this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2024
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These accounts have always rubbed me the wrong way. Zhao "pretends" to be a member of the PLA but then walks it back as a joke (or is it?) when called out. But then she also posts pictures of [supposedly her] in military fatigues, and says the account is managed by the propaganda department and a team.
She also likes to call for war in regards to Taiwan and Hong Kong, I've caught her doing that more than a few times. This is the complete opposite of what the PRC publicly says though.
If she's not affiliated with the government in any official capacity then she should stop pretending she is, it's irresponsible. In this case she's not making it clear this is satire which would be mostly okay if it was any other account, but not when you already blur the line between being an actual official of the CPC/PLA or just a random thoughts and opinions account.
It asks the question of why she's saying this on Twitter in English and not on Weibo. Maybe she's there. But I have a suspicion that those weirdly chauvinist pro-war "Chinese" accounts (BeijingPanda, DaiVV), if they really are Chinese and not some guy in Langley, already got banned from Weibo for these views and preferred to come find an audience on Twitter. It's weird that they represent China mostly correctly except when it comes to fanning the flames of war over Taiwan. Then they fully buy into what the State Department sells.
tbh they share similarities with many of the more hardline nationalist types I've seen on their social media. The government is usually on the measured and calm side.
I've also noticed that not on Chinese social media but from Chinese people online. We recently banned a Chinese editor on ProleWiki for being a Duginist 🤦
I hope this is something China tackles sooner than later. The rise of China as an economic powerhouse has created a bunch of chauvinists. They will become problematic for the CPC as well.
I think just because many Chinese people live in an AES state doesn't mean they're necessarily very politically aware. In fact most I've seen on bilibili have a pretty liberal worldview, except China are the good guys. Also the platforms themselves are not necessarily that affiliated with the government, and the sheer volume of noise makes censorship pretty difficult.