Netizen Voices: As Sino-Japanese Tensions Rise, “Tourism is Treated like a Chamberpot, a Disposable Tool”
The diplomatic crisis between China and Japan continues to intensify, following Japanese Prime...
satire
Netizen Voices: “Stop Complaining, Hu Xijin. You Played a Part in This.”
Two posts from nationalist pundit and former Global Times Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin criticizing what he describes as a “collective silence” on Chinese social media have sparked intense discussion on Chinese and overseas websites....
Translations: “How Can a Country That Blocks the Nobel Website Hope to Win a Nobel Prize?”
The news that two more Japanese scientists were awarded Nobel Prizes in the natural sciences has been met with considerable consternation on the Chinese internet. Shimon Sakaguchi of Osaka University and two American scientists,...
Ministry of State Security Warnings Against Economic Pessimism Cast a Pall
A recent trio of pronouncements by China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) warning against expressions of pessimism about the Chinese economy have sparked worries among businesspeople, economists, and analysts who fear that...
Lit Mag Announces Sudden Closure After Cover Seemingly Satirizes Xi Jinping
A popular periodical featuring essays and nonfiction writing announced that it is suspending operations after 35 years. The announcement followed online chatter that the December cover was an oblique criticism of Xi Jinping. Xi...
Students to Receive “Proper Guidance” After Viral Mockery of Official Inspection Tours
An undergraduate’s video mimicking official “inspection” tours has become a flashpoint of discussion over cadres’ imperious attitudes and the reflexive deference shown to them in society. Shot on the campus of Yunnan State Land...
Folk-rock Band “Slap” Melds Ming Dynasty Fiction with Shrewd Social Satire
A performance video of “Red Child’s Eighteen Wins,” a January 2023 song by the folk-rock band Slap (耳光乐队, Erguang Yuedui), has been attracting much attention lately on Chinese social media and Chinese Twitter. The folk tune...
Censors Delete Viral “Kong Yiji Literature” Anthem
Every movement needs its anthem. In the now-censored musical parody “Sunny Side Kong Yiji,” the emergent “Kong Yiji literature” wave seems to have found one of its own. “Kong Yiji literature” is a genre of self-deprecating...
Public Indignation Over Preventable Deaths During Lockdowns in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Henan
Despite hints of a modest easing of pandemic controls—including a shortened quarantine period for inbound travelers, and attempts to “optimize” and adjust a “one-size-fits-all” approach—it remains to be seen whether China’s...
Netizens Decry The Display Of Their IP Addresses
Several of China’s largest social media companies including Weibo, Douyin, Toutiao, Zhihu, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu have announced that they will display users’ IP addresses. The measure, which will affect the majority of...
Rage Comics Brand Muzzled by Heroes and Martyrs Law
Baozou Big News Events (暴走大事件), a “rage comic”-inspired Chinese internet variety show...
Translation: Online Group Rules No Joking Matter
CDT has long celebrated irreverent online humor in China, commissioning and publishing cartoons,...
Hong Kong’s Onion Interviews Chinese Tourists
A record number of Chinese tourists have traveled outside of the mainland this year, and Hong Kong...
Cartoon: Marital Separation and Real Estate Speculation
Authorities in Shanghai have recently cracked down on rumors of tightening real estate...
Minitrue: Filter Keywords on “Xi Jinping Beetle”
The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been...
People’s Daily Hails Kim Jong-Un as “Sexiest Man Alive”
China’s official Communist Party newspaper treated a satirical article naming North Korean leader Kim Jong-un the “Sexiest Man Alive” as a genuine report. The report by the People’s Daily quotes The Onion, a humor...
Shopping With Your Girlfriend, For The 18th Time
For Tea Leaf Nation, Yale University student Xiaoying Zhou translates a recent Renren.com blog post from a Peking University student that went viral to the tune of more than 26,000 shares as of Wednesday. While disguised as a...
America: a ‘Foolish and Backward Nation’
As Hillary Clinton visits China, Tea Leaf Nation’s David Wertime translates an anonymous satirical essay on America’s many supposed failings compared with the author’s native China. The post also appears at The...
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