Fitting shoe

合鞋 (hé xié) fitting shoe

"Fitting shoe" (合鞋 hé xié) is yet another homonym for "harmonious" (和谐 héxié). This phrase has its roots in a speech delivered by President Xi Jinping that met much netizen ridicule.

While on his first trip abroad as China's president, Xi Jinping delivered a speech at Moscow State Institute of International Relations on March 23, 2013. In his speech [zh] (transcript) [zh], Xi called for cooperation between Russia and China, emphasizing the two nations' shared interests in peace and stability. In his speech, Xi countered international criticism of a country's developmental path with the following words:

“Only the wearer of a shoe will know whether or not that shoe fits his foot." Whether or not the path that a country takes towards development is suitable or not, only the citizens of that country have the right to decide.

“鞋子合不合脚，自己穿了才知道”。一个国家的发展道路合不合适，只有这个国家的人民才最有发言权。