Protests in Shifang over a planned copper molybdenum plant succeeded in halting the project, but not before armed police attacked civilians. Photos of blood-stained streets and tear gas clouds flooded Weibo, turning a local incident into a national affair. Without online scrutiny, Shifang officials who managed the crackdown may not have been relieved of their positions, and the plant may well have been built anyway.
The central propaganda machine isn’t taking the Weibo revolution sitting down, though. In a July 5 Weibo post, Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin chided netizens for snowballing small problems:
HuXijin: Chinese society perennially harbors discontent. This discontent forms as an amalgamation of various unfortunate circumstances. Through the Internet, a portion of this discontent will naturally be lumped in with the Shifang incident, which in turn will add to the difficulty for Shifang to deal with the aftermath. This is one reason why it’s so easy for any of China’s specific conflicts to balloon into larger issues. The authorities now must do more than merely communicate effectively with the people at large. Online discontent has in fact become a part of the incident. FEATURED OPINION
胡锡进： 中国社会长期都有一些不满情绪，它们是各种不如意的结合物。它们的一部分很自然会通过互联网转移到什邡事件上，反过来增加什邡的善后难度。这也是互联网时 代中国各地具体矛盾容易扩大化的深层原因之一。现在官方不仅要与什邡群众做好沟通，互联网上的不满情绪事实上也已经成为事件的一部分。摘社评
Some netizens were more than happy to add a little difficulty to Hu’s job. A selection of comments on his post are below. Read more from CDT Chinese.
Shanghai-BrotherHu: Still “featuring opinions,” I see. You’re such an enigmatic eunuch. Is it possible for you to stand straight and be a dignified person?
上海-胡哥：还“摘社评”呢，你这阴阳怪气的阉人，能不能直起腰板，做个堂堂正正的人？
DesertTigerX: This guy’s just like clockwork, singing the praises of interest groups!
沙漠虎X微博达人：这货像上了发条似得，如此执着地为利益集团说好话！
SuperWangDapao: Chief Hu’s gibberish, translated into human speech, reads as follow: Don’t f**king use the Internet to talk about your stupid feelings and ruin our work of ass-wiping in Shifang!
超级王大炮：胡总的鸟语翻译成人话就是：别TM利用互联网传达你们各种鸟情绪，来破坏我们什邡那点破事的擦屁眼工作
VRomanticSummit: Hu’s a poser. What he means is: You people should not feel discontent. You must trust the government1 and the Party. They will resolve everything. That’s what you mean, right? What the fucking shit. We can’t even have feel upset? You must really think you’re freaking Buddha or something.
V浪漫风云峰：胡装B的意思是:你们不该有不满情绪 要相信正腐相信党 他们会解决好一切的。 是不是这意思 劳资草尼麻痹 连不满情绪都不能有 你TM还真把自己当成如来了
1 正腐 zhèng fǔ (“completely corrupt”) sounds the same as the word “goverment” 政府.
XieWenVerified: First of all, media of all kinds should be allowed to report from the scene. Every single thing must start from disclosing the truth on the ground.
谢文新浪个人认证 ：首先应该允许各路媒体前往采访报道，一切的一切都要从真相披露开始。
Iced_Tea: You people always complicate simple issues of right and wrong. It’s obvious the local government in Shifang acted against the will of the people and forced through their own self-serving agenda. All the people want to know now is who approved this project, who called the armed police into the city and who commanded the police to strike. These are simple questions that definitely have answers, but all you have to say is that “online discontent has in fact become a part of the incident,” complicating the issue to the point where it cannot be resolved.
冰 _红茶：你们这些人每次都把简单的事情对错复杂化.明明是这个什邡地方政府不顾民意,强行推行利己政策,现在大家要求的就是交代是谁拍板一定要上马这项目 的?是谁叫武警进城,叫武警打人的?这么简单的问题,一定有答案的事,你偏要拉上”互联网上的不满情绪事实上也已经成为事件的一部分”让这事复杂到只能不 了了之.
1UnderBerlinWall: Hu Xijin figured out another way to kiss the Party’s2 ass…
1柏林墙下面1微博达人：胡锡进又在想办法给裆舔菊花了。。。
2 裆 dāng “crotch” sounds like 党 dǎng “Party.”
ProtectCountryTempleSnack: Here’s what I get from Hu Xijin: Before, no one knew what the real situation was, or the people’s discontent couldn’t make it onto the nightly news. But now, it’s different. With the Internet, the government’s job just gets harder and harder.
护国寺小吃：解读胡锡进：以前大家不知道真相，或者百姓的不满也上不了新闻联播。但现在不同了，有了互联网，政府越来越不容易了。
HanLei_Julius: “Opinion,” eh? Hilarious. I’m surprised I would even pay attention to someone like you. I want to see if you would dig up the same “underlying causes” and pick the same “opinion” if industrial waste flowed by your front door, or if it was your close friends being beaten by the authorities while trying to protect the environment.
韩磊_Julius：还“社评”呢，真逗，我竟然会关注你这种货。如果工业污染流到你家门前，如果你的亲友因捍卫环境被官方打的皮开肉绽，我要看你会不会挖出同样的“深层原因”，摘同样的“社评”。
FocusBressonUnfocusCapa: In this country, the most unstable element is that which holds up the Bolshevik regime; the most costly stability maintenance is again what holds up the Bolshevik regime. It echoes the internal factors which lead to the collapse of Chiang Kai-shek’s government: the cost of controlling society exceeded the ability to create and adapt social values.
聚焦的布列松与失焦的卡帕：在这片土地上，最不稳定的因素，就是维护布尔什维克党的政权稳定；成本最高的维稳，也是维护布尔什维克党的政权稳定。当年老蒋垮掉的内因跟今天的状况极其雷同，就是社会管制成本超过了社会价值创造能力与承受能力。
XiaoXiangChirp: Bullshit! No matter what happens, it’s always because there’s something wrong with the people’s heads, or their conscience, or level of education, or morals, or life, or judgment… The government is always great, glorious and just!
潇湘虫鸣：放屁！发生了什么事都是民众头脑有问题，意识有问题，文化水平有问题，道德水平有问题，生活有问题，判断力有问题……政府永远伟光正！
IVAFeiFei2012: Little Hu, the people will remember you. There will come the day when you will have to eat the crap that has been spewing out of your mouth.
IVA飞飞2012加油微博达人：小胡呀，人民不会忘记你的，你的嘴里喷出来的屎都是要被你吃回去的
TimeFlowsLikeWater: Today it’s them, tomorrow it could be us (not you). So why wouldn’t we (not you) pay attention?
指缝中的似氺流年：今天是他们，明天有可能就是我们（不包括你），所以，我们（不包括你）为什么不关注呢？
Translation by Little Bluegill.
“Netizen Voices” is an original CDT series. If you would like to reuse this content, please follow the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 agreement.
