Xi Jinping not yet a hit on social media
China’s yuppies celebrated Barack Obama’s win in the American election on social media, but are showing less passion about their own country’s new leadership transition.
While the new president Xi Jinping and the other six Central Committee members were announced on November 15, China’s young people are still lingering over Obama’s victory speech.
On November 8, the Sina official website uploaded video of Obama’s speech with Chinese subtitles. The video was retweeted and viewed nearly 51,000 times within a week and Obama was praised by Chinese bloggers for his appreciation of people’s desire for a political voice .
“We can never forget that as we speak, people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots like we did today,” Obama said.
The “distant nations” were not clearly identified but that part of the speech resonated deeply with young Chinese on social media, especially on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter.
A journalist from the Liberation Army Newspaper named @Sunli’sStory summarised the speeches of Chinese leaders Hu Jintao in 2002 and Xi Jinping in 2012 and uploaded them on Weibo as an image.
US President Barack Obama shakes hands with then Vice President Xi Jinping during meetings in Washington, DC, February 14, 2012. (Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
“You had better compare them with Obama’s speech,” @Convertible Selling Girl replied.
@Pitch Dark Night, a student from Nanking University of Posts and Telecommunications said: “He [Obama] showed sincerity…he gave a powerful speech without a script in his hands, telling us how unique and wonderful America is in several short sentences. I have never seen anyone do this in the ‘Celestial Empire’. When the president said they have equality, freedom and democracy, I thought, ‘what about us? GDP?’ ”
A CEO of an Internet company from the Chinese city of Wuhan, @Fengqing Yang, posted an image with quotes of Obama on Weibo, but the censors deleted it because it was retweeted 12,000 times.
And his blog has been banned after he asked “who really serves the people?” in a post with an image that drew a comparison between Obama, bareheaded, speaking to a crowd in the rain and Chinese officials in the streets hovering under umbrellas held by bareheaded young employees.
China’s new generation understands the line that cannot be crossed in their addiction to social media. Experience has taught them that China has two doors: one economic, one political. They feel free to open the first door, but they can never push the second one.
This is because they do not have the option to be directly engaged in voting for a new leader they believe would ensure them a bright future. It is also taboo to review hidden historical events. So, with both past and present forbidden, they choose to live in the present, opting for a safe and easy life, abandoning the dream of real political engagement.
Now, China’s social media is becoming a mere entertainment tool. In this historic time for China, the ‘angry young men’ with a passion for social and political change played it safe and contented themselves with making fun of the leadership transition.
A businessman, @The seventh Sister in Elegang, posted the astrological signs of the seven Central Committee members which included four Cancer, two Scorpio, and one either Aries or Taurus. The post attracted more than 8,000 retweets and was hotly discussed.
“Cancer person pledges support for the new leader. Your Capricorn era has finished, and the next decade belongs to Cancer,” @Tiger Mother_Chen Liqun said.
@Little Sisiter F replied that all people with Sun in Cancer were part of the royal family now and would not need to pay for vegetables. They would just need to tell the vendors their star sign.
The drop in the Shanghai stock market index on the same day the Central Committee took power also was fodder for ridicule.
@GreatWeiMicroBlog asked, “What does that mean? Dissatisfied with the new leader?”
“That’s loss of face for our new leader…they should be dragged out and given 50 whacks with big boards,” @Fall Flowers said.
And @Xiaoxuan818 replied ‘kill those who do not support our leader’.
The dream of the Chinese people to engage in politics has been shattered too many times. Although in his speech to the nation Xi Jinping referred to “the interests of the people” many times, the question of whether he will incur the same distrust China’s young people have felt towards every leader will be answered over the next decade.
