The emergence and evolution of China’s internet warriors going to battle over Hong Kong protests
- In a series of in-depth articles on the unrest rocking Hong Kong, the Post goes behind the headlines to look at the underlying issues, current state of affairs and where it is all heading
- Here we look at how young mainland Chinese are leaping the Great Firewall to get their patriotic messages across
On Saturday, one of the most violent days of the Hong Kong protests so far, a virtual army launched its own attack from behind China’s Great Firewall. Thousands of memes and messages flooded the social media platforms which are banned on the mainland, all with one stated aim – to “protect Hong Kong police, protect our family”.
The action was broadcast live on Chinese streaming platform YY – from the process of getting over the firewall, to regular updates on how many posts had gone up on targeted sites, and regular encouragement to the troops to stay on the attack.
It was the most recent manifestation of a new phenomenon among China’s internet community – an alliance between Diba, the long-standing nationalist online forum whose members have been at the vanguard of the mainland’s online attacks, and its newest recruits, known as the “fandom girls”.
A college student, who goes by the pseudonym Wang Li, is typical of the new breed of internet warrior. She brings all the devotion of the fandom girl – a colloquial term among China’s online community to describe the fans who engage in en masse postings to boost the profiles and reputations of their celebrity idols – to her country, personified as “Brother Ah Zhong”.
In a typical post on Chinese social media platform Weibo, Wang recently wrote about Brother Ah Zhong’s heartbreak over his treatment at the hands of his “ungrateful children” Hong Kong and Taiwan.
“Brother Ah Zhong only has us left. He was high-born but with his fortunes gone he was bullied and his children taken away from him … When he finally fared better, he immediately wanted to take his children home.”
