Locustland | China's fake presidential election inspires fake election fever
So much effort went into making China's presidential election look legitimate that netizens decided to go along with the ruse and pretend seats were actually contested.
Wednesday night, some loyal subjects - from across the political spectrum, in a rare convergence - decided to have a little fun online with all the pomp surrounding the predetermined power transition and imitate what they imagine running analysis and Chinese live news coverage of a Chinese presidential election might look like.
A lot of smart political humour ensued, then Sina Weibo employees caught on and removed most of it from the microblogging site, but not before Chinese Twitter users made backup copies. Here's some of what was written:
@Republican: There's no doubt Xi will win in his home province, but the South also has the tradition of opposing the North. As a commercial centre, Shanghai values pragmatism, so the most battle-hardened, more experienced of the candidates will have the advantage there. Of course, we won't know the results until the last minute. If the losing candidate refuses to accept the results, he can always appeal the Supreme People's Court to arbitrate.
Given its ethnic composition, swing province Xinjiang is guaranteed to be the toughest battleground. In provinces like Henan which carry large numbers of votes, the biggest challenge for candidates will be to persuade voters to get inside the polling stations.
@Fake fish: As of 9pm, Xi and Li stood neck-to-neck with a difference of only 54,250 votes. The first one to gain more than half of votes in Sichuan province, western China's largest electoral district, before midnight tonight will be the winner!
