tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post6587560282008599083..comments2024-01-08T19:49:13.932+00:00Comments on Froogville: Yang Rui takes a crazy pillFrooghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-54246432131416745192012-05-27T15:49:17.999+00:002012-05-27T15:49:17.999+00:00Sorry you got diverted to spam at first there, FOA...Sorry you got diverted to spam at first there, FOARP.<br /><br />Blogger is being a bit finicky of late. Possibly better to avoid these Twitterspeak @s.Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-78949303755195905852012-05-27T15:48:17.523+00:002012-05-27T15:48:17.523+00:00Well, one of many. I think Kaiser mostly does thei...Well, one of many. I think Kaiser mostly does their English-language press releases, doesn't he? I'd be curious to know how closely they align with statements they've been putting out in Chinese.<br /><br />It's a very odd story, this. Was that People's Daily article simply a fabrication, or rather a piece of sloppy reporting.<br /><br />Someone who knows their way around the Chinese Internet should do some rooting around to try to discover the origins of this. Presumably one of the early shop-a-foreigner online forums was hosted on mop.com (but perhaps not initiated by the site itself?), and it did get promoted on Baidu Postbar (HOW?)... but subsequently Baidu and/or mop.com dissociated themselves from this kind of forum.<br /><br />Was this news story just sloppy journalism (lots of that in China!), or was it intended to encourage the establishment of such forums, and perhaps even to pressure leading web companies into facilitating them?<br /><br />However it arose, it gained a lot of prominence, and did fan the flames of anti-foreigner sentiment.<br /><br />I don't find a simple denial of involvement by Baidu particularly comforting - or convincing. I'd expect to see a much more detailed explanation of where the hell that story came from.Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-57851565270155715152012-05-27T12:30:46.032+00:002012-05-27T12:30:46.032+00:00@Froog - Kaiser Kuo is Baidu's official PR rep...@Froog - Kaiser Kuo is Baidu's official PR rep.Gilman Grundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06607416440240634159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-81305512481296331552012-05-26T14:20:08.346+00:002012-05-26T14:20:08.346+00:00Being married to Chinese and having a child, I did...Being married to Chinese and having a child, I did not find this story humorous. We have already had our fill of problems being a mixed family in China. This did not help. I would like to sue Yang for his comments, as they directly affect me.Richardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-85116496133197364292012-05-26T08:22:48.262+00:002012-05-26T08:22:48.262+00:00Yes, I think a lot of people realise it's all ...Yes, I think a lot of people realise it's all a bit ridiculous. But this is a kind of 'joke' that just isn't funny for foreigners who are in vulnerable positions with their visas, and are starting to feel pointed at, persecuted.<br /><br />And the more this idea goes around, the more some people will start to take it seriously. I found the atmosphere was getting very uncomfortable this past week.Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-87830694066056455192012-05-25T12:02:41.471+00:002012-05-25T12:02:41.471+00:00Surely if people are joking about it then isn'...Surely if people are joking about it then isn't it considered tongue-in-cheek by the average Beijinger with half a brain? Sure there's the other half and a lot of those are probably immigrants from the countryside so is the greatest animosity from China's proverbial bumpkins?<br />I'm just spouting thoughts here, I've learnt not to lump every Chinese citizen into the same category. In fact, being a computer enthusiast, I've found the online community (the "netizens") to be an increasingly agreeable bunch over the years. This is arguably to be expected but it does blinker my experiences somewhat what with me having never experienced China at first hand.<br />Anyway, hope you're enjoying the weather!Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15692328535476075420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-30243686089438108202012-05-25T07:47:43.611+00:002012-05-25T07:47:43.611+00:00This was the most prevalent element of the spike i...This was the most prevalent element of the spike in xenophobia that I witnessed during my last few days in Beijing, the constant 'joking' about denouncing foreigners online or calling a government 'hotline'.<br /><br />If Baidu weren't involved in promoting this project, where the f*** did the People's Daily story come from? Someone in the propaganda machine is pushing this idea - and I would bet that some people at Baidu are playing along with it, without acknowledging as much publicly.<br /><br />I haven't seen any denials of the story of the 'police hotline' yet. It's all <i>so very Cultural Revolution</i>.Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-78276237200178341182012-05-23T11:54:24.048+00:002012-05-23T11:54:24.048+00:00Here's what Kaiser Kuo said:
"The People...Here's what Kaiser Kuo said:<br /><br /><b>"The People’s Daily story is erroneous. Baidu has launched no such campaign. It was something done originally on Baidu PostBar but not under official auspices and we have now removed it."</b><br /><br />Which of course begs the question of how it got on Baidu PostBar, but he seems pretty adamant that it was nothing to do with Baidu corporate. And yes, Shop-A-Foreigner websites will proliferate if people want them to.Gilman Grundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06607416440240634159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-53969391482494378782012-05-22T18:44:44.586+00:002012-05-22T18:44:44.586+00:00I haven't had time to watch what's happeni...I haven't had time to watch what's happening with this, but Baidu was featured very prominently in the first stories about this. I'd be interested to know exactly what their involvement was - how much pushing, how much reluctant, how much later pulling out.<br /><br />You don't need to do very much to seed these things any more. Once the bottle is open, it starts smelling stronger and stronger. Baudu shuts down the original complaint forum and a dozen others will sonn sprout in its place.Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-77895634178901333952012-05-22T13:21:20.023+00:002012-05-22T13:21:20.023+00:00According to Kaiser Kuo, Baidu never approved the ...According to Kaiser Kuo, Baidu never approved the foreigner-bashing hotline and it's been shut down. <br /><br />I've always found Yang Rui totally unwatchable - always so completely smug, and always spouting the party line word-perfect.Gilman Grundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06607416440240634159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-43841493242404461372012-05-22T00:42:03.880+00:002012-05-22T00:42:03.880+00:00Really? It's pretty rare for anyone to be sack...Really? It's pretty rare for anyone to be sacked <i>for being an arsehole</i> here. It's more-or-less a job requirement for any position that entails good standing with the Party, after all.<br /><br />I think that presenter who said "The Philippines have ALWAYS been Chinese" got a wrist-slap or a suspension or something.Frooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06738623732860210935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33211251.post-12947737446291550152012-05-21T10:16:36.344+00:002012-05-21T10:16:36.344+00:00Wasn't someone else fired recently for saying ...Wasn't someone else fired recently for saying a lot less on his Weibo account? I can't remember who it was or what he said unfortunately although I have a feeling it was foreigners related.<br />I like that Rui studied in Cardiff back in the 90s. It's a small world when this moron was living around 10 miles away from where I used to live back when I started high school. Wales's capital doesn't seem to have made much of an impression on him however.<br />I laughed when I read the People's Daily article; you're not on a stable income Froog, does that make you a major source of crime?Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15692328535476075420noreply@blogger.com