On this week’s episode, our guest Ma Tianjie, editor of the bilingual environmental website chinadialogue and the blogger behind Chublic Opinion, untangles the complexities and contradictions of online discussions in China. Ma shares insights into three key events in China’s public-opinion landscape that inflamed hordes of online commentators: a shocking family murder-suicide; a famous actor’s cheating spouse; and a mass online action in the name of patriotism against a popular film director and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
The conversation also delves into the origin of the “little pink” patriots who combine cutesy pop culture with nationalistic cyberactivism, as well as Chinese critiques of “white liberalism” and the urban elites who espouse its values.
Recommendations
- Aeropress Coffee and Espresso Maker
- FactCheck.org
- Fan Hua, by Jin Yucheng (Chinese edition, Shanghai Wenyi, 2014)
- “Public Opinion with Chinese Characteristics,” by Jeremy Goldkorn and Kaiser Kuo
- “Sinica Backgrounder: Nationalism, Celebrity Divorce and Murder-Suicide: Understanding Contemporary China through Online Public Opinion,” by Jeremy Goldkorn, SupChina
- “Sinica Extra: Q&A with Ma Tianjie on Toxic Heavy Metals, Bourgeois Culture and More,” by Jeremy Goldkorn, SupChina
- The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown and Company, 2013)