China Uses a Social Media Post on Weibo to Mock India on Its Current Covid Crisis
The post which was published by an official law enforcement agency on Saturday has been deleted since. The agency has millions of followers on the micro-blogging site and some of the users were shocked at the toxic and crass content being posted.
An insensitive post on Chinese site Weibo featuring an image of a rocket launch of the first module of its planned space station alongside another picture of cremation pyres in India has sparked online criticism.
Weibo is the popular micro-blogging site in China.
The caption on the picture read, “Lighting a fire in China VS lighting a fire in India.” It was coupled with a hashtag that highlighted India’s covid-19 cases had passed 400,000 a day.
The post which was published by an official law enforcement agency on Saturday has been deleted since. The agency has millions of followers on the micro-blogging site and some of the users were shocked at the toxic and crass content being posted.
One user commented, “I can't believe this was posted by a government account. Why do you need to use the suffering of others to highlight national pride?”
“How can this be approved (by censors)? It's a complete disrespect of human life,” read another.
Many users took to social media, shared original screenshots of the post, and strongly criticized the post.
Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of China's Global Times media outlet, wrote: “Hold high the banner of humanitarianism at this time, show sympathy for India, and firmly place Chinese society on a moral high ground.”
Another social media post in China was deleted recently when the photograph of an emergency hospital complex built in Wuhan called the ‘fire god mountain’ was compared to a photo of a mass cremation in India. This was published on Weibo by China's Ministry of Public Security.
Despite the ongoing tensions between the two countries, President Xi Jinping sent an email to PM Narendra Modi offering help to tide over the covid- 19 surge that India is currently facing.
Even the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that all Chinese organizations and bodies including non-governmental organizations are “trying their best to collect the anti-epidemic supplies urgently needed by India, and deliver them to the Indian people as soon as possible.”
