A social media post about giraffe conservation has become the latest place for people in China who are unhappy about the economy to vent their frustration, as the Chinese government increasingly cracks down on negative commentary.
On Feb. 2, the US embassy in China posted an update on its Weibo account about tracking giraffes in Namibia using GPS technology. As of Monday afternoon local time, the post had received approximately 166,000 comments, many of them about China’s economic pains.
“Who can help me? I’ve been unemployed for a long time,” wrote one commenter. “I’ve seen a few comments about stocks, will they be deleted?” wrote another.
Photo: AP
Other comments, reported by Bloomberg, included: “If criticisms are not allowed, then praises are meaningless” and negative references to China’s stock market.
Weibo, which has 593 million monthly active users, moderates comments that are posted on the platform.
Threads beneath posts by foreign organizations, such as the US embassy, are a slightly more permissive environment for commenters than those below posts by Chinese state agencies, which often take it upon themselves to ensure that discussions stay within government’s red lines.
Many of the comments on the US embassy’s post appeared to have been scrubbed from the platform as of Monday, or drowned out by comments saying variations on “I love China.”
Chinese authorities are increasingly concerned about gloomy commentary as the economy struggles to rebuild momentum after the lifting of the country’s harsh “zero-COVID” pandemic restrictions. In December, social media influencers were warned against making public comments that would “bad-mouth the economy.”
The restrictions on negative comments have failed to mask the fact that China’s stock market is flailing. The CSI 300 index, which tracks the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses, tumbled nearly 5 percent last week to a five-year low. On Sunday, the Chinese securities regulatory commission said it would step up market stabilization measures.
The popularity of the US embassy’s post about giraffes prompted giraffe-related comments elsewhere on Weibo. In one since deleted comment, a user wrote: “The giraffe has reached a new high. Even though many comments have been deleted and many likes have been deleted, it has still reached a new high! Weibo administrators and your editors, thank you for your hard work. The holidays keep you so busy.”
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
Despite the intense sunshine, we were hardly breaking a sweat as we cruised along the flat, dedicated bike lane, well protected from the heat by a canopy of trees. The electric assist on the bikes likely made a difference, too. Far removed from the bustle and noise of the Taichung traffic, we admired the serene rural scenery, making our way over rivers, alongside rice paddies and through pear orchards. Our route for the day covered two bike paths that connect in Fengyuan District (豐原) and are best done together. The Hou-Feng Bike Path (后豐鐵馬道) runs southward from Houli District (后里) while the
President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 national security speech marked a turning point. He signaled that the government was finally getting serious about a whole-of-society approach to defending the nation. The presidential office summarized his speech succinctly: “President Lai introduced 17 major strategies to respond to five major national security and united front threats Taiwan now faces: China’s threat to national sovereignty, its threats from infiltration and espionage activities targeting Taiwan’s military, its threats aimed at obscuring the national identity of the people of Taiwan, its threats from united front infiltration into Taiwanese society through cross-strait exchanges, and its threats from
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at