Zhang Zhaozhong, a major general in the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), is known for bringing doom by showering praise. Frequenting talk shows, he predicted successful futures for both Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi.
Netizens don’t have to work very hard to subvert Zhang. Oftentimes, Zhang does it himself. Weibo user @IdleDairy (休闲日志) recently shared a screenshot of the major general on a CCTV talk show saying “China’s political situation is stable”:
Even an image from CCTV can get a Weibo user into trouble, however. A number of IdleDiary’s posts have been removed by the user, possibly after receiving warnings from Sina Weibo. One such missing post is labelled with the warning “A Weibo user reported this post as false. Please do not believe rumors.” The Zhang screenshot is gone, too.
A snarky prediction for China’s political future also appeared on an unverified (and probably joke) Weibo account:
GeneralZhangZhaozhong: Okay, since so many followers will ask, I’d say give it about three years. // GeneralZhangZhaozhong: The Chinese Communist Party will definitely not collapse!
张绍忠将军：好吧，我豁出去了，应广大粉丝要求，给个时间，三年之内 // 张绍忠将军：中国共产党绝不会垮！
This post has disappeared, but GeneralZhangZhaozhong’s guesses at Euro 2012 soccer match outcomes remain.
