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When Pelosi met Hu – imagining love in times of U.S.-China escalation risk.
W hile everybody is watching whether or not Nancy Pelosi will visit Taiwan (with all recent indications suggesting that she will make a stop on the island), there is still time for some online banter amid growing tensions: Chinese netizens have created a fantasy love affair between U.S. House speaker Pelosi and Chinese Global Times commentator Hu Xijin.
On July 31st, Hu posted an old military photo of himself on Weibo to pay tribute to the active military for August 1st, the annual People’s Liberation Army (PLA) day. “We depend on you to safeguard our national sovereignty and territorial integrity and protect the interests of China’s peaceful development,” Hu wrote.
Hu Xijin has been making international headlines this week for his strong condemnation of a potential visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Hu suggested that a Taiwan visit by Pelosi would be a clear provocation of China, giving the PLA “good reason” for “waging a war.”
One of Hu’s tweets, in which he voiced the view that U.S. military planes escorting Pelosi to Taiwan could potentially be shot down, was deleted by Twitter on July 30.
Hu Xijin tweet which was deleted by Twitter on July 30.
Hu is an influential Chinese commentator and journalist, who is mostly known for being the former editor-in-chief of the nationalist state media outlet Global Times and his Hu Says political commentary videos on social media. He is also known for his ‘Wold Warrior’-style brash and bold statements, often echoing the Communist Party line.
At this time of great U.S.-China tensions in light of Pelosi’s potential Taiwan trip, there perhaps could not have been a more unimaginable couple than the American Pelosi (aka “Old Witch” 老妖婆) and Chinese Hu (aka “Old Hu” 老胡), yet the moment a netizen photoshopped an ‘old’ wedding photo showing a much younger Nancy Pelosi and Hu Xijin, it immediately went viral.
“The handsome and the beautiful, it’s a good match,” some commenters said, with others calling it a “classic” and a “fine match” between a “talented man and a beautiful woman” (郎才女貌 láng cái nǚ mào).
Others thought “it was not a good deal for Hu,” since Pelosi is twenty years older than him.
“No wonder he always climbs over the wall,” another Weibo user jokingly said.
The practice of imagining a relationship between two famous people or fictional characters, often using photoshop and fan art, is also known as ‘CP,’ an abbreviation for “coupling” or “character pairing.”
Although many netizens seemed to appreciate this CP joke, Chinese blogger ‘Chairman Rabbit’ (兔主席) did not approve of it, writing that the country is facing a serious situation and that this is not an appropriate time to joke around.
Hu Xijin himself, however, did not seem to mind. When someone sent him the ‘wedding photo’ of himself and Pelosi, he responded with three thumbs up.
Also read our latest article on Chinese online views on Pelosi’s potential Taiwan visit here.
By Manya Koetse and Miranda Barnes
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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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Follow-Up to China’s Ugly Math Textbook Controversy: 27 People Punished
I’m sure nobody asked all 1,400,000,000 people – their opinion. If you do ask them, you should make sure they know the right answer – in advance.
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Local power cuts and heatwaves lead to extraordinary scenes in Sichuan and beyond.
S ome cities and regions in China are turning off lights and locally cutting off power as part of a summer peak plan to save power.
The past two days, it was not just Shanghai’s Bund area that stayed dark by night. The power cuts in Sichuan province went trending on Chinese social media on Tuesday, with dozens of videos and images circulating on WeChat, Weibo, Xiaohongshu and other apps showing how residents are dealing with the summer heat in times of a power crunch.
The power crisis is a result of China’s record-breaking high temperatures this summer and a lack of rainfall. To conserve power, various areas and cities, especially in and around Sichuan province, have introduced power rationing.
This led to some extraordinary scenes from Sichuan and Chongqing subways, where travelers found themselves traveling in the dark or with only emergency lights on.
Some shared photos from restaurants, where the staff tried to keep the customers cool by waving a fan. Other restaurants showed customers having dinner by candlelight.
Chengdu: this is what having summer hotpot during a power cut looks like. pic.twitter.com/RKuIwJ72gK
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) August 23, 2022
Left without airconditioning, some offices also used big blocks of ice to keep employers cool.
In the city district of Dazhou, Sichuan, there have been daily power cuts of 6-7 hours for the past few days. On the 18th, crowds gathered on the bridge at night seeking some cool air.
Some viral images showed residents sleeping in underground parking lots (#四川达州出现停电居民发声#).
Another viral video from the city of Guang’an showed how a woman used a rope to get her order delivered to the 25th floor of her apartment building, where the elevators stopped working due to the power cuts (#高温停电女子拉绳吊外卖上25楼#). The woman had allegedly ordered in food at 4pm, expecting a power cut at 6pm, but then the elevators stopped running at 5pm already.
But there have also been some tragic stories making their rounds on Chinese social media, such as that of a local farm where all the chickens died due to continuous power outages. A female farm worker tearfully shared her story on social media.
“Please let it rain,” some on Weibo wrote: “If we have power cuts, at least let it rain now. It’s so hot, how are we supposed to sleep like this?”
“Suddenly the power went out, and indoor temperatures went straight up to over 30 degrees. The whole neighborhood either ran down to the basement to cool off or drove to a hotel to sleep. I’d be grateful to find a place with electricity in the middle of the night so I can sleep,” another Weibo commenter from Sichuan wrote.
By Manya Koetse and Miranda Barnes
Featured image: Power cut in Chengdu, August 18, image via 三联生活周刊 on Weibo.
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No ugly illustration goes unpunished. Research results are in after the “tragically ugly” schoolbook gate sparked an official investigation.
China’s Ministry of Education has wrapped up a 3-month long investigation into the textbook illustration controversy that dominated Chinese social media in May of this year. One of their conclusions? The illustrations are ugly. There are serious consequences for those responsible.
T he ugly illustrations in a children’s math textbook were among the biggest topics on Chinese social media earlier this year.
Although the elementary math schoolbooks were published nearly a decade ago, the schoolbook series (covering grade 1-6) went trending after some parents complained about the illustrations on social media. People mainly took issue with the teaching material because they thought the illustrations were ugly, unrefined, and overall weird (read our previous article here).
Illustration from the controversial math textbook.
Besides the quality of the design, many people also found that some illustrations were inappropriate. There was a girl sticking out her tongue; recurring depictions of the American flag colors; an incorrect depiction of the Chinese flag; a bulge showing in the pants of the depicted boys; a girl in a bunny outfit, a child with something that appeared to be a tattoo, and more.
Now, three months later, China’s Ministry of Education has wrapped up its investigation into the matter and published its final findings. According to the Ministry’s research team, the textbook illustrations are found to be problematic for the following three reasons.
First, they’re ugly. They do not exactly match the aesthetic taste of the general public and do not represent the positive image that is appropriate for China’s youth.
Second, they’re not right. Some of the illustrations contain errors and are just not up to standard.
Third, they’re ambiguous. Because the illustrations were not meticulously done and some poor choices were made, some elements of the illustrations are easy to misinterpret.
The math textbook series was approved in 2012 and published in 2013 by the renowned People’s Education Press (PEP) and designed by Beijing Wu Yong Design Studio. Designer Wu Yong (吴勇) allegedly graduated from the prestigious Academy of Arts of Tsinghua University and he also came under fire on social media earlier this year.
According to the Ministry’s research, it was found that the PEP failed to thoroughly understand, implement, deploy and review textbook standards set by the central government. They also did not timely rectify the existing problems nor paid enough attention to readers’ opinions. The Teaching Material Bureau under the Ministry of Education also was found to have provided “insufficient guidance and supervision.”
In accordance with regulations, the relevant units and 27 members of staff were held accountable for their poor performance. Among them were the Party Committee Secretary of the PEP, President Huang Qiang (黄强), who received a “serious warning” from within the Party. The Chief Editor Guo Ge (郭戈) was removed from office, along with some others, including the person in charge of the editorial office for elementary school mathematics textbooks.
Illustrator Wu Yong, along with two others designers, will also need to find another job as they will never be allowed to work on national school textbooks or other related projects again.
A hashtag about the research’s findings went trending on Weibo on Monday (#教育部通报教材插图问题调查结果#) and received over 280 million clicks. A hashtag about Wu Yong no longer being employed by the PEP (#不再聘请吴勇从事教材设计工作#) more than 350 million views.
Although many people are glad to read a follow-up to this story, there is also some criticism. Some people mention how the investigation is basically a departmental self-investigation since the People’s Education Press (PEP) is a publishing house under the direct leadership of the Ministry of Education. They say that some of the punishments are too light because people are just being disciplined through departmental guidelines and regulations.
Along with the conclusion of the investigation into ugly schoolbooks gate, the new schoolbook illustrations were also published on Monday.
Although most social media users said the new drawing were “much better,” there were still some complaints. “They’re basic, but at least they’re normal,” some commenters wrote.
“They changed it, and it’s good enough,” some Weibo users wrote: “At least these illustrations don’t make me uncomfortable.”
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