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World of Weibo

The stories taking China’s internet by storm

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China’s chequered flag

Athletes dropping national flag sparks outrage
Nov 23, 2018 (WiC 433)

Sport has often had a strong political undertone in China. The state trains the vast bulk of athletes in a system inspired by the Soviet Union. And when the state-sponsored stars win, their achievement is typically framed as a victory for the ...

Better than Boris?

Britain's new foreign secretary is dubbed the "Chinese son-in-law"
Jul 20, 2018 (WiC 418)

Boris Johnson, who resigned as British Foreign Secretary in protest at his government’s Brexit policy last week, was best known in China for his scruffy appearance. His newly-announced replacement Jeremy Hunt is getting a different billing: ...

Mind your language

China’s southerners cry foul on school textbook changes
Jul 6, 2018 (WiC 416)

The quest to unify China’s language began during the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC), when the emperor standardised its written characters. When the Chinese Communist Party came to power, it extended the ambition to the spoken language, promoting a ...

Prove that proverb!

Ivanka's tweet sparks search for original Chinese sayings
Jun 22, 2018 (WiC 414)

In a week headlined by President Trump’s historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, it was another Trump that “exhausted the brain cells of Chinese internet users” according to one Sina Weibo user. Hours before the American ...

Shoe fight in Paris

Balenciaga, Printemps deny being racist against Chinese
May 11, 2018 (WiC 408)

The elaborate, chunky Triple S sneaker is probably the most coveted item currently produced by French luxury house Balenciaga – so much so that it recently incited a brawl in Paris between Chinese shoppers and French Albanians. To the horror of ...

Celebrities debate blockchain in chat room at 3am
Mar 9, 2018 (WiC 400)

Imagine Uber’s Garrett Camp, Instagram’s Kevin Systrom, angel investor Ron Conway, talk show host Stephen Colbert and a long list of marquee investors and movie stars putting their heads together on next-generation technology. And doing so ...

Wang junior gets three month ban

Too hot for netizens?
Feb 2, 2018 (WiC 396)

A strategic investment by Tencent in Wanda has dominated social media headlines since the deal was announced on Monday. But this is not the only popular hashtag relating to Wang Jianlin’s property conglomerate. As regular WiC readers will ...

CIA agents killed in crackdown?
Jun 2, 2017 (WiC 368)

China has gone a bit spy mad of late: telling citizens to be wary of foreigners and offering huge rewards for information leading to the capture of secret agents (see WiC365). But, if the New York Times is to be believed, China’s security ...

Sister Rolls-Royce

A casual brag invites an online backlash
Oct 28, 2016 (WiC 344)

The same week that the national broadcaster aired a drama showcasing the achievements of Xi’s crackdown on corruption (see page 18), a video of a wealthy woman bragging about her political guanxi went viral. Dubbed “Sister Rolls-Royce” ...

NBA star stokes public anger by defacing the Great Wall
Oct 21, 2016 (WiC 343)

The Washington Bullets was the first professional sports team from America to visit the People’s Republic of China. The 1979 trip came just months after the Bullets had been crowned as champions of the NBA and, more significantly, followed in ...

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