May 7, 2008
Chinese nationalist net news
Following their somewhat bizarre picture last month of Obama and a "dapper" donkey, the latest person to grace Baidu's homepage gives a slightly clearer message. The picture is of "Wheelchair Angel" (as she's been dubbed in some sections of the press) Jin Jing clutching the Olympic Torch to her chest, a position she adopted when pro-Tibetan protestors tried to snatch the flame from her in Paris last month. Clicking on the picture takes you through to a page headlined with the words "Protect the scared flame, make China faster, higher, stronger!"
Meanwhile, in a slightly more subtle nationalist move (emphasis on the word 'slightly' here), QQ has recently released an intriguing game. Cold China has more:
"'The mood in QQ Huaxia [online game] is urgent and angry - this is intolerable! It's been learned that "Concealing Dangerous Drugses" are hiding in the northern region...'So what the hell is a Concealing Dangerous Drugs?
Well, it's ugly, has bad breath and is easy to kill. Oh and it's name, "Zang-du" (藏毒) is uncannily similar to "T!betan 1ndependence". ("Conceal" shares the same character as "T!bet", while "dangerous drug" shares the same pronunciation as "independence".)
And did i mention you get a "certificate of patriotism" for killing one?"
In other nationalist net news, if your MSN Messenger contact list still has more hearts than several packs of cards, get ready for Facebook to follow suit. The (L) China craze, started last month by some nationalist netizens in response to the perceived China-bashing taking place in the Western press, has landed on Facebook in the form of an application that sticks a "China Heart" on your profile. Apparently, over 500 people have added it since its creation a couple of weeks ago.


""Protect the scared flame, make China faster, higher, stronger!""
China does need to get higher and higher. That would solve many immediate problems.
Breathing deeply as you pass through a cloud of off-gassing industrial solvent fumes from Shanghai construction sites does the trick, I think.