{"id":154439,"date":"2013-04-11T18:49:12","date_gmt":"2013-04-12T01:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=154439"},"modified":"2013-04-11T19:07:55","modified_gmt":"2013-04-12T02:07:55","slug":"why-china-loves-the-daily-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2013\/04\/why-china-loves-the-daily-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Why China Loves ‘The Daily Show’"},"content":{"rendered":"

After another\u00a0escalation of provocative\u00a0rhetoric<\/a> from North Korea,\u00a0Jon Stewart mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the country’s clear use of photoshop in propaganda<\/a>\u00a0on the April 2 episode of The Daily Show. The clip was posted to Chinese Web-portal Sina, where it quickly gathered nearly 3 million views. The Washington Post’s Max Fisher analyzed China’s reception to the bit<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>in a blogpost\u00a0earlier this week:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Daily Show\u201d is not big in China. But when the popular Chinese Web portal Sina\u00a0posted<\/a>\u00a0an eight-minute segment from the show discussing the latest North Korean provocations, it racked up an astounding 2.8 million views and counting, as well as tens of thousands of comments, many of them praising the show.[…]<\/p>\n

[…W]hat explains the enormous popularity? The \u201cDaily Show\u201d segment, without meaning to, may have hit on growing frustration among Chinese citizens, particularly middle-class urbanites, with their misbehaving ally. Chinese state media, though it has allowed some measured disapproval of Kim\u2019s latest threats, has held back from so roundly mocking the country and its supremely mockable regime. The voraciousness with which Chinese viewers are watching the segment suggests that their appetite for such coverage, for publicly criticizing an ally that has become something of an embarrassment, far exceeds what they\u2019re getting.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While there has been suspicion that the Chinese government is growing uneasy<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0North Korea, there doesn’t appear to be evidence that the official stance will soon change<\/a>\u00a0as Chinese media isn’t providing the criticism that Jon Stewart did in early April. After noticing the popular reception of his clip in China, Jon Stewart put together a special segment for his newfound audience<\/a>, which has also been garnering hits in China:<\/p>\n

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