Chinese Internet Community Unmoved By Obama

The powerful “world leader” U.S. President Obama recently came to Shanghai, where he spent twice as much time speaking to Chinese university students than he did visiting the Forbidden City in Beijing. Clearly, he took these discussions quite seriously. Obama’s assistants painstakingly drafted his speech, weighing each word with great care. There was concern that people would not be happy with the speech; perhaps the wording would be considered too strong, or not strong enough. As a result, a lot of cautious and conscientious preparation went into the event; however, on the big day, Obama’s words fell on deaf ears, as Chinese people were not interested in what he had to say, but rather in the pretty girl who was seated behind him.

I believe this is an outcome that none would have predicted. Not only did the Obama team not expect it, but neither did the Chinese who received him. The Xinhua news network gave this discussion special coverage, posting a total of 28 photos of the event, 24 of which were either close-ups of Obama or photos in which Obama is the focal point. But one photo stood out in particular to the Chinese internet community: the one in which the blurred figure of Shanghai Jiaotong University student Wang Zifei appears. Chinese netizens started to call her “Obama’s girl.” Who would have thought that some unknown photographer or event staff member with extra time on their hands would change the focus of the whole meeting!

Last year, there was a group of academics who wrote a book, entitled China is not Happy. Some approved and some did not, but everyone took it seriously. A long bout of controversy played out both on the internet and in the media. Those who did not approve thought it would poison youthful “internet crusaders.” They responded with a book of their own, Who Says China is not Happy?, in which the authors expressed their own unhappiness concerning those who “were not happy.” Later, six renowned academics came out with Why China is not Happy, thus joining forces with the authors of China is not Happy to issue a “just say no” declaration. Countless other books picked up on the “unhappy” debate, which continued to be published in newspapers, journals, online forums, etc.

The recent emergence of “Obama’s girl” takes us back to these debates. Anger on either side is fabricated—among Chinese youth, who is or isn’t happy? It seems that no one wants to say “no” to the U.S.; nor does anyone want to say “yes.” No one is interested in what Americans thinks of them—they would rather aimlessly direct their concerns towards the girl sitting behind Obama.

This is normal. Chinese people should not be amazed at this phenomenon. It is not unlike those students who doze off in the midst of their political science classes—the speaker drones on while the audience’s mind wanders. When there are no beautiful girls to ogle, then they read novels instead. Were it not for the teacher’s role call, everyone would surely skip class. I have neither studied Obama’s “important speech,” which is available on the net, (nor have I criticized it); I am more willing to watch and rewatch an animation of Wang Zifei taking off her coat. What can I say?!

None of this is because Chinese youth oppose Obama. In fact, Obama represents the most positive image of an American president who has visited China in the last 10 years. While there are some internet sites that curse him, these are fringe sites that have little influence. Especially these days, when China and the U.S. have had no sharp conflict to speak of, the influence of these sites has decreased even more.

Recently, an internet user calling himself a “university student," completely ignoring Wang Zifei’s charm, angrily criticized the main points of Obama’s speech in the form of a letter to president. Another person wrote an article titled “Seeing Obama’s True 'Color' During His Visit to China,” which reminded everyone that “it is neither because of our sympathy towards his plight as an African-American, nor because of his disarming smile, that Obama will bring to a halt the invasion in the Middle East and Afghanistan, or any strategic advances on China.

Another website, whose few yet active participants appear even more conservative than small town white Republicans the American south, daily reminisce about the nation’s conservative domestic policy, and the tough foreign policy style of Reagan and Bush. They bitterly detest the Democratic Party’s black President Obama. Some of the headlines on these sites read: “How many anti-Americans, racists, and communists are in Obama's inner circle?” “Obama’s peaceful evolution” (criticizing Obama’s progression towards socialism), “White house top officials read the little red book,” “Mao Zedong enthusiasts in the White House,” and so on.

At the time of Obama’s discussions with Shanghai youth, one individual of little repute in the Chinese internet community actually went as far as to invoke the soul of McCarthy on behalf of all Americans: “When terrorists, Chinese Communist Party extremists, and anti-American extremists infiltrate the U.S. government, army, justice system, media, and every corner of society, the U.S. will need a keen pair of eyes like those of McCarthy, that can discern and pick off these worms and scumbags from the Freedom Tree.”

When roaming around these kinds of sites, it becomes clear that a book like China Can Say “No” is not exactly spicy fare, and China is not Happy is outright insipid; likewise, while New Ways of Thinking about Japanese Relations is a dish of small proportions, Obama’s speech and Q&A session in Shanghai are utterly boring.

The so-called “sensational news” in Obama’s speech and Q&A session, all prepared with utmost care, was, if nothing else, about the “spread of power” and “the prohibition of internet content.” These two segments reached all corners of the internet. For China’s youth internet community, Obama’s words were in fact already platitudes. Like emperor Xuanzong, Obama had worded his speech with great prudence, but everyone was already immune; or, you might say, Obama’s speech failed to invoke any feelings. Given the intensity of the aforementioned publications and net writings, was it necessary for the audience to pay attention to Obama’s humming and hawing?

There once was a learned person who said that China’s nationalist tide of thought has the negative characteristic of “being stimulated by and reacting to external events.” It thus frequently dissolves soon after its arousal. Most recently, there have been few conflicts in the realm of China’s foreign affairs, and Obama’s “leader of the planet” tone is a fairly mild one. As a result, the angry netizens have cast their eye upon a beautiful girl instead.

However, this kind of situation is not sustainable. Unavoidably, one day the U.S. president’s “cowboy” temper will flare up once again. When that day comes, 10 girls much prettier than Wang Zifei will be sitting behind him, yet all of them will be completely ignored. Imagine it like this: when Obama is at the center of attention, then Wang Zifei becomes irrelevant, and a scene of angry discussion will ensue, completely unlike what we have seen to date. But with Wang Zifei at the center of attention, and Obama irrelevant, we should just sit back and enjoy the show.