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With China’s tech giant Tencent being a huge player in both the online gaming and online payment market, making in-app purchases for mobile games has never been easier. Oblivious to the dangers of children playing online, many Chinese parents are losing thousands of renminbi to virtual weapons and armor.

“I will return the money when I am older,” a 9-year-old mobile games fan told Chinese reporters from Pear Video this week.

The third grader from Guiyang, Guizhou, secretly spent over 20,000 RMB (±3000$) of his father’s money on mobile games, buying weapons and armor for his virtual warriors. The boy could effortlessly click from the mobile game to QQ Wallet, one of the Paypal-like online payment platforms by Chinese tech giant Tencent.

*The anonymous 9-year-old speaking to Pear Video reporters.*

The unexpected financial setback is a big blow to the family. The father makes less than 100 RMB (14.8$) per day. To earn back the money his son spent on online games will cost him seven months of work. The 20,000 RMB was the family’s savings, much needed for their everyday life and their son’s school books.

The young boy started spending the money when he played a popular online mobile fighting game. He wanted to purchase additional in-game features to keep up with his friends, who also play the same game.

*QQ Wallet makes it easy to pay for in-app purchases.*

Since the boy knew his father’s QQ Wallet code, he was able to purchase dozens of items through the app without his father knowing.

“This is booming business for Tencent, as it can easily rope in its users across multiple platforms; making the step from WeChat friend groups to mobile games to online payment as small as possible.”

This story is just one among many. At the same time the story of the boy from Guiyang made its rounds on Chinese social media, there was also the story of a 13-year-old from Xianyang who spent 5697 RMB (±850$) in one day on a Tencent mobile game through WeChat Pay. Or that of a junior high school student from Guangzhou spending a staggering 50,000 RMB (±7400$) within one week, buying armor for a game.

In the Xianyang case, the parents of the boy noticed dozens of text messages on their phone when they returned home from work on July 28. They were all confirmation messages from WeChat for mobile payments. The father from Guangzhou told a similar story to Sina News. As many children in China have summer break from school, parents are often at work while the children are at home, and have less overview of what their children are doing.

The game many of these children spent money on is called Crossfire (穿越火线), published by Tencent in China. The game is free to play, but earns its revenues from microtransactions. Players are willing to pay large amounts of money to get better weapons and win territory.

The game is currently among the top downloaded games in the Tencent app store. Its most expensive in-app purchase is almost 616 RMB (±91$); an amount that was spent many times by the 9-year-old boy from Guiyang.

The news report about the 9-year-old boy spending 20,000 RMB on a game shows many transactions of 615; likely concerning Tencent’s Crossfire game.

China has the largest mobile gaming market in the world – and it is a booming business. As China’s leading tech company, Tencent is a dominant player in various fields. It runs messaging platforms QQ and WeChat, online payments solutions Tenpay, QQ Wallet, and WeChat Pay, and also owns a big chunk of China’s online gaming market.

The combination is a golden one for Tencent, as it can easily rope in its users across multiple platforms; making the step from WeChat friend groups to mobile games with in-app purchases to online payment as small as possible.

This is not necessarily a problem when it concerns adult players, but when it concerns kids as young as 9, the game is a trickier one.

“My little brother is crazy about mobile games, and I told him that I will beat him up if he uses our parent’s money to play. Our relative’s son used up 20,000 RMB on mobile games.”

Why do these children know their parents’ payments code? The father from Guangzhou told media reporters he trusted his child and shared his code so they can top up their mobile phone credit if necessary. The 13-year-old boy from Xianyang told Chinese media that he just knew his father’s payment code because he had seen it before. But once he started playing the game, he just kept on going to the next level and lost track of the amount of money he had actually spent.

The game currently has no age restrictions for its players. Recently, however, various media reported that Tencent was limiting the play time for some of its mobile games, restricting players under 12 to play more than an hour per day, to avoid children becoming addicted to mobile gaming.

One Weibo user said: “Lately, there are a lot of mobile games and online games that have many methods to lure users into spending money. Of course, this is one of the main ways for these games to earn money from players, but the people who are running and operating these businesses are not stupid – they know that many of their players are young kids. But still, this is how unscrupulous they are. Doesn’t your conscience bother you?”

Another commenter wrote: “My little brother is crazy about mobile games, and I told him that I will beat him up if he uses our parent’s money to play. We’ve never had a problem. Our relative’s son used up 20,000 RMB on mobile games.”

Many users also stress that parents need to keep their payment identification codes a secret to their children: “Why on earth would you ever tell little kids who cannot control their urges your payment code?”

Some netizens also say that children under the age of 12 should not be allowed to play mobile games at all.

By now, the fathers from Guiyang and Xiangyang have both contacted Tencent to see if they can get some of their money back. In both cases, it is yet unclear if they will succeed in being reimbursed for their children’s games.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

The post Playing Around with Tencent: Chinese Parents are Losing a Fortune on Mobile Games appeared first on What's on Weibo.

A 21-year-old student from Shenzen University who went missing this week during a shopping trip to Hong Kong has now turned up. The young woman, whose name and photo is all over social media, has been arrested for shoplifting – and now everybody knows it. “A single slip might cause everlasting damage,” many say.

News about a young woman from Shenzhen going missing in Hong Kong has drawn wide attention on Chinese social media this week. After the woman, Luo X., had left for Hong Kong on a shopping spree, her cell phone was turned off. Worried friends and family could not reach her for 2-3 days.

It now turns out that the female student from Shenzhen University has been arrested in Hong Kong for shoplifting. Chinese media report that Luo was caught stealing over 2000 RMB (±300$) of products in cosmetic & drug stores.

In the search for the ‘missing’ woman, her personal information and photos were already widely shared on social media before the story took a sharp turn.

One of the reasons the story initially drew so much attention is because this summer has already seen multiple stories on Chinese women going missing while traveling. In June, a student disappeared while studying in the United States. Two sisters were found murdered in Japan in July, and a female teacher from China was reported missing last week.

*The case of Luo X. became the most-searched topic on Baidu on August 2.*

On Weibo, the story has attracted thousands of comments and shares today. It also became the number 1 searched topic on Baidu on August 2. Many people call the whole story “a loss of face,” since all of Luo’s personal information is on social media now. “Normally the media always blurs the face of shoplifters, but now her face and name already is everywhere,” one person commented.

Some people note that it might be hard for the girl to return to her university and find work now that her details have been so widely publicized. “A single slip might cause everlasting sorrow” (“一失足成千古恨”), a typical comment said.

Before it turned out that Luo was arrested in Hong Kong, Shenzhen University referred to her as a “candidate for their graduate program,” now they only refer to her as “a student.”

Many people joke: “No person has been lost, there’s just a person who lost face” (literally: “There’s no person missing, there’s a ‘lost person'”, meaning someone who has lost face “人没丢，但丢人了”).

“So shameful for her, I will pray for this girl,” some netizens say.

There are also many people on Weibo who find the situation not just shameful for the woman, but for mainland Chinese in general, who already have a bad reputation in Hong Kong: “Couldn’t you find stuff to steal in the mainland? Now you’ve given the Hong Kong people another mainlander to scold..”

“It’s good that she has been found. Although it’s embarrassing, at least her parents can have a peace of mind now,” one commenter says.

Multiple sources report that Luo X. will remain in custody for 14 days.

By Miranda Barnes
Follow @whatsonweibo

The post Missing Chinese Student Turns up in Hong Kong Prison appeared first on What's on Weibo.

There is no age limit when it comes to style. This is something that is especially apparent when looking at the Taiwanese ‘Moonlight Fairy’, an 88-year-old grandmother with a unique sense of style.

The 88-year-old Linzhuang Yueli (林莊月里) from Taiwan likes to be called “Moonlight Fairy” (月光仙子). She has a mix and match fashion style that is more trendy than that of many people decades younger than her – she even makes oversized IKEA shopping bags and DHL tshirts look cool.

Photos of the grandmother, whose social media handle is ‘@moonlin0106’, were shared on Weibo by various fashion accounts, praising the woman’s cool style.

Moonlight Fairy currently has nearly 70,000 followers on her Instagram account, where she posted her first photo on May 15 this year.

Linzhuang likes to shop at second-hand stores and mixes various brands, but she especially has a preference for Adidas.

On Weibo, many people said: “I wanna look like this when I am that age.”

Some netizens also commented that a unique fashion style is not always understood. “I also bought that IKEA shirt and wore it,” one person said: “Then my teacher asked if I work there.”

Others also asked about where to buy clothes worn by Moonlight Fairy.

“I can only say: her style is extremely cool!”

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

The post “Moonlight Fairy”, the 88-Year-Old Taiwan Grannie with a Unique Sense of Style appeared first on What's on Weibo.

A netizen from Taizhou, Jiangsu, has been arrested for insulting a member of China’s civil police on Weibo. The 39-year-old man will be detained for 9 days.

On July 31, a Chinese netizen commented on the story of a police man who died of heat stroke last week while he was on duty.

“You should be fined for not resting while working in the heat. You deserve to die,” the comment by netizen ‘Zhizun bao’ @至尊宝 said.

The person has since been tracked down by Chinese authorities and has been arrested for “violating the administration of public security.”

The netizen is a 39-year-old man from Taizhou, which also happens to be the hometown of the deceased officer. The Jiangsu police state that the Weibo user was already on record for making ‘subversive’ comments on social media in the past. He will be detained for 9 days for his comments about the policeman.

The officer, who was named Qian Hua (钱华), was part of a SWAT team that was serving on patrol on July 28. Due to very high temperatures, he suddenly fell ill. The 50-year-old died on the scene.

*Funeral of Qian Hua, photos by sina.com.*

The topic “Netizen detained for insulting civil police” #网民辱骂殉职民警被拘 became a trending topic on Weibo on August 3, initiated by Beijing News. Initially, news of the detainment was released through Weibo by the Jiangsu police.

*Information about the arrest of the netizen was publicized by the police.*

Many netizens showed their support for the punishment. “Serves him right!”, a typical comment read.

“I don’t sympathize with these kinds of people, he should be taught a lesson,” others said.

When someone raised the matter of freedom of speech, another person wrote: “Freedom of speech does not mean you can just talk all the trash you like.”

But there are also commenters who express their worries: “If it was not a police officer he insulted [but someone else], then what would the consequence be?”

“So what if someone uttered two sentences. This is overly sensitive, people say things all the time, you can’t detain them every time,” another commenter said.

“We should all watch what we say here, or you’ll be turned in,” another person wrote.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

The post Chinese Netizen Detained for Comment about Deceased Police Officer on Weibo appeared first on What's on Weibo.

A baby girl from a village in Shandong has been rescued by authorities after netizens exposed the abuse by her father on Weibo.

On August 5, a female netizen from Shandong shared pictures on Weibo that showed the bruises on a newborn baby. The pictures were taken in a village in Shandong’s Yinqu county.

The woman, nicknamed ‘Honey River’ (@江的甜蜜), wrote that the baby girl on the pictures is 22 days old and is being abused by her alcoholic father. She also said that the baby’s mother, who is also beaten by her husband, suffers from mental health issues.

“I hope that the relevant departments will come and save this girl’s life!”, she pleaded, asking other netizens to share her message to attract more attention for the case.

Worried about the baby’s safety, many netizens called the police.

Chen Lan (@作家陈岚), author and founder of child care center ‘Small Hope House’ (小希望之家), later posted an update about the case on her Weibo page:

“This morning, netizen @jiangdetianmi exposed how a 22-day-old baby girl in Shandong’s Linyu Wangjiayanyu was beaten by her father, her body purple. Many netizens have already reported this case to the police. The police have responded that the child has currently been brought to the local hospital, where her skin injuries have, for now, been identified as bruising. The abusive father has been summoned. The local women’s federation is looking at the possibilities for foster care. We certainly think that there is no way the child can go back, and we will pay close attention to this case.”

Chen Lan also said the baby’s mother was homeless and mentally ill when the baby’s father picked her from the street and brought her home with him before she became pregnant. “How can we make sure this won’t happen again?”, she wonders: “I’ve dealt with a similar case in the past, and those people had 5 children.”

“How unlucky for this child to be born in such a household,” many netizens say.

“Could I take legal steps to adopt this child?” one woman asks.

Another person comments: “There are many people now who want to adopt a child. The child will find a new home and lead a happy life.”

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

The post 22-Day-Old Baby Rescued after Abusive Father is Exposed on Weibo appeared first on What's on Weibo.

China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) issued a notice this weekend that Chinese television stations should refrain from broadcasting TV dramas “focused on entertainment” or “programs with foreign elements” during primetime.

China’s SAPPRFT issued a notice this weekend regarding new regulations on primetime TV in China. The announcement, titled “Central Notice regarding the Orientation of Variety Channels and Platforms Broadcasting Cultural Items” (总局关于把电视上星综合频道办成讲导向, 有文化的传播平台的通知), was cited by all major official news outlets in China. The new guidelines drew some criticism on Chinese social media.

*The 5-page notice was also shared on Weibo.*

With the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China coming up this autumn, authorities have recently been strengthening control over Chinese websites, online videos, and television content.

The latest guidelines prescribe that TV series about “sensitive topics,” TV dramas “too focused on entertaining” (“娱乐性较强、题材内容较敏感的电视剧”), and programs with “foreign elements” should be banned from prime time TV in China.

Instead, authorities “encourage” TV channels to “increase the number and frequency of programs about things such as the public good, culture, science & technology, and economy” (“总局鼓励电视上星综合频道在黄金时段增加公益、文化、科技、经济类节目的播出数量和频次”).

China has around 2500 television channels at central, provincial, municipal and county level. Although they are commercialized, and often owned by a mixed group of investors, they are still supervised by the SAPPRFT and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) – all television stations have to adhere to government broadcasting guidelines.

According to Xinhua News and Global Times, the latest measures are meant to contain the “hyping of pop stars” (“追星炒星”). Chinese television programs should rather focus on celebrities with “high moral standards” who offer “an educational value for the society.”

The programmes aired by China Central Television (CCTV), China’s main state broadcaster, should “serve as an example” for other channels, Xinhua said.

“Now we’ll all just have to watch the red classics, worship the Party and adore the military.”

Luo Ping, a media expert with the Communication University of China, was quoted by Global Times; about restricting programs with foreign elements on Chinese TV, Luo said: “Without careful examination, these foreign programs could easily deliver negative or harmful messages about our country, which will have a huge social impact.”

Although discussions of this topic were limited on Chinese social media, the people who commented on the latest measures were not pleased.

China has one of the world’s most booming TV drama industries in the world. Daily, millions of Chinese TV drama fans tune in to their favorite shows – nothing is trending more often on Chinese social media than the titles of the most popular TV dramas.

“Oh man, now I can only watch the news when I get home from work..”, one netizen complained.

Another female Weibo user commented on the latest guidelines with a short monologue:

“What do you think about the latest restrictions?”
– “Can I use profanities?”
“No you can’t.”
– “Then I have nothing to say.”

“Now we’ll all just have to watch the red classics, worship the Party and adore the military,” one anonymous Weibo user wrote.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

Thanks to Miranda Zhou Barnes (abearandapig.com).

The post Entertainment Shows and Foreign Programs Banned from Prime Time TV in China appeared first on What's on Weibo.

Photos of the arrest of a black man in Hefei triggered waves of racist remarks on Weibo this weekend. Online racism against Africans has been an ongoing issue on Weibo ever since the platform was first launched.

On August 4, police in Hefei, Anhui, arrested a black man in the city for “causing trouble” and “picking quarrels.” The man reportedly injured another person on the street.

Photos of the incident made their rounds on Chinese social media on August 5. Hefei Headlines (@头条合肥) was one of the accounts sharing the news on Weibo with the headline “Black Man Causing Trouble in Hefei” (“黑人男子合肥寻衅滋事”).

The incident occurred around 4 pm on Fanhua Street, right before the Foreign Languages College. In the photos that are making their rounds on Weibo, the man can be seen running from the police, wearing nothing but underpants and sneakers.

It is not clear what triggered the incident and what the man exactly did, nor are there any reports on where the man comes from or whether he is a student at the college.

The photos triggered two types of responses on Weibo: on the one hand, there were those people who just praised the police for the work they are doing and risks they are taking, and on the other hand, there were large numbers of netizens who made racist remarks about the black man.

“Black monkey go back to Africa,” or “black trash” were typical comments amongst the thousands of reactions on Weibo.

“There are so many black devils in Guangzhou, and they bring AIDS with them, it’s disgusting,” one person said. Guangzhou has the largest black community in China.

Online racism against Africans has been an ongoing issue on Weibo ever since the platform was first launched in 2009. At the time, an essay about the racism against Chinese in Africa drew much attention. In 2013, Weibo was flooded by news of Chinese being killed in Ghana.

The existing idea that Chinese are looked down upon in Africa has allegedly worsened anti-African sentiments in China, although there are also those who already warned in 2013 that “the denigration and discrimination of black people [in Africa by the Chinese] is spreading like an epidemic.”

Throughout the years, multiple news stories concerning Africans have triggered waves of racist remarks.

In “From Campus Racism to Cyber Racism”¹, scholar Cheng (2011) argues that anti-black racism in China has re-emerged with China’s deeper economic involvement in Africa, due to which large numbers of Chinese and Africans have come to work in each other’s countries.

Cheng writes that although there already were waves of racism against Africans in the early post-Mao era, it has resurfaced over the last decade with the rise of China as a global power. Given that there are still many regarding Africans as “racially inferior,” “these people think it is wrong for Africans to create social problems in Chinese cities and impede China’s actions in Africa” (561)¹.

But on Weibo, there are many who take the issue of racism in China lightly, comparing it to other countries: “If this were America, this guy would have already have been shot and killed.”

“We have no racism in China,” one commenter says: “We just have a distinction of good versus evil.” Others had similar jokes, saying: “There are only two types of people I can’t stand: 1. racists and 2. black people.”

Despite all racist slurs and racist jokes, there were also those who had a serious message for all foreigners: “There are many foreigners from wherever who don’t take Chinese law seriously. I don’t care where you are from, but you have to abide by the Chinese law if you’re in China.”

It is unknown how long the man will be detained.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

¹ Cheng, Yinghong. 2011. “From Campus Racism to Cyber Racism: Discourse of Race and Chinese Nationalism.” The China Quarterly (207): 561-579.

The post “Black Man Causing Trouble in Hefei” Incident Triggers Waves of Racist Remarks on Weibo appeared first on What's on Weibo.

“The A4 Waist is out of fashion, now the Heart-Shaped Boob challenge is popular,” – a sentence that is buzzing around Weibo these days. Is this indeed the next bizarre challenge to go viral on Chinese social media?

Every now and then a new ‘challenge’ pops up on Chinese social media that allows netizens to show off their bodies. There’s been the A4 Waist Challenge, the iPhone6 Legs, or the One Finger Selfie hype. Now a new challenge is making its rounds on Weibo, originating from one of China’s live-streaming apps.

For the ‘Heart Symbol Boob challenge’ (桃心胸挑战), female netizens try to make a heart shape out of their breasts. The latest challenge is a risky one, because “obscene” (yinhui) or “pornographic” (seqing) images are officially not allowed on Chinese social media. Many of the images posted by netizens have already been removed.

People started talking about the ‘heart-shaped boob’ earlier this week, with many Weibo users saying: “The A4 Waist is out of fashion, now the Heart-Shaped Boob Challenge is popular!”

Their claims might be more about wishful thinking than that the challenge itself is actually a major hype just yet: the ‘Heart-Shaped Boob Challenge’ is more talked about than actually taken on. With 1.4 million views of the topic #HeartShapedBoob (#桃心胸#) on Weibo in a few days time, there were only some dozen women who actually posted photos of their heart shaped breasts.

The ‘hype’ seems to have started with a live-streamer by the name of Ayi Xi Tai Lǜ (@阿姨洗太绿). (The name’s characters literally translate as “Aunty Washes Too Green” in Chinese, but the sound of the name resembles the Japanese ‘Ai Shiteiru’ (愛している), which means ‘I love you.’)

*Screenshot of one of Aiyixitailu’s live broadcasts where she introduces the ‘heart-shape boob’ pose, via Weibo.*

Ayi Xi Tai Lǜ is one of the thousands of girls who entertain their – mostly male – audiences from one of China’s 200-or-so live-broadcasting platforms. Popular ones that focus on girls broadcasting for male viewers include Huya, 9xiu, or Woxiu.

According to SupChina, it is common to see more seductive and racy content on these live-broadcasting platforms after midnight. Live-streamers can earn money from viewers purchasing virtual items for them, anything from ‘lollipops’ to ‘love.’

For Chinese authorities, these platforms are a source of concern because of, amongst others, their ‘obscenities.’ Over the past six months, they have already closed 73 illegal live streaming platforms and imposed life bans on 1,879 live streamers for providing pornographic content.

*Aiyixitalu during one of her live-broadcasts.*

An image of Ayi Xi Tai Lǜ turning her breast in a heart shape for viewers to see was shared on several Chinese message boards in July. It might have been this image that has inspired others to try and do the same.

“The A4 waist and so on are just over. The heart-shaped boob will be the next viral hit,”, some netizens say.

The A4 waist was a major online trend in March 2016, when hundreds of women posted pictures with an A4-size paper covering their waist to prove they were slimmer than a piece of paper. The trend received criticism for promoting an unhealthy body image.

Although it is said that the ‘A4 Waist’ challenge is out of fashion, the A4 photos are also still circulating on Weibo. Earlier this month, popular Chinese actress and model Zhang Tianai (张天爱) posted a photo of her tiny waist with the hashtag “I have an A4 Waist” (#我有A4腰# ). The photo received over 230.000 likes and 23.000 shares within a few days.

Not all people are happy with the alleged upcoming hype of the ‘Heart-Shaped Boob Challenge.’ Weibo user @Haoyyao noted: “If you try with small breasts, you won’t even be able to make a triangle.”

But there were also male netizens who tried to participate in the challenge anyway. Others jokingly proved that some men also have breasts and can join the challenge without any problems.

*Some men also tried to take on the challenge.*

“I’ll be able to do this – with the fat on my stomach,” one commenter said.

Despite all claims, it is not probable that this challenge will actually truly go viral. At the time of writing, the topic ‘Heart-Shaped Boob’ was receiving thousands of new views per minute (nearing 1.5 million views), but as netizens try to post their own challenge photos, they show up as (censored) empty images.

*Censored images on Weibo: Chinese censors don’t seem to like heart-shaped breasts.*

As much as people say this challenge is the next big hit, it is very likely that online censors will not allow it to be – unlike A4 waists, heart-shaped breasts don’t seem to be their cup of tea.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

The post After A4 Waist and iPhone6 Legs, Here Is the ‘Heart-Shaped Boob’ Challenge appeared first on What's on Weibo.

China’s WeChat, Sina Weibo, and Baidu are being investigated by China’s Office for Cyberspace Administration for “violating internet laws.” Chinese netizens respond with cynicism: “Just close them down and let’s all read People’s Daily.”

On the morning of August 11, the Cyberspace Administration of China issued a notice saying that Tencent’s Wechat, Sina Weibo, and Baidu’s Tieba (the online forum platform) are all under investigation for violating China’s “Internet Security Laws” (网络安全法).

Several state media, including Xinhua, reported that users of the social media platforms have filed reports for the spread of “violent terrorism” (暴力恐怖), false rumors and obscenities, allegedly forming a threat to China’s national security, public safety, and social order.

Baidu responded to the allegations on Friday with apologies, saying it will actively cooperate with the relevant government departments to rectify its wrongdoings and further increase its efforts to shut out bad information, Sohu News reported.

Out of the three, it is Baidu that is most criticized by Weibo’s netizens. China’s tech giant has repeatedly caused controversy over the past two years. In May of 2016, the Baidu search engine was under fire after the death of a 21-year-old cancer patient who paid a lot of money for ineffective treatments advertised through Baidu’s paid search results.

Just last month, Baidu Maps was criticized for directing people to the wrong hospital when searching for Shenzhen’s children’s hospital. The hospital people were instead directed to, is one that is privately owned by the Putian Medical Group – which also happens to be Baidu’s important advertiser.

Now it is Baidu Tieba, its online web forum network, that is targeted by authorities, along with messaging and social media platforms Weibo and WeChat. Due to overall contempt for Baidu, many netizens agree with a tighter control on Baidu’s forums: “They should’ve been closed a long time ago,” some say.

But overall, the investigation of the platforms triggered much cynicism on Weibo, where some said: “Just close down everything and let’s watch CCTV every day,” or “I totally agree [with this investigation], it’s enough for us to read People’s Daily and watch state television.”

Others wrote: “Down with the Three Evil Tyrants of the Internet!”

“We already can’t say anything, why would they need to investigate?”, some wonder.

Following the news about a further investigation into China’s three tech giants, China’s financial newspaper Caijing reported that the stocks of all three companies went down on Friday.

Over the past few month, authorities have strengthened control on online and popular media in various ways. In late June, new rules regarding the content of online videos banned, among others, “displays of homosexuality.” Earlier this week, regulators issued a notification that television channels were discouraged from broadcasting entertainment shows during prime time.

The strengthening of content control is often extra noticeable before big political events. China’s 19th Party Congress will take place this fall.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

The post Weibo, WeChat, Baidu under Investigation For “Violating Internet Laws” appeared first on What's on Weibo.

The story of a dressed-up ‘cosplay’ girl being scolded by an elderly woman on the Beijing subway went viral on Chinese social media over the past week. It now turns out the scene was staged for marketing purposes. This is not the first time a viral video turns out to be a publicity stunt.

It is often photos and videos of everyday scenes on public transport or on the streets that go viral on Chinese media. A pregnant woman making a fuss in the subway, a loud fight between two girls, or two men riding bumper cars on a traffic lane.

This week, a video of a young woman being scolded on the Beijing subway for wearing a cosplay outfit went viral on Chinese social media.

The video, allegedly secretly filmed by a bystander, was shared by Tencent News and other Chinese media platforms. It shows an older woman on Beijing’s Line 10 telling the girl off, saying it is people like her who are a bad influence to her grandchildren, that she is neglecting her duties, and wearing clothes that are too revealing.

The story attracted much attention on social media, where many netizens sided with the young woman and praised her for responding coolly although the woman was attacking her.

Now, the story has taken a sharp turn as it turns out that the whole scene was staged with the purpose of generating more attention for the ad behind the older lady, several sources write.

The company promoted in the ad is Womai.com, a
healthy food shopping website in China that delivers to one’s door. In the ad, the website promotes its ‘coolness’; it says it is not just ‘cool’ (or ‘cold’) because it allows shoppers to stay inside with the air conditioning on, but also because it makes ‘cold jokes’ (冷笑话 corny jokes) on its ad posters.

This is not the first time a viral story turns out to be staged. In 2015, photos of a ‘romantic proposal’ made its rounds on social media when a young man asked his pregnant girlfriend to marry him using over 50 packs of diapers in the shape of a giant heart. One bag of diapers carried a diamond ring inside. It was later said the scene was sponsored by Libero Diapers.

In 2016, a video showing a woman making a scene in a hospital after having to pay nearly $700 to see a doctor also went viral on Weibo. It prompted outrage on Chinese social media about malpractices in Chinese hospitals, where patients often get scammed by hospital scalpers.

Later, netizens discussed how the video probably was a marketing stunt for Yihu365, an online platform that offers its services in making hospital appointments.

Viral marketing stunts also often occur outside of China. In a smart campaign, Range Rover parked one of its cars outside of Harrods in the UK in 2016, spray painted with the words “Cheater” and “Hope she was worth it.” As photos of the car were immediately shared by people walking by on social media, the story became bigger and bigger, with even BBC reporting about it.

With dozens of everyday scenes going viral on Chinese social media every day, ‘fake virals’ have become a business opportunity for advertising companies. But because of China’s critical social media users, fake virals hardly ever last long. But by the time it goes viral, its marketing purpose has already been fulfilled.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

Thanks to Miranda Zhou Barnes.

The post “It’s All Staged!” Cosplayer Viral Story Turns Out To Be Marketing Stunt appeared first on What's on Weibo.

As tensions are rising in the US standoff with North Korea, the question of China’s position in the conflict is growing more important by the day. Although state media earlier said China would help North Korea if the US would attempt to overthrow its government, some renowned Chinese experts hold a different view.

On the evening of August 10, Chinese state media outlet Global Times published an editorial that clarified that in the case of an altercation between North Korea and the US, it would not help North Korea if it would first launch missiles on US territory, but that it would intervene if the US attacked first and would try to overthrow North Korea’s government.

Now, the United Morning Paper (Lianhe Zaobao 联合早报), the largest Singapore-based Chinese-language newspaper, says that some of China’s most prominent experts on the issue hold a different view.

“The Cold War is over – there will be no re-staging of the 1950s ‘Resist USA, Help North Korea.'”

The United Morning Paper spoke to Zhang Liangui (张琏瑰), a professor at the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and a noted North Korea specialist. According to Professor Zhang, China will be unlikely to intervene in the matter, no matter who attacks first. “The Cold War is over, and there will be no re-staging of the 1950s ‘Resist USA, Help North Korea’ [抗美援朝].”

*The emblem of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army, deployed by China to aid North Korea in the 1950s.*

‘Resist the USA, Help North Korea’ (or: “Resist American Aggression and Aid North Korea”) was a propaganda slogan launched in October 1950. China came to the assistance of North Korea after the war with the South had broken out in June that year, and the UN forces intervened in September. The government, led by Mao Zedong, sent troops to fight in the war. Mao’s own son, Mao Anying, was killed in action by an air strike a month after the start of this 3-year war against US aggression in support of North Korea. The war ended with the armistice of July 1953.

*“That’s not a target, it’s the enemy: American Imperialism.” Political poster from 1950 (http://military.china.com/).*

*“Resist USA, Aid North Korea” propaganda poster抗美援朝.*

Zhang said that North Korea is now destroying peace and stability in Northeast Asia, and that taking military actions against Pyongyang would not be unreasonable: “According to Chapter VII of the United Nations Charters, if the Security Council considers the actions of a state an endangerment to world peace, they can take sanctions against this state – also military ones.”

The professor added: “Although China principally does not agree with resolving disputes through military force, it is clear that the culprit of this problem is North Korea. (..) China has no reason to get involved in this conflict.”

“It is better to keep a neutral position than to side with North Korea.”

The United Morning Paper also quoted the international relations scholar Deng Yuwen (邓聿文), who said: “China should consider how any involvement in [this] war would impact Sino-US relations. It is better to keep a neutral position than to side with North Korea.”

The article made its rounds on Weibo on August 13. The Weibo post by the United Morning Paper attracted over 218 shares, 800 likes and 430 reactions, but they all remained invisible to others; just showing a message that said “no comments.”

*Resist* US and Support Korea to Save Neighbors and Ourselves – 1951 (via Midnight1131/Imgur).

Although discussions of the issue seem to be controlled by Weibo’s censors, some people did vent their opinion on the issue.

“Not only should we not ‘Resist America, Aid North Korea,’; we should oppose it,” essayist Wang Ruoguo wrote.

“Sooner or later, North Korea’s nuclear weapons are going to cause great suffering. There is no shame in working together with America.”

But there were also other voices. An anonymous Weibo user wrote: “Not ‘Resisting America and Aiding North Korea’ goes against Mao’s thoughts; it goes against everything he stood for.”

“We should not even think of it as ‘abandoning’ North Korea. China has wiped North Korea’s ass for too long.”

It is not the first time the relations between China and North Korea become a topic of debate in the Chinese media. In 2014, the question of ‘how should China deal with North Korea?’ was also a central one, as two prominent figures in the China-North Korea debate publicly announced their perspectives on the future of the bilateral relationship.

At the time, What’s on Weibo reported how the retired People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Lieutenant Wang Hongguang both shared his views on the future of the China-North Korea alliance, saying that “China is not North Korea’s savior,” and that “China has wiped North Korea’s ass for too long.”

*General Wang Hongguang (Guancha 2014).*

General Wang’s essay “China’s Non-Existent ‘Abandoning North Korea’ Problem” (“中国不存在“放弃朝鲜”的问题“) attracted much attention in December of 2014, as Wang stated that North Korea was never really China’s true ally to begin with, and that their ‘non-existent’ alliance, therefore, could never be ‘abandoned.’

In Wang’s view, North Korea jeopardizes the peace and security of the entire region – and therefore does not share any interests with China: “China has to think from its own perspective and has to take a stance against North Korea harming our interests. (..) We should not even think of it as ‘abandoning’ North Korea. China has wiped North Korea’s ass for too long.”

He also said that China should not go to war for North Korea: “China’s younger generations should not fight a battle for a country that is not theirs.”

Although the rising tensions between USA and North Korea are making international headlines, the issue is not among the main trending topics on Sina Weibo.

The announcement that China, implementing UN sanctions, will stop importing coal, iron ore, fish, and other goods did trigger some online discussions on August 14.

Most commenters say that they still think it is too weak of a sanction, and wonder why China announces it beforehand: “Would North Korea announce it before it shoots a missile?” Another commenter wrote: “Why don’t they intervene stronger in their regime, and bring back socialism instead of a dictatorship?”

There are also many people who feel that there are other countries, mainly India, deserving more punishment than North Korea. As China-Indian relations are worsening over the Doklam border dispute, many netizens seem to think that a possible conflict with India is currently a more relevant topic to discuss than the heightening tensions between the US and North Korea.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

The post Chinese Experts: There Will Be No Second “Resist America and Aid Korea” appeared first on What's on Weibo.

A primary school student’s essay about a teacher’s scoldings and beatings has gone viral on Chinese social media. “Teacher, What I Want To Tell You” has stirred widespread discussions about emotional abuse and corporal punishment in China’s classrooms.

An essay of 2000 characters written by a primary school student from Lüliang in Shanxi province has gone viral on WeChat and Sina Weibo. The essay, titled “Teacher, What I Want to Tell You” (“老师我想对您说”), has triggered thousands of shares and comments from Chinese netizens.

Over recent years, the issue of corporal punishment at school has been a recurring topic of debate on Chinese social media.

In the much-shared essay, a fourth grader writes about how she¹ feels when her teacher punishes and degrades her. In seven pages, she writes down what she wants to tell her teacher after suffering abuse since the first grade. China’s first graders in primary school are usually around the age of 6; fourth graders are 9-10 years of age.

“I try all I can to be a good kid in your eyes.”

The young student writes:

“Teacher, I really do not know what I did for you to be so dissatisfied with me. I clearly remember when I first had you as my teacher in the first grade, on the fifth day you flung my book in my face (..) I will never forget your expression at that time. I have been scared of you ever since.”

Further on in the essay she writes:

“I try all I can to be a good kid in your eyes, but it seems to have the opposite effect. I am always that kid who takes a scolding and a beating without knowing what she did wrong. (..) I often have dreams about you beating me. When I wake up in the middle of the night, it’s hard to fall asleep again.”

“Teacher, oh teacher, we spend every day looking at the expression on your face. If you’re happy, then we’re happy too. If you’re angered, then we are scared.”

Besides sharing her confusion about why she is punished, her willingness to do her homework right, and her hopes to be a good pupil in her teacher’s eyes, the child also writes that the abuse over the years has deeply affected her: “My dreams have been crushed.”

The student’s writings were first accidentally discovered by the child’s own parents on August 6. They found the papers in a school book while cleaning up the desk.

Upset by what their daughter had written down, they photographed the pages and shared them with friends on WeChat. From there, it was soon shared from group to group and made its way to Weibo, where some threads on the matter received over 450,000 comments and 22,000 shares.

On August 10, the essay was also picked up by Chinese media (link in Chinese), who contacted the school to verify the story.

The parents of the student knew the teacher was disciplining their child inappropriately, and had already reported it to the school in June. Several Chinese media now write that relevant educational departments did look into the matter. They said it concerned a ‘substitute teacher,’ who has already resigned.

“15.4% of Chinese students suffered corporal punishment as a form of discipline at school.”

China has outlawed corporal punishment in schools in 1986. Corporal punishment as discipline goes against the Compulsory Education Law, Law on Protection of Minors, and the Teacher Law.²

Chinese teachers generally have various forms of disciplining, such as detention, time-out (outside or in the back of the classroom), confiscation of possessions, verbal reprimands, physical labor (cleaning the classroom), or exercise.³

But despite its illegality, corporal punishment of students also still remains relatively common. A widespread survey across ten provinces in China among elementary and junior secondary school students showed that 15.4% suffered corporal punishment as a form of discipline at school.⁴

With the spread of social media and smartphones with cameras, abuse by teachers is now often exposed by students. In 2016, Weibo netizens shared footage of a teacher in Shandong beating and humiliating students during a military training. In the video, the teacher can be seen pushing and kicking one of the students for being late to class.

“A teacher is never supposed to hit a child in the first place.”

Online reactions at the time also showed that Chinese traditions of teaching children discipline through corporal punishment run deep. Although many denounced the teacher, who was fired after the incident was exposed, there were also people who spoke out in his favor: “You say the teacher is cruel, and that’s not right. But what about the students coming late?”

A surveillance video showing an altercation between a teacher and student also went viral on Weibo this week. The video shows a female teacher yelling at a male student. When she slaps him in the face he immediately slaps her back in her face.

A video that shows a teacher slapping a student, and him slapping her back, went viral on Weibo this week.

The scene led to the question: ‘Can a student strike back when they are hit by a teacher?’ In a poll done by an educational organization’s Weibo account, over 87% of the participants said a student could hit a teacher back once they are slapped themselves, although there were also many commenters who said: “This is a misleading discussion; a teacher is never supposed to hit a child in the first place.”

“Up to this day, I sometimes still dream about my teacher hitting me.”

Both the young child’s essay and the classroom video have stirred discussions on abuse in the classroom. “Up to this day, I sometimes still dream about my teacher hitting me,” one netizen writes: “When I wake up, I feel all worked up and angry. Coincidentally, I saw this essay of the primary school child today, and I wish I could just take the child in my arms and help them.”

Many people on Chinese social media are touched by the essay and angered about the issue. They find the school’s response unacceptable: “A ‘substitute teacher’ for four years?! That’s ridiculous!”

Although some comment that “these kinds of teachers are everywhere,” there are also many who say they are shocked: “How can a person like this be qualified to teach?”

Many people speak out against giving children corporal punishment: “It will mentally affect a child for the rest of their life.”

Some say the system is to blame, since it is difficult to qualify as a teacher and the pay is low. With a lack of proper teachers, many schools, therefore, take on ‘temporary workers’ or ‘substitute teachers’ to teach the children.

Due to the overwhelming media attention for the case, the school has now openly spoken out on August 12, offering their sincere apologies to the student for the abuse suffered at their institution. They guarantee that the child will have a different teacher after the summer vacation.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

¹ According to various blogs, the young writer of the essay is a girl, although this is not confirmed by official media.
² (Russo et al 2014: 24).
³ (Russeo et al 2014: 25).
⁴ (Russo et al 2014, 25-26).

References and further reading

Russo, Charles J., Izak Oousthuizen, Charl C. Wolhuter. 2014. International Perspectives on Student Behavior: What We Can Learn. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

The post Primary Student’s Moving Essay on Teacher’s Abuse Goes Viral on Chinese Social Media appeared first on What's on Weibo.

A disturbing video that shows how a woman and a small child are thrown to the ground by a local Shanghai policeman became a trending topic on Friday, sparking wide debates on police use of force in China.

A video that shows a Shanghai policeman pushing down a woman holding a small child in her arms is going viral on Chinese social media on September 1.

With millions of views on Weibo and WeChat, the incident is sparking a wide discussion on police brutality in China.

In the video, that was recorded in Shanghai’s Songjiang district on Friday morning, a woman can be seen arguing with a policeman while she is holding a crying child in her arms. As the conflict continues, the officer suddenly pushes the woman to the ground, causing the baby to fall from her arms and landing on the sidewalk.

Other footage after the incident shows that the fall has left the woman’s face badly swollen and bruised.

The policemen in the video were allegedly checking for illegal parking. Shanghai Songjiang police confirmed on Weibo that the incident is currently under investigation and that the policeman involved has now been suspended. The woman and the child were sent to the hospital.

The video triggered much discussion on Chinese social media under the hashtag “Woman holding baby pushed down by police” (#抱娃女子被民警绊摔#), which had over four million views by Friday afternoon.

Chinese netizens are divided over the issue, with some condemning the policeman’s violent actions and others blaming the woman for provoking an officer while carrying a child in her arms.

“You don’t even care for your own child, and push the police while using the kid in your arms as your shield. Now you’re playing the victim,” commenters said. Some also said that some footage of the incident circulating online was deliberately edited to leave out the part that shows the woman acting hostile towards the police.

But many also think the police use of force, in this case, cannot be justified: “I only want to say that those two policemen did not even bother to check if the child was ok after it fell to the ground,” a person named Isaha commented.

“It’s alright for the police to use force, but in this incident, they should have considered the baby,” a typical comment read.

Other internet commenters – possibly members of the state-backed 50 Cent Army – used the incident to show some patriotism: “If you love our country and the Communist Party you should not criticize the police. When you forward information like this, you’re telling people that our police is violent, and that this is how our government works, but we should be against spreading that message – where’s your patriotism?!”

This is not the first time discussions on the use of force by Chinese police flare up on Chinese social media. In 2016, the death of the 29-year-old Beijing resident Lei Yang while in police custody sparked online outrage, with netizens connecting the fatality to police brutality.

“Regardless of what sh*t excuse the Shanghai police comes up with about the use of force (..), everyone can see, and it is more visible in the video than in the image, how this bastard uses the technique that he learned in police academy to push the woman to the ground, while her baby is flying mid-air on the floor. He completely ignores the baby; and not just him, also his colleague, who also rushes to clamp the woman down while ignoring the crying baby,” a netizen from Guangdong wrote.

No matter if netizens defend the police’s right to use force or side with the woman, there is one thing commenters all seem to agree with. “The baby is innocent,” they say: “It should have been left out of this conflict from the start.”

State tabloid Global Times responded to the issue on Friday night through their official WeChat account, claiming that the woman who was pushed down by the police “had a mysterious smile on her face upon discovering that bystanders sympathized with her because of the child.”

*Global Times notes the woman’s “mysterious smile” on its WeChat account.*

On Weibo, some commenters wondered why Global Times would post such a thing: “It’s not her [the woman] that’s grim, it’s the person who wrote this.”

“Their imagination is too big,” some said: “This woman’s face is distorted because of her injuries; who would have a smile on their face after being beaten like this? Global Times must think others are as stupid as they are if they believe they’d follow their way of thinking..”

By Miranda Zhou Barnes & Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

The post Shocking Video Shows Shanghai Policeman Pushing Woman with Baby to the Ground appeared first on What's on Weibo.

A Chinese man running a small-scale website on which he sold VPN software has been sentenced to 9 months in prison. Weibo netizens take the man’s prosecution as another sign that authorities are stepping up their fight against software that allows people to browse websites that are blocked in China.

A 26-year-old man from the city of Dongguan, Guangdong province, has been sentenced to 9 months in prison for selling VPN software through his own website.

According to China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) database (China Judgments Online) Deng Jiewei was found guilty for the crime of “illegal control of a computer system”, contained in Article 285 of China’s Criminal Law.

The criminal law Article states:

“Whoever violates state regulations and intrudes into computer systems with information concerning state affairs, construction of defense facilities, and sophisticated science and technology is be sentenced to not more than three years of fixed-term imprisonment or criminal detention.”

The prosecution notice, issued online on an information disclosure platform of the People’s Procuratorate (人民检察院案件信息公开网), states that the man was arrested in October of 2016 for setting up a .com website earlier last year through which he offered two types of VPN software, making a total profit of approximately 2125 US$ (14000 RMB).

The notice clarifies that the .exe software sold by Deng allowed users to circumvent China’s web censorship and visit foreign websites.

“I am scared we could all be arrested now.”

Although the sentencing took place in January of this year, the news only surfaced on Chinese social media on September 3rd, soon gaining over 6000 shares on one Weibo post about the issue, and over 4000 shares of another post that reported the sentencing.

Many netizens questioned the severity of the punishment for selling a program to browse the Internet. “The crime of wanting to know the truth and selling a ladder,” one person said, referring to VPNs as a way to ‘climb over’ the Great Firewall of China. Another Weibo user posted an image of George Orwell’s 1984 in response to the news.

One commenter sarcastically wrote: “I suggest we now also bring back the crime of counter-revolution (反革命).”

Some netizens wondered how the man could have been prosecuted under Article 285: “How can using a VPN be defined as ‘intruding into computer systems’?”, one Weibo user asked.

Another person also noted that the law concerns the intrusion of computer systems relating to ‘state affairs’, but that the prosecuted man was only running a small-scale website selling VPN software. “According to this sentencing, I am also guilty for using a VPN,” he said. Another commenter shared similar worries: “I am scared we could all be arrested now.”

Chinese authorities have introduced numerous restrictions on virtual private networks (VPNs) this year. In January, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice that it will strictly contain the unapproved use of VPNs by Chinese firms.

In July, Bloomberg News reported that the Chinese government had instructed telecommunications carriers to block VPN access by all individuals in China by February 2018. Shortly thereafter, Apple removed all major VPN apps from the App Store in China.

On Weibo, some see the prison sentence for the VPN-seller in Guangdong as another sign that authorities are stepping up their fight against software that allows users to browse blocked websites. “The dark days are coming,” one man writes.

By Miranda Barnes & Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

Featured image by paper.wenweipo.com

The post Chinese Man Sentenced to Prison for Selling VPN Software appeared first on What's on Weibo.

The news assistant of a prominent Dutch China correspondent has lashed out against his former employer on Chinese social media, saying he fabricated news stories about China during the time he worked for him. As the controversial story has since been shared by Chinese state media outlet Global Times, Beijing’s BTime website now says that “time is up” for the Dutch “story king.”

On September 4th, Zhang Chaoqun (张超群), the former assistant of China correspondent Oscar Garschagen, published an article on Chinese social media platform WeChat in which he accuses the Dutchman of fabricating news.

Garschagen is a well-respected Dutch journalist who has been working as a China reporter for Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad (NRC) for ten years. He previously also worked as a correspondent in the US and Israel. He is currently based in Shanghai.

Zhang, who says he worked with Garschagen for two years, first published his accusations in a Chinese WeChat post (“我炒了写假新闻的外媒记者“) via the ‘Foreign Media in China’ account (抢占外媒高地). After making its rounds in China’s journalism circles through the WeChat app, the story was also shared on Weibo and Twitter.

Zhang published an English version of his story on China Data Insider later on Monday and publicly contacted the NRC newspaper’s public advocate through Twitter, saying he wanted to expose “serious news fabrication.”

In his English post, titled “A Correspondent’s Guide to Making Fake News in China,” he writes:

“Being a news assistant who helps with pitching stories, conducting researches, conducting/arranging interviews, and translating any necessary Chinese materials but never gets to write a story or have a proper byline (not even a research byline), I dare not say I have mastered the dark art of making fake new. But I have the luck of working with one of the greatest masters of the dark art for two years and watching him fabricating, twisting and distorting stories on many occasions.”

In the article, Zhang then accuses Garschagen of bringing “fake news” in his reports on at least seven occasions. In one case, Zhang alleges that an interview included in a 2016 featured article about rising tensions around the South China Sea conflict actually did not take place at all:

“In June, 2016, as the South China Sea Arbitration Case became a global trending story, Mr Garschagen went to a small fishing town Tanmen, Hainan, with the hope of talking to Wang Shumao, deputy company commander of the maritime militia in Tanmen town. Mr Wang declined the interview request point blank. But why should a rejection get in the way of a good story? In the published story, Mr Garschagen said he waited for three days and finally “interviewed” Mr. Wang with the help from the provincial publicity department. Of course, the interview did not happen at all.”

In other examples, he says that the Dutch reporter made up names of persons included in his work, wrote about scenes he did not actually witness, quoted people saying things they had never said, or combined stories of separate individuals.

Zhang also alleges that for a report about the economically weakening coal city of Lüliang in 2015 – which was triggered by an initial story by NPR.org – Garschagen and Zhang visited three places together: the airport, a coal mine, and the ‘Zhongfen Liquor City.’

Garschagen’s later report about the trip, however, focused on a cement factory in crisis which Zhang says they actually never visited – only the reporter of the original NPR story of four months earlier allegedly had been there.

The NPR story of September 2015 by international correspondent Frank Langfitt includes an interview with a cement factory’s lower-level manager named Gao, while Garschagen’s piece of January 2016 also includes an interview with the cement factory’s former manager (and security guard) named Gao.

Both interviews show various similarities, and both stories include a fragment on a domestic appliance shop owner by the name of “Lei” (“Lei Lili” in the NPR piece and “Lei Li” in the NRC article), who says her business is doing bad because the people of Lüliang have no income anymore.

“I’ve fired my boss today and I’m proud of this decision,” Zhang concludes his online complaint. The news assistant confirmed to Chinese English-language news site Sixth Tone that he emailed his resignation to Garschagen on Monday morning.

In response to the issue, Associated Press correspondent Gerry Shih tweeted on Monday: “Be nice to your news assistant today. Especially if you depend on him/her for everything. And you happen to make a lot of stuff up.”

Be nice to your news assistant today. Esp. if you depend on him/her for everything. And you happen to make a lot of stuff up. Fucks sake.

— Gerry Shih (@gerryshih) 4 september 2017

After state media tabloid Global Times reposted Zhang’s article on WeChat and Weibo, news outlet Beijing Time (北京时间 Btime.com) also reported the story under the title “Time’s Up for ‘Story King’ Foreign Reporter” (“外媒记者当“故事大王”的日子已经不多了”).

Although some Chinese netizens believed Zhang’s account and said that foreign journalists often discredit China for their own political agenda, there were also people who questioned the story and wondered why it was republished by the Global Times, an outlet owned by official Party newspaper People’s Daily.

“I started to wonder when I saw the source,” one person wrote on WeChat. Others asked if the author might have written this to “to highlight their own justice.”

On Btime.com alone, the story was viewed over 7,5 million times by Monday evening. Zhang’s original post was also republished on other Chinese news media sites such as Sina News and Phoenix News.

Beijing Time wrote that although the truthfulness of Zhang’s allegations had not yet been verified by a third party, “there are [indeed] some ‘story kings’ amongst foreign reporters, who are wasting their time relying on their imaginations and prejudice about China.”

Garschagen, who has an account on Twitter (@oscargarschagen) and Weibo, has not yet responded on social media to the allegations that were made against him by his former assistant. He did tell Sixth Tone that he was “surprised” and “did not understand the accusations.”

He also told Sixth Tone: “This attack on my integrity contains many distortions and untruths.”

In a 2014 interview with Dutch blog The Post Online, Garschagen said about his Chinese colleagues that he had a “very positive” view on them.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

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Secret tests run by a review organization have exposed how Beijing’s top-notch hotels do not change their bed sheets or clean their toilet seats. The report has caused great commotion on Chinese social media, where it has become the talk of the day.

An online report by an assessment organization has exposed how some of Beijing’s 5-star luxury hotels do not change their bed sheets or clean the toilet seats after guests check out. The tests concern the renowned hotel chains Hilton, the W, Intercontinental, Marriot, and Shangri-La.

The tests were done by a company named ‘Better Choice, Better Life’ (literally ‘Blueberry Testing’ 蓝莓评测), which has over 60,500 followers on their Weibo account.

In a video released online on September 4, the research team says:

“As a review organization, we’ve found some unexpected results in a test which triggers a horrible assumption. We’ve seen messes of different industries in our tests. However, none of them have shocked us like this. The test result may lead to serious debate. But everyone deserves the truth, which is why we decided to release it.”

The video shows how members of the team check into several top hotels and mark their room’s sheets, quilt covers, toilets, and bathtubs with fluorescence stamps that can only be detected through a UV torch. These stamps will be removed when their surface is washed or gently wiped.

After messing up the room a bit, they then check out the next day and let other team members book exactly the same room after them to see if the bed linens and other room items are properly cleaned after guests leave.

The team found that in most cases, the pillow case, bed sheets, and/or quilt covers still had the same stamps on them, meaning that their linens were not only unwashed, but also were not changed at all.

They also found their marks had not been wiped off the toilet covers and toilet seats – which were not even touched after the check-out of the previous guests. They also found that the drinking glasses in the bathroom were left untouched by the hotel cleaners.

The team concluded that Beijing’s Hilton, Sanlitun Intercontinental, and W Hotel did not change their bed sheets after previous guests had departed and new guests had arrived. The JW Marriott Beijing did change the bed sheets and quilt cover, but not the pillow cases. Shangri-La changed all the bed linen except for one pillow case.

None of the hotels were found to have cleaned the bathtubs, nor the toilets, and all of them greatly lacked in their hygiene and service quality.

The standard room prices for the hotels vary between approximately US$200 and US$400 per night; all are over 2000 RMB.

Under hashtags such as “5-Star Hotels Do Not Change Their Bed Sheets” (#五星酒店不换床单#), the report has become a big topic of debate on Chinese social media.

“Knowing they don’t even change the water glasses, are you still willing to stay at these ‘luxurious’ hotels?”, some netizens wondered.

“We should set up an independent network of hotel guests,” one commenter suggested: “And leave hidden marks for each other so the next guest can check whether or not the room is clean.”

Some people write that they are not surprised by the outcome of the tests, saying they often bring their own sheets or pillows to hotels for this reason.

In response to the controversy, the Beijing Tourism Association held an official meeting with the management of the concerning hotels on the morning of September 5.

In an announcement on Weibo, they stated that they asked the hotels for clarification about the controversy, and required them to face up to their company’s problems and to actively solve these issues and improve their quality of service.

The Beijing Tourism Association also stated that they would increase the supervision of these hotels, and would implement a strict inspection of their hygiene standards and service quality.

By Miranda Barnes & Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

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Oscar Garschagen has responded to the allegations that were made against him by his former assistant, which were republished by Chinese state media yesterday. “Pure nonsense,” Garschagen says in a detailed reaction in the NRC – it is Zhang who is “making up stories” here. The article suggests that there was a lack of communication and trust between Garschagen and Zhang.

Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, whose China correspondent became a topic of controversy yesterday when his former assistant published a post online that accused him of creating “fake news,” has now responded to the issue.

The story became a hot topic when Zhang published his allegations on several social media platforms. An article about the issue by Beijing Time received nearly 12,5 million views yesterday.

In “About the journalistic integrity of our correspondent in China“, NRC’s Peter Vandermeersch writes that the allegations of Oscar Garschagen’s ex-assistant Zhang Chaoqun have deeply affected the China reporter and the editorial team.

The article states:

What’s going on? In the period leading to Oscar Garschagen’s holiday, some tensions arose at the NRC-office in Shanghai between him and his news-assistant Zhang Chaoqun concerning his research, and his lack of input.”

“He was unsure of whether or not Zhang had any connections to State Security.”

“Garschagen pointed out to Zhang that he had to improve his work. He found it especially problematical that Zhang was clearly unwilling to join Oscar to the upcoming 19th Party Congress, and that he lacked ideas.”

Vandermeersch writes that Zhang was initially recommended to Garschagen through a colleague at the American radio outlet NPR, but that he did not have any experiences as a reporter. This became a source of irritation, miscommunication, and mistrust between the Dutchman and his assistant.

The article claims that this was a reason for Oscar to often go out by himself without his assistant, “also because he was unsure of whether or not Zhang had any connections to State Security.”

This work situation made the Dutch reporter decide to change assistants during his holiday, Garschagen says, but Zhang apparently had already prepared an attack on his employer in the form of his post on Weibo and WeChat.

The NRC also quotes Garschagen when he says:

“The fact that the Party media encourages Zhang and is all too willing to republish his accusations is noteworthy to me- it suits the current media climate, that makes it increasingly difficult for foreign journalists to work here. I’ve been followed and stopped for a chat countless times.”

“It is just pure nonsense.”

The article addresses the separate allegations of Garschagen creating “fake news” one by one. Garschagen denies he has made up any stories and says that some names in his reports have only been changed to protect the identity of those involved.

About the 2015 NPR story that showed great similarities with Garschagen’s own 2016 report, he says that he did, in fact, visit the factory and that his former colleague who worked at NPR allowed their assistants to exchange information on places and persons to interview. Garschagen does not further address the similarities between the persons of “Gao” and “Lei” in their stories.

He says that there had been miscommunication about certain reports mentioned by Zhang, and that he might have had to be more detailed in how he formulated certain things.

About another allegation, one involving Garschagen allegedly reporting about a golf club which he never visited, the reporter says it is just “pure nonsense.”

“It leaves many questions unanswered.”

The Dutch detailed response to the allegations against Garschagen have not made headlines in Chinese media. On Twitter, however, not everyone is convinced with the explanations given for the “fake news” accusations.

China Reuters Consumer Correspondent Pei Li calls the article a “laughable response” that leaves “many questions unanswered.”

Many Qs unanswered. Can explain the Lei Li anecdote? Lawyer also saying quote fabricated. And OK to make up names? Laughable response. https://t.co/hsL13dNBWz

— Pei Li_李沛 (@teamlipei) 5 september 2017

Zhang, who has reported his case to the NRC Ombudsman yesterday, has not yet responded to Garschagen’s denial of his accusations on his social media pages on Twitter or Weibo.

Garschagen says he has now contacted the Dutch foreign ministry in Shanghai about the claims made against him, and about the circumstances that make it increasingly difficult for him to do his job as a China correspondent.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

The post Dutch Newspaper Responds to Controversy over China Correspondent appeared first on What's on Weibo.

The first day of school is often a major milestone – perhaps more so for parents than for their children. These Chinese parents could not resist the urge to spy on their kids during that first schoolday, which started this week.

“If you spot these kinds of people near a preschool today, there’s no need to worry about them. They’re not bad people, they’re no kidnappers, it’s just that their child has their first day of school,” one Chinese blogger wrote on Weibo this week, as many netizens shared dozens of snapshots of parents doing everything they can to catch a glimpse of their child from outside the classroom.

“Yes! This is exactly how it goes on that first day,” another popular Weibo blogger said.

The ‘no kidnappers’ Weibo post was shared over 33,000 times this week, triggering thousands of reactions from netizens both ridiculing the parents and sympathizing with them, as their separation anxiety is often worse than that of their children.

“My niece first went to kindergarten this week,” one commenter shares: “and as the child next to her was crying she stayed cool and collected and comforted her, saying ‘don’t cry, it’s no use crying over this’.”

There are also people who mention that it is not easy for teachers when parents stand outside while their children are inside, as teachers had to come forward to say they wish the parents would leave. Once the children are finally settled down, they will start crying again upon catching a sight of their parents.

The phenomenon of Chinese parents who cannot say goodbye to their schoolgoing children does not just occur outside kindergartens. Last year, the so-called ‘tents of love’ (爱心帐篷) became a hot topic on Chinese social media.

*“Tents of love”: parents set up their tents at university campus to support their children.*

When students have their first day at college, parents who come from far will often travel along with their children and spent the first days sleeping in tents outside the school. They do this to give their children both emotional and practical support, but perhaps more so to soothe their own separation anxiety.

Both the ‘tents of love’ and the clingy parents outside kindergartens are seen as a modern-day phenomenon by many Chinese web users. Today’s generations of children are nowhere near as independent as the older generations were, many say.

“I went to preschool alone, and I even paid the school tuition myself with the money in my backpack,” one commenter notes.

“We were poor when I was growing up – I never even went to kindergarten,” says one of the many responders to the pictures on Weibo.

But people mostly think the photos of the clingy parents are humorous: “Just look at their posture – they want to see, but they do not want to be seen,” a person says, adding a smiley.

“What a mysterious spectacle it is!”, others say, as if it were photos from a nature documentary.

Many just think the scenes are touching: “These parents and grandparents just have so much love!”

By Manya Koetse & Miranda Barnes
Follow @whatsonweibo

The post Kidnappers? Crazy Fans? No, It’s Chinese Parents on Their Kids’ First Day at School appeared first on What's on Weibo.

While some call it a wonder tool, others say it’s a nightmare for employees. Ding Ding, Alibaba’s mobile and desktop app for companies, is gaining popularity across China. With its GPS-based features and other nifty functions, companies can now monitor the whereabouts of their employees.

It has been over 2,5 years since Alibaba launched its ‘enterprise app’ Ding Ding (钉钉). In February of 2015, websites such as TechCrunch and TechinAsia described the app as a new mobile and desktop program for businesses that aimed to compete with Tencent’s WeChat – China’s top messaging app.

At the time, Ding Ding (also known as DingTalk) was only available in Chinese. But the app, now updated to the 3.5.3 version, has become readily available in English on Chinese app stores, Google Play, and Apple stores.

Its use by companies across China is picking up. The app has now been downloaded 50.5 million times on the Huawei store, 27 million times on the Tencent app store, 20+ million times on the Oppo app store, 12 million times on the Baidu app store, and 8.5 million times on the 360 Mobile Assistant app store.

Smart mobile office

More companies across China are now using the app as a ‘smart mobile office’: it functions as a messaging app among colleagues, a tool for making conference calls, but more importantly, as a program that makes it easy for employees to clock in and out of work and for employers to check their whereabouts.

“Our company just started implementing it. Nobody gave us any warning,” an employee named Bryan Lee (alias) of a middle-sized Beijing educational company told What’s on Weibo this week: “I’ve spoken to many people of other companies here who also started to use it recently.”

Ding Ding has many functions, and in some ways is meant to replace WeChat as a work tool. The app allows users to create team groups, and also functions as an address book that shows the organizational structure of the company. Users can directly contact the HR group or other colleagues through Ding Ding.

According to Alibaba, ‘DingTalk’ is a “multi-sided platform” that “empowers small and medium-sized business to communicate effectively.” The app’s functions include, amongst others, the following features:

– Ding Ding is a global address book that allows users to view the organization’s structure in a glance and contact everyone, but also shows contacts outside of the company (suppliers, business partners, etc.) and functions as a customer information management system.
– The program is also a calendar for creating tasks and meetings.
– Ding Ding is an instant messaging app designed for office use, supporting both private and group chats and supporting file transfers. To improve communication efficiency, all types of messaging display read/unread statuses.
– The app’s ‘Ding It’ function makes sure recipients never miss a message by alerting them through phone, SMS, or in-app notification. Companies can also send out a voice message or hold a conference call to make sure their message is heard.
– The Secret Chat function works like SnapChat, making messages traceless and self-deleting for ultimate privacy and protection.
– Through its Smart Attendance System companies can keep track of employee’s attendance and overtime records; employees can clock-in and out of work in an instant. The software also automatically generates attendance reports.
– Ding Ding can process approvals by electronically dealing with request for leaves, business trips or reimbursements. Approvals for business trips and leave are automatically linked with attendance records.
– DingTalk is also a high-definition video conferencing system and allows users to also start free individual calls.
– Ding Ding has its own business cloud (or “Ding drive”) feature, making file saving and sharing a quick and easy task, also between PC and mobile.
– DingTalk’s email inbox also makes it possible to receive email notifications in chats.

Despite the myriad of functions, or actually because of them, some employees call the app a ‘catastrophe’ for office staff.

Big boss is watching you

“Since Ding Ding is GPS-activated, I will be signed in when I get to work. And when I leave work, it will clock me out,” Lee says.

The app’s clocking system is one of its most used functions and allows companies to track whether their employees arrive late at work or whether they are working overtime.

**“Clock out successful. Got off work 18:04.”**

There is a positive side to it for employees since there is much less paperwork to fill out when, for example, asking compensation for overtime work. Lee notes that people can also electronically apply for a leave of absence through Ding Ding.

But the downside is that there is no room for white lies anymore. Because of the app’s geotagging function, the employer can actually check if you really are seeing the doctor (as you said you were going to).

“Through Ding Ding you can report where you are for your company. If you requested a leave of absence to go to the hospital, for example, you can bookmark the location so that your company knows you really are at the location where you are supposed to be. Same goes for business-related appointments – if your company requires it, you tag the location so they can see that you are where you said you were going, so they won’t deduct your salary for that.”

“People have a lot of different views on it,” Lee says: “I am always at work when I need to be and I never cheat the system. So I think it is very convenient that I no longer need to take my phone and scan a QR code every day to log in to work, which used to be mafan [trouble] – this is much easier. But a lot of people think it is somewhat Orwellian. They do not monitor your everyday moves but if you actually go drinking with your friends instead of going to a doctor as you told your boss, then that might get you in trouble.”

Apart from the location-tagging function, which may or may not be required/activated by the company, there are also other functions that many people do not like. Ding Ding, unlike WeChat, automatically shows that your message has been delivered and read. It also allows a company to send out a ‘Ding alert’ (which notifies recipients through phone call/SMS/In-App alerts) to make sure everybody gets the message.

On Q&A platform Zhihu.com, user ‘Aurora’, who works at a HR company, tells how this has made life more troublesome for office staff:

“The rapid growth of Ding Ding lies in the fact that it meets the requirements of its user – the boss. Just imagine: you’re in the midst of finishing a proposal when the boss sends you a message saying you need to come over to bring them a certain file.

Before using Ding Ding:

1. You see the message. You finish the last part of your proposal before bringing over the file to your boss a bit later.
2. You don’t see the message. You finish your task and take a break. You then see the message and take care of it.
3. No matter if you see did or did not see the message, the boss notices you did not respond and gives you a call.

Since using Ding Ding:

1. You see the message. Your boss gets a ‘message read’ (已读) confirmation and you have no other option than to break off your work and immediately take care of it.
2. You haven’t seen it. So your boss sends you a ‘ding alert’ and you have no other option but to read it, break off your work, and immediately take care of it.”

Aurora also writes that Ding Ding is completely made to comply with the demands of the company’s managers rather than their staff. For office staff, it is not convenient to have to respond to the boss’s wishes immediately – it can disturb their everyday tasks and adds stress to their job. For the manager, on the other hand, it has become very easy to reach the staff: they do not even need to pick up the phone anymore, and can reach whoever they want right away.

Unhappy Dingers

On Weibo, many people share Aurora’s views and are not too happy with Ding Ding. “I’ve had enough with this app! It reminds me every single morning to clock in to work!”

**“You have to be at work in 12 minutes, don’t forget to clock in!”**

Others also complain that the app only adds to the time they spend looking at their phone: “If it’s not my QQ group, then it’s my WeChat group or my Ding Ding group – it seems I am looking at my phone screen all day,” one Weibo user says.

There are also people who note that they are hardly ever really free from work anymore. As one Xiamen worker writes: “I had the morning off. But I had hundreds of WeChat messages, dozens of Ding Ding messages, and three missed phone calls. This is ruining me.”

“With this Ding Ding app it seems like no matter what time it is or where you are, you’re just always at work,” another complaint said.

“It looks like they are going to implement Ding Ding at my office. I just want to punch the person who invented this app.”

But despite all the backlash and complaints, Ding Ding’s popularity as an office solution for immediate workplace communication and registering employee’s working hours is on the rise.

On the app’s review page on the Huawei store, some call it “the best office application.” Others also note that the app is not just convenient, but also free: “It is very practical, and it has saved me the costs for other office management software.”

Other reviewers also seem much more enthusiastic than the complaining netizens on Weibo: “In our office, it’s become an essential tool – and its functions just keep getting better and better.”

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us.

The post WeChat for the Workplace: The Rising Popularity of Enterprise App Ding Ding appeared first on What's on Weibo.

Full translation of the suicide note left on Chinese social media by Su Xiangmao, founder of the WePhone app, on September 7:

See full story here

“I am the founder of the WePhone app, and today I have to go. The app cannot continue, and I am sorry about that. I would have never expected things to turn out this way. It was my extremely vicious ex-wife Zhai Xinxin who killed me in the end.

I met her on Jiayuan [a Chinese marriage/dating site, MK] and already spent thousands of dollars on her before we even married. It wasn’t until the day before tying the knot that she told me she’d actually been married for a short time some years ago (that guy also ended up paying her 200,000 yuan [±$30,700]).

I accepted it. I did not cheat during the month we were married, there was no violence, but I lost my love for her. The main reason for that was the fact she liked to make up lies about things, which left me with this horrible feeling. She wasn’t the same woman I’d brought to my home town, I realized how hateful she actually was. We both raised the topic of divorce together.

While we were preparing the divorce papers, she often brought people to my house to harass me, or she made them call me. That vicious woman eventually used 2 points to blackmail me:

1. That I personally was guilty of tax evasion and that she would report me for that.

2. That the WePhone app online call-function was a ‘gray business,’ and that she would use her uncle Liu Kejian (who is a big government official according to her) to take my app offline and make sure I’d lose a fortune in fines.

She went as far as to demand 10.000.000 RMB [±1.5 million US$] from me as well as my house in Sanya. She also asked some low-life gangster lawyers to intimidate me.

I admit I was a coward, and hid in the bar for a few days. I became so mentally and physically exhausted that I finally signed those evil divorce papers in a very muddled and mixed-up state of mind.

Just thinking of this now shames me like nothing else, this divorce agreement now hounds me to death. Each and every word in this agreement was carefully placed there. The main point is, that she clearly prepared to report me anyway after paying her this money, so she added a sentence ‘the debt on the man’s side has nothing to do with the woman.’

I feel so desperate.

All my funds are gone, I am really desperate.

I didn’t ask my family for help in time. And now it is too late to regret it. They are fantastic people and would come from my hometown to support me at any time, but I was fighting this battle by myself in Beijing. It led to me making a series of foolish decisions.

Zhai Xinxin: [adds phonenumer, left out here], [mobile phone number], [address].”

我是WePhone 的开发者，今天我就要走了，App以后无法运营了，抱歉。我从来没想过我是这样的结局，我竟然被我极其歹毒的前妻翟欣欣给逼死了。

我跟她在世纪佳缘认识，结婚前我已经在她身上花了几百万的钱，领证前一天她才告诉我几年前有段简短婚史（也是以告男方获利20万元结束）我也忍了，一个多月的婚姻期间也无出轨、暴力行为，但我失去了对她喜欢的感觉，关键她爱撒谎，极有心机，让我觉得有种恐怖的感觉，这点跟以前她到我老家时完全不一样，我现在才知道心机婊有多可恶。离婚是一起提出的，准备离婚时，她经常带人来我家骚扰我，或者电话骚扰，恶毒的她竟然用两点来要挟我：

1. 我个人有漏税行为，要举报我

2. WePhone有网络电话功能是灰色运营，各种暗示能利用她亲戚舅舅刘克俭（据她说是不小的公安局的官）的关系让我产品下架罚款、倾家荡产

她竟然索要1000万天价还有三亚的房子归她。还请了个素质极低的流氓律师各种恐吓我。

我承认自己当时太懦弱，在酒店里躲了几天后，身心俱疲，最后竟然无头无脑地签了那个万恶的离婚协议，现在想起来极其羞愤不已，就这个离婚协议把我逼死了，这个协议里每个字都精心设计，关键是，她明显准备在我付完全款后继续各种举报我，所以加了一句 “男方债务与女方无关”

我感到很绝望。

我资金链已经断裂，实在很绝望。

我没有及时跟我家人求助，现在后悔莫及。他们都那么棒，随时都能从老家过来支援我，我却在北京孤军奋战，作出一系列很傻的决定。

翟欣欣，37090….，手机 +86 152….，住址：北京市朝阳区……, 工作地点：北京房地…..。

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us.

The post Suicide Note of WePhone Founder Su Xiangmao (Translation) appeared first on What's on Weibo.

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