In a strange twist in the ongoing battle between Chinese Internet users and the Great Firewall, Google+ has suddenly and inexplicably been accessible inside China. With their newfound freedom, netizens have decided to “occupy” President Obama’s Google+ page by posting numerous comments, written in Chinese, on a range of topics. From BBC:
Since Google+ was launched in 2011, software known informally as the Great Firewall had appeared to block it within China.
But on 20 February 2012 internet-users in many parts of China found they could gain access to the site – prompting some to suggest occupying it, in a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Occupy Wall Street campaign.
On 24 and 25 February, to the consternation of American readers, every current topic on President Obama’s 2012 election campaign page attracted hundreds of comments, apparently from China.
Their exact provenance cannot be verified, but the expressions contributors used were in the style of mainland China and in simplified Chinese.
chinaSMACK has translated several of the comments and also posted those written in English by Americans baffled by the Chinese comments they cannot read:
Terry Schmidt:
Dear President Obama, when will you send troops to liberate China?
张勉:
Mr. President, we long for America’s freedom.
Dylan Bozarth (American writing in English):
I need to learn Chinese.
秋山晴子:
Are you all not losing face? I cannot feel embarrassed more.
Joepo Ding:
Is this what freedom tastes like?
吴佳斌 (In English):
Obama, you do not contribute to world peace, but earlier get the Nobel peace prize, do not you feel ridiculous?
You to attack terrorists without the permission of a sovereign state without authorization to send troops into the country, and the manslaughter of a few 60 people in this country, and finally, only say “We regret that”. Please tell me what is your human rights?
Check out Obama’s Google+ page for more.
