• CriticalResist8@lemmygrad.ml
    35·
    3 months ago

    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.

    • Eat_Yo_Vegetables69@lemmygrad.ml
      10·
      3 months ago

      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.

      • CriticalResist8@lemmygrad.ml
        14·
        3 months ago

        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.

        • Eat_Yo_Vegetables69@lemmygrad.ml
          8·
          3 months ago

          Bit worrying seeing Jackson Hinkle, Dugin and their ilk also featured on some platforms there.

          They definitely need to clamp down on the chauvanists (including Han supremacists which is usually banned). Extreme pro-war comments do tend to get censored or removed in instances but it’s still alarming in this climate.

          • CriticalResist8@lemmygrad.ml
            7·
            3 months ago

            I agree that we have to start taking patsocs more seriously. I think one reason we see them as clowns and haven’t moved past that is because they have yet to have any detrimental achievement in regards to communists; they talk a lot, but they don’t have much to show for it. At the same time, they are going places (who’s paying for their expensive trips?) and making ties, which is exactly what LaRouche did and was good at, and what fascists are also not bad at doing.

            To temper their influence I should also note most historical communist parties also have ties to other parties and routinely invite each other, we’re perhaps just less vocal about it and maybe we should be. I also don’t think patsocs get invited because they would say that front and center, but rather take private trips and find a way to get into events, like when Hinkle asked a question to Maduro. He managed to get into the press conference and simply walked up during open mic time, it’s not that impressive but – he did it, and what I want to know I guess is did other communist parties also do this, or was he the only “”“communist”“” alone up there?

        • commiespammer@lemmygrad.ml
          6·
          3 months ago

          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.

    • Munrock ☭@lemmygrad.ml
      10·
      3 months ago

      The fact that Westerners can’t tell reality from satire is part of the entertainment for them. I’m not going to fault Chinese netizens for wading into the garbage pail that is the Western media landscape to bait the Western liberals swimming around in their hatred, ignorance and impotence. But it has a material effect as well. Accounts like Zhao are baiting liberals into going mask-off with their white supremacism and showing how stupid and hypocritical they are at the same time, on their own ‘turf’, in front of onlooking Global South netizens. And unlike Westerners, Global South netizens do know what China’s actual stance on Taiwan is.

      The US State Department is far more dangerous where it uses elections, coups and colour revolutions to undermine the Global South, which is the only way it ever scores wins recently. It’s never going to have difficulty manufacturing consent for war at home. So to my mind, disabusing Global South people of the idea that Western liberals and their governments actually care about them is far more valuable than avoiding looking like ‘warmongers’, and I’m pretty sure the Chinese MFA thinks the same even though they’ll never announce it.