Hello, this is Klaus.
Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine,
every news outlet in China reported that Kiev had fallen within 48 hours,
that Ukraine had surrendered, and that Zelensky had been arrested.
However, news reports outside of China would soon burst the bubble.
So Weibo was quick to label these "foreign forces",
marking posts about the Russia-Ukraine war with users’ IP locations.
Many people in Shanghai in need of supplies posted online for help.
In order not to be labeled as “foreign forces”,
they added Russia-Ukraine war hashtags to their posts on purpose
to prove that they really are living in Shanghai.
Weibo recently announced that IP locations would be added to all posts and comments.
Other major Chinese social media platforms,
including WeChat, TikTok, Foton, Touhou, Zhihu, have followed suit.
One by one, they started to display user location on a mandatory basis,
showing domestic users’ provinces and foreign users’ countries.
This move was meant to prevent and combat foreign forces.
In the end, foreign forces have not been caught,
but the hypocrisy of many nationalist Internet celebrities has been exposed.
Famous patriotic movie star Wu Jing is revealed to be in Thailand.
Empire Bar, who once raised an army of jingoistic trolls, is actually in Taiwan.
The Modu Girl “inseparable from her motherland” turns out to be in Japan.
Also, the famous patriotic media persona, Lian Yue,
who once wished death on Chinese people emigrating to Japan and the US,
is shown to be in Japan himself.
At first, he responded, “Can’t I be a tourist?”
But Japan has not been open to tourists since the start of the pandemic.
He then said that his family was on a medical visa and he was there for medical treatment.
Maybe he’s earned enough money on patriotism and already emigrated to Japan.
Now he is enjoying free medical treatment in Japan.
Anti-Americanism is work, but living in the US is life.
We’ve seen such hypocrisy over and over again.
But this time, China revealing users’ IP locations backfired horribly,
causing collective trainwrecks for those patriotic vloggers.
In addition, those Internet celebrities claiming to “venture abroad
to expose the hellish conditions overseas” have no place to hide.
UK Affairs, one of the top 10 vloggers, is actually in Guangdong.
Micro-US, who has over 1 million subs, is actually in Shandong.
An influencer talking about current affairs in Taiwan is actually in Jiangsu.
An influencer bringing us frontline reports of Russia VS Ukraine is actually in Henan.
Also, Miss Dong is in the UK, Army Brother is in Japan, Wenlong is in Russia,
Taro is in Norway, Mom Lili is in France, and Xiao Chen is in India.
A large number of such Internet celebrities are actually outside of China.
Many big name vloggers deleted their videos or changed their handles after being exposed.
The vlogger formerly known as “Little Syd in Japan” is now “Little Syd full of vitality”.
“Tim the manager of foreigners in the US” changed his name to “Tim's Life Algorithm”.
Also, some “foreign friends” seem to have official accounts on Chinese social media.
Those accounts' IP locations are revealed to be in China.
For example, Bill Gates’ IP address is in Henan and Lionel Messi’s in Shanghai.
Those accounts are registered in foreigners’ names, so that China’s network can seem more diverse,
China’s media more open and inclusive, and people’s speech more free.
It was China’s domestic propaganda machine at work all along.
The patriotic vloggers are not in China, while the "foreign forces" are.
In any case, these patriotic vloggers have found a shortcut to wealth.
This time, China can be said to have shot itself in the foot,
which makes me want to discuss a topic that has always been on my mind,
the issue of “Chinese people fawning over foreigners”.
I'm not talking about Chinese people's tendency to label others.
Usually, in China, if you point out China’s flaws
or something that has been done better by other countries,
you will be labeled as “pandering to foreigners”.
Today I’m talking about Chinese people’s inherent admiration for foreigners.
Weibo user QuickComment said, “Pretending to be a foreigner or marrying one is a great way to gain popularity in China.
Let that sink in.”
It's true. Imagine you are a food blogger with a Chinese audience.
Even if you cook the same dish,
you will get more viewers if you cook it in the US than in China.
The Chinese spend lots of time cursing foreigners on the Internet,
advising foreign countries, asking them to copy “the China model”.
These keyboard warriors feel like emperors.
But in real life, they are suck-ups to foreigners.
Theoretically, China is the world's second largest GDP,
a technological powerhouse, a military power, a great nation, etc.
China’s wolf warrior diplomacy has developed a generation of complacent ultra-nationalists.
So why are the Chinese at heart still admirers of foreigners? I think this has to do with their schooling.
In order to get the Chinese to band together, to divert internal conflicts, to get the people to stand united against foreigners,
history lessons in China are actually very simple, consisting of two parts:
Part 1: ancient history, before the foreigners came.
Part 2: modern history, after the arrival of the foreigners.
Before the foreigners came,
the Chinese civilization had been perfectly splendid for thousands of years.
After the arrival of the foreigners, began a century of humiliating history that is no good.
History lessons taught in schools in China are as simple as that.
All was good, all was well, all was fair, until the foreigners came,
and suddenly we fell behind. How? And why? God knows.
Anyway, we suddenly fell behind, and we were tortured for it.
This kind of humiliation education certainly piques nationalism and diverts internal conflicts.
But it also leads to a lack of self-confidence in the Chinese people.
Imagine being told by your dad since you were a child
that your family had been bullied for generations,
“The grandfather next door bullied your grandfather,
and the uncle next door bullied your father”,
to motivate you every day to be strong.
Growing up in hatred,
you will certainly be glad when misfortune befalls your neighbors,
and sneer at or even deliberately vilify their achievements.
But belittling your neighbors is not true self-confidence.
Smearing your neighbors only serves to caress your ego.
Your dad has been feeding you with stories of bullies next door all your life.
One day, when you are face to face with one of those “bullies”,
how can you stand up straight and be confident?
Thus, many Chinese people are emperors online but eunuchs in real life.
Under the influence of long-term hatred education, coupled with a lack of real strength,
these people tend to vent their hatred through trolling online
and gain psychological satisfaction.
But the more they troll, the less confident they are.
On the contrary, the truly powerful and strong
do not need to vilify their opponents to gain confidence.
Some people say that history is a heavy burden.
Then a history of humiliation is a mountain.
I hope every Chinese person can live freely.
All right, time to hear your comments.
In our last episode, we had a look at the absurdity taking place in Shanghai.
Netizen Don't lie flat! Fight for Donald Trump said,
“Countries other than China: The pandemic ends. There is no victory.
China: There is victory. The pandemic has no end.
Conclusion: from one victory to another.”
Netizen Big Mountain Ape said,
“Just now, a few COVID workers drove away a COVID positive patient.
They were extremely violent.
He was just a patient, not a criminal, but he was violently treated.
The people in our neighborhood were lining up.
There was a big crowd, and we weren’t wearing any protective gear.
The violence took place right in front of our eyes. It was really scary…”
Netizen Make Love Not War said,
“As long as there is still a bowl of rice, they won’t trouble the Party and the State.
As long as there is still a handful of vegetables, they thank the leaders from the bottom of their hearts.
As long as there is still a glass of water, they’re happy to lie flat and fall asleep.
As long as there is still a breath in them, they can stand being locked in their homes.
Behind every tragedy, there must be a very heartwarming story.
China is really great!
The social and dynamic 'zero policy' works! Nothing can convince them otherwise.
The motherland has won again!
Ordinary people can get infected, or tragically pass away.
Either way, they amount to nothing to the Chinese Communist Party.
It covers up small things, which then turn into big things, and then tries to solve them in a socialist way,
until the big things turn into funerals, which are then sugarcoated and turned into celebrations.”
Well, that's it for this video!
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This is Klaus. See you next time!