Chinese netizens are hotly discussing the Taiwan earthquake

Some people want the People's Liberation Army to "land on the island to provide disaster relief"

So far, the strong earthquake in Taiwan has killed at least ten people and injured more than a thousand people. Many Chinese netizens left messages in the comment areas of social media to express condolences and encouragement to the Taiwanese people. However, a small number of netizens also asked the People's Liberation Army to "land on the island to provide disaster relief." The relevant remarks were deleted by Weibo administrators.

At 7:58 a.m. on Wednesday, Hualien, Taiwan, was hit by the strongest earthquake in 25 years, killing ten people and injuring more than a thousand people. Some houses tilted or collapsed, and highway and rail traffic was temporarily disrupted. About two hours after the earthquake, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of China, said that a strong earthquake occurred in Taiwan on April 3. Relevant parties in mainland China are highly concerned and express their sincere condolences to the affected Taiwanese people. They will pay close attention to the disaster and follow-up situations. , willing to provide disaster relief assistance.

On Chinese social media such as Sina Weibo, Tencent, and Douyin, many self-media media and netizens left messages of condolences to the affected people in Taiwan in the comment areas of relevant news. Some netizens said that they wished the people of Taiwan were well and prayed that the people of Taiwan could survive this disaster safely; some netizens said, "I actually cried" and so on. Some netizens said that although Taiwan has poor infrastructure, it always protects private property.

However, a small number of netizens ridiculed Taiwan's lack of rescue forces and said the earthquake was a "double blessing." Some netizens even asked the People's Liberation Army to take the stage. Netizen "Kong Tian Li Jian" wrote: "If Taiwan Province really needs it, it wouldn't be too much to bring some fire-fighting rocket launchers for disaster relief. It wouldn't be too much to bring planes to put out fires and save people. It wouldn't be too much to bring some strong people." Related The comments were deleted by Weibo administrators.

Mr. Lin, a netizen from Fuzhou, said in an interview with this station that the content of online speech in China is strictly controlled by the authorities, and the positional comments people see online are not made by ordinary people. He said that under the official propaganda and guidance, the vast majority of people have lost the ability to make independent judgments: "If Sina Weibo and other media did not have official involvement in deleting posts, I estimate that most people would be gloating (about the Taiwan earthquake). Through a large number of Through propaganda and brainwashing and deliberate hatred education, most people do not realize what public property and private property are."

Weibo deletes 340 posts mocking Taiwan

The administrator of Weibo issued a notice on the day of the earthquake, saying that while inspecting the platform's comments, it was discovered that "a small number of users posted inappropriate comments that took pleasure in others' misfortunes and made fun of the disaster." Weibo said it had deleted more than 340 pieces of content that "made fun of disasters and incited extreme emotions" and temporarily banned more than 20 accounts that posted such content. Weibo emphasized that in the face of disasters, it is even more important for netizens to participate in discussions and express opinions objectively and rationally, not to publish content that lacks empathy, not to believe and spread false information, and to use practical actions to pray for the safety of people in disaster areas.

Netizen Mr. Lin said that Weibo deleted comments that made fun of Taiwan's disaster relief because it was worried that such comments would cause Taiwanese people to resent the Chinese government: "They (the authorities) also have to take into account their own image and face. Internationally speaking, what happened in Taiwan is so... You can't make a joke like this on domestic social media during a major disaster. It's also a very embarrassing thing for them, otherwise they wouldn't take the initiative to delete these bad comments."

Wenchuan earthquake victims praise Taiwan's system for protecting people's property

Ms. Yang, a Chengdu resident who experienced the May 12 earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan, told this station that when the earthquake occurred, she felt her house shaking for three minutes. Chili peppers more than one meter high in the yard were thrown into the air and fell again, repeated many times. It is lucky that the earthquake in Taiwan lasted for more than a minute, otherwise the losses would have been even greater. Ms. Yang praised Taiwan's democratic system but also criticized the Chinese authorities. She said: "If you don't protect property, you won't even have the most basic humanity. The property of grassroots people in China is relatively less protected. The property of privileged officials is protected, and the privilege is in the hands of others. If officials or their family members are injured in the earthquake, I received immediate treatment. I was injured by officials and my report was rejected."

Observers who study China’s Internet censorship generally believe that “netizen comments” on major events on Chinese social media are often the result of official laissez-faire. However, the official will control the proportion of positive and negative remarks and adjust them at any time.