com/vSRLMTrL0z
What was Xi's recent trip to Xinjiang all about?
My new piece analyzing the ideological messaging of Xi Jinping's recent Xinjiang trip.
— James Millward 米華健 (@JimMillward) August 16, 2022
(Identity) Politics in Command: Xi Jinping’s July Visit to Xinjiang https://t.co/Ah3kuEHkUR via @The_ChinaStory
Xi and Li's tension between state-led development versus market-led development is displayed in their choice of destination.
It is no coincidence that Xi went to Liaoning and Li to Guangdong. The two provinces represent different models of modernization:
— Henry Gao (@henrysgao) August 18, 2022
Northeastern China follows the Soviet-style dominated by SOEs and heavy industry;
Shenzhen tries to copy the US model by relying on private firms.
Is Li Keqiang trying to secure his pro-reform legacy by paying tribute to Deng?
Premier Li Keqiang’s first trip after Bridaihe was to Shenzhen, the cradle of China’s economic reform. He paid tribute to Deng Xiaoping, the man who set China on a path of rapid growth. What’s to expect from the next five years? https://t.co/Hc2n9cbi2F pic.twitter.com/zTMpyNNQ7I
— Lingling Wei 魏玲灵 (@Lingling_Wei) August 17, 2022
An article highlighting the politicisation of science.
Decent story in a way. But the kicker quote, "Can’t we persuade them that this is the right thing for everybody to do?” No, you can't. Isn't that the point? If you could, it would be easy. We're dealing with something else here. @Ayjchan https://t.co/QVOR9XsjJp
— Didi Kirsten Tatlow (@dktatlow) August 18, 2022
Ukrainian politician calls Ukraine's strategic partnership with China into question:
Another statement by a Ukrainian politician who calls for a review of Ukraine's strategic partnership with China. Oleksandr Merezhko, Head of the Committee on Foreign Policy of Verkhovna Rada fairly commented China's decision to send PLA to Russia for joint military drills 1/2 pic.twitter.com/JeiVVm0r0s
— Yurii Poita (@PoitaYurii) August 17, 2022
Using the in-app browser on Tik Tok potentially leaves users vulnerable:
TikTok's in-app browser can snoop on all of your keyboard inputs:
— Fergus Ryan (@fryan) August 19, 2022
Credit card details, passwords, you name it. TikTok can see it.
And Beijing-based engineers can access that data too. https://t.co/vhZu2l1Ffu
Nationalism
Sorry for wearing a Japanese dress
"A Chinese anime fan says she was detained and interrogated by police after she wore traditional Japanese dress to pose for photos in the eastern city of Suzhou, sparking debate on #China's social media over what some see as over-the-top nationalism." https://t.co/dBTvpCyJS0
— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) August 15, 2022
Sorry for pretending to be Japanese
This is hilarious: the Chinese company that became successful by fooling people into thinking they were Japanese now says it took a "wrong direction" and will “de-japanize” its stores https://t.co/JcoFDIUUE5
— Gearoid Reidy リーディー・ガロウド (@GearoidReidy) August 19, 2022
Lee Kwan Yew foresaw how nationalism could bubble away and present itself in China's youth today:
Lee Kuan Yew on China (1993):
— Hao HONG 洪灝, CFA (@HAOHONG_CFA) August 19, 2022
“We want peaceful rising. But what about the next generation? If they believe the imperialists rip-off China, they’ll become belligerent..
Let next gen appreciate isolation & ideological mistakes’re costly .. Or China’d cut off & turn chauvinist.” pic.twitter.com/mkLOWDnaSJ
When big-name online nationalists get censored, did stoking nationalist sentiment gone too far?
Guess who’s now censored on social media… it makes me wonder if the Chinese government is considering turning this online nationalism spigot off. pic.twitter.com/h8iZO187QP
— Liza Lin (@lizalinwsj) August 20, 2022
Xi and Putin will reportedly attend G20 in Bali in November.
Chinese and Russian leaders Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin will attend the G20 summit on the resort island of Bali this November, a longtime adviser to the Indonesian president said https://t.co/IdvNjT76w1 pic.twitter.com/VjBKsg3WqV
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 19, 2022
PRC and Taiwan's navies got within a stone's throw distance of one another during the PLA Navy's military exercises around the island, carried out in response to Nancy Pelosi's visit.
Screenshot taken fr @iingwen’s latest video & it’s the newest released footage of how close the distance was when @MoNDefense navy monitored a PLA vessel. My sources confirmed to me that this was taken btw 13-15 Aug, fr ROCS frigate Yueh Fei towards PLAN 054A frigate 536 Xuchang. pic.twitter.com/UxOLvI6uv5
— Tingting Liu 劉亭廷 (@tingtingliuTVBS) August 18, 2022
Tensions over energy politics as corporate demands threatens people's livelihood.
The idea Tesla and SAIC suppliers may be prioritized for power as people suffer in what is intense heat sparked a backlash on social media. “The lives of people in Sichuan seem less important than Tesla,” one post read. https://t.co/e7aWiLqrbT
— Tom Hancock (@hancocktom) August 19, 2022
Beijing showing tangible solidarity toward African nations while 'debt-trap diplomacy' is still being thrown around in the West
#Latest China will waive the 23 interest-free loans for 17 African countries that had matured by the end of 2021, said FM WangYi Thursday at a meeting reviewing the progress made in China-Africa cooperation. pic.twitter.com/X9LVExDUW5
— Zhang Meifang张美芳 (@CGMeifangZhang) August 19, 2022
A black woman's experience on Chinese social media
一位黑人女孩在某社交媒体上的经历 https://t.co/hxBxUgMo7T pic.twitter.com/0w30Tv9uSF
— 沼_ (@nanamimami8964) August 17, 2022
A nod to last year's intensely translated 'Heads bashed bloody' idiom from Xi:
the fact that China Twitter hasn't torn itself apart about the correct translation of 杀出一条血路 after Li Keqiang used it in his Shenzhen speech means that either a) we've all grown up or b) maybe nobody listened to the video
— Alexander Boyd (@alexludoboyd) August 18, 2022
Covid measures continue in China
Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3.
In addition to testing fish, our Xiamen quarantine hotel also tests our pillows, phones, and suitcases. pic.twitter.com/wbf3zn4DBd
— Dan (@DRechts) August 19, 2022
Chaotic Covid rules continue as passengers returning from Hainan to Shanghai are tricked into quarantine.
听说上海市政府决定，某月某日12点以后从海南返回的旅客，可以不去酒店隔离，而是居家隔离。全飞机的上海人在飞机上窝了八个小时拒不下机拖过12点。终于，大白上来宣布，大家只要检测阴性居家隔离即可。旅客们欢声雷动。然而，上了政府的大巴以后，可就由不得他们了。司机拉着他们直奔隔离酒店而去…… pic.twitter.com/UhjpBXT6I3
— bridgeduan (@bridgeduan) August 18, 2022
When testing starts to get fishy:
Meanwhile in Xiamen, authorities are PCR testing fish supposedly to stop the import of coronavirus… #china https://t.co/J1CgUuepVX pic.twitter.com/tJQ8w7uTZL
— Edward Lawrence (@EP_Lawrence) August 18, 2022
This is a big deal:
OMG. Sichuan province just announced to shut down ALL industrial production for 5 full days due to electricity shortage. https://t.co/9FYC6rs8lg
— William (@cowboyInNY) August 20, 2022
On Southeast Asian nations treading a fine line:
“Even in the face of direct Chinese aggression against them, regional governments will not seek direct U.S. engagement if it creates a risk of them becoming proxies in a great power competition.” https://t.co/g69cC8jM3D
— Evan A. Laksmana (@EvanLaksmana) August 20, 2022
A visualisation of the latest heatwave
Unimaginable heat in China 🇨🇳
— Scott Duncan (@ScottDuncanWX) August 20, 2022
The longevity and intensity of the heatwave is hard to comprehend. Too many heat records to count, both day and night.
Beibei hit 45°C for two consecutive and some places not falling below 34°C at night.
The heat is ongoing... pic.twitter.com/pxWgaMDZQ0
16-year-old convicted under National Security Law in Hong Kong
#JUSTIN Hong Kong today convicted its first underage defendants under the National Security Law.
— Holmes Chan (@holmeschan_) August 20, 2022
Six members of the pro-independence group "Returning Valiant" (光城者) pleaded guilty to conspiracy to incite subversion. The youngest is now 16, and three others are 17. pic.twitter.com/HVPI2muVPe
A new name for policy on ethnic minorities in China
The new minzu policy approach in PRC now has a name: "new age minzu unity" 新时代民族团结. It stresses Zhonghua minzu 中华民族 narratives, historical view, etc.，rather than the prior Han + 55 minzu discourse. (next) https://t.co/rRAyUinJYM
— James Millward 米華健 (@JimMillward) August 20, 2022
An interesting take on why worrying about the necessity of Pelosi's visit should not be our main concern.
The answer to this “crucial question” is obviously not “wrong”, but query whether it really is a “crucial question” or even a right question. A thread by reference to #HongKong experience: (1/12) https://t.co/Dojq9jwZPQ
— Kevin Yam 任建峰 (@kevinkfyam) August 20, 2022
Chinese State media's knowledge of foreign countries' domestic politics leaves a lot to be desired.
A québécois nationalist coalition is literally ruling Quebec now. And Quebec has had two independence referenda. No one has been arrested or jailed. No one has been disqualified from politics. No one has had their oaths of office questioned. #Taiwan #HongKong https://t.co/pY7MUZy2s7
— Kevin Yam 任建峰 (@kevinkfyam) August 20, 2022
Mike Forsythe has been tracking the banker of China's Red Elite - Xiao Jianhua - and how he has now been sentenced to 13 years in prison for corruption.
Xiao Jianhua, banker to China's red elite, sentenced to 13 years in prison for corruption. The things Xiao knows, if made public, could shake the CCP to its core. We at the NYT have uncovered bits of that story over the years. By @jotted. https://t.co/U8vRGwJwXO
— Mike Forsythe 傅才德 (@PekingMike) August 19, 2022
On Chinese narratives of Pelosi's Taiwan visit in CEE countries
We have mobilized a group of experts from eight EU and NATO countries in CEE to look at Chinese narratives on Pelosi's visit in their home countries.@ivana_karaskova @a_bachulska @MatejSimalcik @RekaKoleszar @VidaMaci @KarindiLiisi @UCerenkova @tinkaraghttps://t.co/6RHG1Ozmux
— ChinaObservers (@chinaobservers) August 17, 2022
Local government austerity prolongs economic recovery
1/9
— Michael Pettis (@michaelxpettis) August 21, 2022
More reports about municipalities that are so squeezed by the combination of higher COVID-relate costs and lower revenues that to make ends meet they have to cut back on services and postpone or reduce the wages of municipal workers. https://t.co/GMj7jKha8L via @scmpnews
The scars from Shanghai's lockdowns are still visible
Despite being out of lockdown for several months, #Shanghai is clearly still feeling the effects. Some thoughts and observations since I arrived in the city a month ago. 🧵 (1/16)
— Dan Macklin (@thatdanmacklin) August 21, 2022
Meme (video) for the end
Hattip to @giorgiomomurder for unearthing this skit of a Maoist era song:
Just like Finnish PM Sanna Marin, Xi is taking the highroad.
Comrade Xi Jinping said to be unconcerned by leaked image of him Partying. pic.twitter.com/kheSgLJ8ak
— The Relevant Organs (@relevantorgans) August 19, 2022
Compiled by Alex Davey