As any of the 47.7 million subscribers to Christine Fan’s Weibo feed already know, Fan regularly posts pictures of her babies, just the same as many new parents. However, while you may express annoyance at the overabundance of your friends’ baby pictures in your Facebook feed, these baby pictures had crossed the line and were enraging tens of thousands of Chinese netizens because they were posted on the 70th anniversary to the end of World War II, known in China as the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.”

As China Daily summarized it, some people felt it was “inappropriate to show scenes from [your] personal life” on this anniversary, and “questioned why Fan was flaunting family life while turning a deaf ear to the nationwide excitement over the victory parade.”

Furor over Fan’s baby pictures continued until Friday evening when Fan made a post online that apologized for making so many people upset. This post, as well as the original Thursday morning post, would be later deleted.

But even with the offending posts removed, online discussion between the ideals of national pride versus personal life continued. In these politically-sensitive times, Chinese netizens found ways to satirize the way their public discourse must be shaped.

Writer Li Haipeng took to Weibo to post the following:

Long live the motherland! Who can name me a brand of refrigerator that is wide, yet flat?

For such a short and understated post, netizens caught on to Li’s brand of humor, and continued his theme of using Revolutionary-speak to begin his phrases, no matter how mundane. Here’s an exchange Li has with another netizen:

Electric Rice Pot Super Man:
The Communist Party is the best! Haier model BCD-521WDPD is approximately about 65 centimeters wide at the door, and is basically the thinnest model.

Li Haipeng:
May the fate of our country remain prosperous. I require a model that is less than 60 centimeters wide. Is there an imported model like this?

Here are other satirical responses to Li’s post along the same vein:

Support domestic products, boycott Japanese products; let’s all watch the military parade together! (As for) the fridge, I think one made by Panasonic is best…

Long live the theories of Deng Xiaoping! A fridge with dual-opening doors can’t be thin. The thinnest refrigerator on the market is 66 centimeters wide.

The Senkaku Islands belong to China. Is your apartment very low?

The relationship you have with your father or mother is not as good as your relationship with Chairman Mao. As far and wide as the heavens and earth are, they aren’t as wide as the benovolence of the Party. I think that Samsung is pretty good for open door refrigerators.

“However bold the people dare to be is how much the land will yield to them.” (A People’s Daily quote from 1958 best associated with the disastrous Great Leap Forward campaign). Panasonic isn’t too bad. The Senkaku Islands belong to China.

Here are more netizen comments on the original Christine Fan controversy and more:

香吉士君：
There is no difference between the Red Guard and those who are mentally retarded, they are both extreme products of society.

莫良先森：
When all is said and done, China has a lot of angry youths (known colloquially as ‘fenqing‘). They think that by with their so-called morality, they can look down on other people, the majority of which don’t have any “magnificent” feats of their own. Feeling pride for your country is shouting slogans. What a joke this Fan controversy is. For one thing, no laws were broken. Secondly, no morals were violated. How has Christine Fan ‘sinned’? As a mother, is it wrong to show off pictures of your own children?

Katherine_Guo：
This is just horrific, the last remnants of the Cultural Revolution remain everywhere…

匹诺陶：
Just stick a Chinese national flag on all refrigerators made by capitalist countries!

The post Taiwan Star Discovers Beijing Military Parade the Wrong Time to Post Family Photos Online appeared first on The Nanfang.

On September 3, everything went according to plan for the military parade, including the sapphire blue sky over Beijing.

As with the 2008 Summer Olympics and last year’s APEC conference, the government again demonstrated its ability to to govern the skies when it chooses to. Following government directives to shut down anything that contributes to the normally smoggy air enshrouding Beijing, including cars, factories and power plants, the city looked anything but polluted when the parade marched on.

But the parade is over now and, as CNN noted, the clean air is gone as well. Photographs of the city’s skyline, taken from CNN’s Beijing bureau office, illustrate perfectly the difference between pre-and post-parade Beijing. The top photo was taken a day prior to the parade, while the bottom photo was taken a day after.

Environmental monitoring stations around Beijing reported an average AQI (Air Quality Index) reading 17 on the day of the parade, and an average 160 on September 4, the day after the parade. Amazed at the change in air quality, netizens called the skies “parade blue”, drawing comparisons to last year’s “APEC blue”.

Perhaps surprisingly, “parade blue” might prove to be more resilient than expected. Sunday marked the first work day, and the first day without vehicle restrictions, after the holiday, and Beijing’s sky had an average AQI under 50 all day long. We’ll have to wait and see how long it lasts.

The post “Parade Blue” Joins “APEC Blue” as Distant Memories as Nasty Air Returns to Beijing appeared first on The Nanfang.

Max Duncan compiled a special video for the Wall Street Journal condensing the entire thing into a single minute. Check it out.

Beijing’s Hour-long Military Parade in a Minute from Max Duncan on Vimeo.

The post Watch Beijing’s Entire Hour-Long Military Parade in Just One Minute appeared first on The Nanfang.

However, when it comes to Beijing traffic, back to “normal” generally means back to gridlock. And that’s precisely what the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport (BMCT) is warning residents to expect today following heavy congestion across the city yesterday.

Yesterday marked the first day back at work after the holiday, as well as the first day without vehicle restrictions. And as one might expect, traffic was insane.  The BMCT predicted that yesterday’s congestion reached a 9.2 on the index, which means that the average speed on many city roads didn’t exceed 20 kph.

With today marking the first day of school for Beijing elementary and middle school students, the congestion is only expected to get worse.

This past spring, among a list of 45 cities across China, Beijing ranked as the most congested. While in July, the Beijing Transportation Research Center found Beijing’s traffic index to have worsened 32 percent as compared with the same month last year.

On average, Beijing commuters spend 32 minutes every day sitting in rush hour traffic.

The post Back to the “Old Normal”: Beijing Swamped with Traffic After Parade appeared first on The Nanfang.

As China’s state media have repeatedly said the celebrations on September 3 in Beijing to commemorate the end of World War II were to ensure that the atrocity of war “must never happen again”. But if a peace celebration held by one of the world’s largest armies wasn’t strange enough, a video released to commemorate the peace anniversary also demonstrates the idea of “peace through war” — by showing the Chinese army easily decimating US forces in a glory of explosions and fire.

The video was produced by tech giant Tencent for its news division by a Beijing-based animation company called Vision. It shows an “unidentified foreign army” attacking China for an unspecified reason, for which China retaliates by easily overwhelming the invaders, taking over an island base somehow occupied by the foreigners. The video is quite simple and requires no understanding of the Chinese text and subtitles.

Something else that is not very subtle throughout the video is the depiction of US armed forces. Although they are never mentioned by name, all of the “enemy forces” that are shown attacking China are military vehicles used by the USA, exclusively in some cases.

Here’s a full translation of the text from the video accompanied by descriptions of the military vehicles used by both the Chinese and US armed forces as described by the Foxtrot Alpha blog on Jalopnik. All text in italics is translated from the video:

3D Computer Simulation of a Campaign to Retake an Island – Full Might of the Chinese Army on Display

The following film is a complete work of fiction
only used to display the capabilities of the (Chinese) armed forces

In the year 20xx, an unidentified alliance of armed forces rashly break international laws and provoke a maritime conflict and launch surprise attacks on several of the coastal military bases belonging to our country (China).

(news headline)
Numerous military bases suffer enemy attack

Our country decides to perform a full-out counter-attack in order to destroy the military capability of the enemy forces, and to promote peace through the use of war.

First wave assault is to employ a conventional ballistic missile attack carried out by the Second Artillery Corps
Trucks are seen rolling out of a garage labeled with Chinese signs carrying DF-15 and DF-21D (or possibly DF-26) anti-ship ballistic missiles.

Bombers launch cruise missiles
Chinese H-6 are seen launching cruise missiles.

Conventional missile attack carried out by Second Artillery Corps (above)

Ground-target warheads destroys oil reserves used by the enemy

Attack from cluster warheads covers the enemy airfield and their anti-aircraft defenses
A military base that resembles the US one in Okinawa is destroyed by cluster bombs as is a F-22 Raptor, a plane only used by the US government (seen above).

Anti-carrier missiles and cruise missiles attacks enemy formations on the sea
A fleet of warships that resemble Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and a Nimitz–class aircraft carrier are destroyed by Chinese missile fire that resemble the DF-21D.

Attacking nuclear submarines will clear away the underwater capabilities of the enemy
After destroying a submarine underwater in close proximity, a Chinese submarine surfaces next to an aircraft carrier that resembles the Liaoning, from which J-15 fighter aircraft are launched (above).

Special ops and marine forces attack, occupying the island where the enemy base is located
Zubr-class hovercraft and other amphibious ships transport tanks and troops to the beach of the island where the enemy base is located.

Armored division lands on the island (above)

Aerial forces will engage enemy forces and their relic air fighters
Chengdu J-10B and next-gen J-20 fighter jets are seen taking out US F-35 planes.

Under the protection of air and ground fire, the armored division engages enemy forces
Type 96 tanks are seen flying through the air and avoid enemy fire as they advance of the enemy.

Our (Chinese) army successfully occupies the enemy base. The enemy is forced to accept the conditions of peace.
The foreign army is overrun, their forces scattered to the wind… but a flagpole remains, from which the flag of the People’s Republic of China flies triumphantly.

And as translated by the Council on Foreign Relations, here are the final parting words:

China is strong. Victorious wars require deaths. For all to be strong and safe, [we] face the risks and dangers of war. We wholeheartedly love peace, but must be prepared for the likelihood of war. We respectfully and solemnly commemorate the 70th anniversary of the war against Japan.

Here’s the video:

The post To Celebrate “Peace”, China Produces Video Showing Destruction of US Forces appeared first on The Nanfang.

Online reaction to the parade has been overwhelmingly positive with a majority of Chinese netizens expressing their admiration and love for their country and the various units of its national armed forces that were on display during the parade. But along with this praise comes a number of posts and comments that show a broader – and somewhat different – perspective.

At around 10:30am, this picture was sent out along with the caption “Here’s a picture to share (with everyone)”:

A picture of a Winnie the Pooh toy car doesn’t seem to signify anything until you take into account that minutes prior to that post, President Xi Jinping had inspected the troops from his car, like this:

This post racked up about 62,000 forwards in a little over an hour. Online responses to this post included: “As I watched, I told my mother and father that the similarity was uncanny.” The post has since been deleted from Weibo.

Other posts remarked upon the warm welcome President Xi gave to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (seen in the GIF above). Xi was seen giving a toothy smile while shaking Putin’s hand, something that Xi is rarely seen doing.

One post (above) showed the GIF of the meeting and commented, “Once you saw that smile, you knew who was coming.” Accumulating some 52,000 hits, this post attracted responses like, “Could this be the mythical way [that Xi] spoils the people he loves that has been spoken about in legend?” while another person wrote, “Do you guys still have any attention for us beautiful women?”

Another post (above) contrasted Xi’s meeting with Putin with Xi’s famous handshake with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan (seen below) by saying: “This is the clear, visible difference between what is a ‘beloved concubine’ and a ‘hated slave girl’.” Forwarded almost 70,000 times, this post got responses like “So Uncle Xi is also a person who can’t hide his feelings,” and “(This is) ‘You’ve come’ versus ‘Why aren’t you gone yet?’”

A netizen posted this GIF of CCTV footage of the official viewing platform that showed what appears to be Xi Jinping ignoring former Premier Wen Jiabao, who simply stands facing forward while Xi shakes other people’s hands behind him (seen below in stills). This post received some 52,000 hits this morning, but attracted no comments.

The post Chinese Compare President Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh During Beijing Parade appeared first on The Nanfang.

According to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (China’s censoring body, otherwise known as SAPPRFT), for the next five days, holiday programming on Chinese network television will be dedicated exclusively to the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. That’s right: exclusively.

Thanks to the SAPPRFT order, this weekend viewers will have to go without popular shows like Daddy Where Are We Going?, the Chinese version of The Voice, and the Chinese version of Korean celebrity reality show, Running Man. Instead the next five days will be loaded with Anti-Japanese War programming – just in case you’re unfamiliar with the outcome of WWII, or you’re interested in a unique retelling from the Chinese perspective.

The programming will include WWII “documentaries” such as Main Battlefield in the East, Confessions of a Japanese War Criminal, Light and Haze, and The War of Resistance: The Eternal Achievement. There will also be a number of war dramas, including Who is a Real Hero, War Souls, War God, and Attack on Moon Island.

And to ensure the holiday remains a truly family affair, there will also be a number of cartoons for the kids to enjoy like New Tunnel War (pictured), The Urgent Letter and The Battle to Defend Yuanzi Cliffs.

The post Chinese TV Will Only Broadcast War Shows — For The Next Five Straight Days appeared first on The Nanfang.

The upcoming September 3rd military parade and national holiday will put a focus on China’s War of Resistance against Japan, known in the rest of the world as World War II, but those outside the country might be surprised to learn there has been a constant drumbeat of anti-Japanese dramas airing in the country now for years. Especially lately, there is a war drama being broadcast on national television every night, and people are getting fed up with it.

The dramas are called “God shows” in China because they feature Chinese protagonists who use “Godly” powers in order to defeat invading Japanese imperialist forces, often tearing apart Japanese soldiers by hand or performing other near-supernatural abilities against their enemies. One recent show called “Let’s Fight the Japs Together” featured sprinter Liu Xiang’s ex-wife’s character pulling out a hand grenade that was concealed inside her vagina.

A recent poll by China Youth Daily shows people are increasingly tired of seeing these “God shows” because they are so outlandish.

Out of some 2,000 respondents that participated in the poll, 46 percent say they are worried that “God shows” will influence the younger generation to improperly learn about the history of the war, while 47 percent say they distort history and show a basic misunderstanding of it. Forty-six percent said the market is over-saturated with “God shows”, while 39 percent criticized the shows for becoming entertainment that panders to a vulgar audience.

Most surprising, perhaps, is that a whopping 75 percent blame the government for the glut of outrageous war films because it has sole approval over what films are broadcast. Especially in the last few weeks, some “God shows” have shown Chinese heroes battling Japanese soldiers using increasingly outlandish plots, but China’s film watchdog has still given them the greenlight.

Chinese audiences have long spoken out against the proliferation of these shows. Recently, an unnamed 99 year-old Sichuan veteran of the war spoke out against “God shows’, saying:

How was the war of resistance as easy as seen on TV? As if a few people could have easily killed a whole squadron of Japs? If it was really that way, would we have had to sacrifice so many of our brothers, and had to have arduously fight the war of resistance for eight full years?

Xu Zhenglin, professor at Shanghai U Film and TV Art Academy, said Chinese audiences ridicule “God shows” for having exaggerated plots that are contrary to history:

What’s worth noting is that these War of Resistance ‘God shows’ portray the enemy as mentally deficient, and exchange the arduous blood-soaked battles with victories that are easily won. This doesn’t just distort history, this doesn’t respect the martyrs that defended this country with their lives. These shows will no doubt have a negative impact on the public, in particular upon the values of young people and upon their perspective of history.

Zuo Heng, researcher at the National Film Art Research Center, said there should be a distinction between historically accurate War of Resistance war dramas and “God shows”:

Many War of Resistance serials portray the enemy as being extremely stupid, something that is most irresponsible.

Sun Chengjian, deputy researcher of the Film and TV Research Wing of the National Art Research Center, said there is something much greater at stake when considering the global impact these shows have on the international stage:

Think about it, our film and television products should have a degree of influence of soft power when distributed to other countries, but all of this is completely eliminated by the massive production of cheap and inferior ‘War of Resistance God shows’ in which the Japs are torn apart by hand.

Meanwhile, Chinese war propaganda is alive and well in the USA with the broadcast of a WWII veterans video in New York City’s Times Square.

The post Even Chinese Audiences Tiring of Outlandish Japanese War Dramas appeared first on The Nanfang.

All travellers on these trains will experience tighter security and are advised to factor the additional measures into their arrival times at the stations. The announcement comes only days after an armed attack on a high-speed train in northern France was foiled by tourists.

Shanghai Daily reported:

Armed with pistols, batons and tear gas, 16 squads of officers will help ensure that no one spoils the fun atmosphere either before or on the special day, Shanghai police said yesterday.

As part of the increased security measures, two of Shanghai’s train depots were placed under 24-hour guard.

In anticipation of the parade, other security initiatives have included: shutting down Beijing’s airport and subway stations, banning the use of radio waves, instituting a no-fly zone, all mail to the capital faces tighter scrutiny, and mobilizing hundreds of thousands of city residents to serve as police deputies.

Train travel has been the focus of security concerns before in China. This past spring, train travelers to Tibet were subject to heightened security as the autonomous region celebrated its 50th anniversary.

The post Armed Police to Patrol Trains to Beijing Ahead of September 3 Parade appeared first on The Nanfang.

As we can see by the numerous security procedures and temporary measures that have closed down parts of Beijing and the surrounding area, the parade on September 3 is going to be a big deal, something that is obvious by the 49 international dignitaries that will be on hand.

But for what must be a complex arrangement of protocols and diplomacy, the People’s Daily Online has simplified the invitation process by re-imagining it as a WeChat conversation. In the following mock-up, Chinese President Xi Jinping announces his event online and invites all the people in his WeChat circle of friends to take part. And as the People’s Daily Online puts it, many of them respond enthusiastically:

Here’s the above online conversation translated into English:

Xi Jinping:
On the morning of September 3rd, my country will be hosting a commemoration of the War of Resistence Against Japan and the 70th anniversary of the victory over fascism at Tian’anmen Square in Beijing (which will include inspecting the troops). I welcome everyone to come witness the parade of troops.

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations:
I can come.

Director General of the World Health Organization Dr Margaret Chan:
I can come too!

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair:
Not a problem, will definitely be there.

Former German President Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schroder:
Fine then, will definitely be there!

Former Japan Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama:
Sure, will be there on time!

And here’s another passage from the same People’s Daily Online mock-up:

Russian President Vladimir Putin: I will definitely be there.
Xi Jinping replies to Russian President Vladimir Putin: Welcome.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye: I will definitely take part.
Xi Jinping replies to South Korean President Park Geun-hye: Welcome.
Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain: I will definitely be there.
Xi Jinping replies to Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain: Welcome.
Vietnam President Trương Tấn Sang: I will promptly be there on time.
Xi Jinping replies to Socialist Republic of Vietnam Trương Tấn Sang: Welcome.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko: I’m coming.
Xi Jinping replies to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko: Welcome.
Mongolia President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj: When a neighbor is having a celebration, how can I miss it?
Xi Jinping replies to Mongolia Presidenty Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj: Welcome.
King of Cambodia Norodom Sihamoni: I will definitely take part.
Xi Jinping replies to King of Cambodia Norodom Sihamoni: Welcome.
South African President Jacob Zuma: Definitely be there.
Xi Jinping replies to South African President Jacob Zuma: Welcome.

Call us suspicious, but we’re doubtful this is how the complex matters of international diplomacy are currently handled. But in a world where all global leaders are in one big chat group and speak Chinese, we’d have to say that Xi Jinping is among the least lively in the group. At least Angela Merkel, the German president, uses smiley emoticons.

But whether true or not, the strangest thing of all about this particular version of “the world’s most powerful WeChat circle” is that unlike everybody else, Xi Jinping doesn’t get a title. Although he is the President of China, on other people’s WeChat accounts he is simply known as “Xi Jinping”.

The post If President Xi Jinping Invited World Leaders to War Parade Using WeChat… appeared first on The Nanfang.