Hu Xijin: China’s most hated man of the week
Hu Xijin: China’s most hated man of the week
His firm support for China’s reopening has made Hu, a long time villain to the Chinese liberal camp, the newest antagonist in the pro-lockdown nationalist circle.
Prominent Chinese commentator Hu Xijin is in deep controversy this week after preaching China’s decision to reopen the country. He is accused by nationalists of downplaying the reportedly widespread Covid infections and lack of medical resources.
Since China relaxed its draconian Covid control measures last week, Hu, who just weeks ago had warned the danger and risks of opening up, has written numerous posts on Weibo and made commentary videos where he applauded the government’s new direction.
Hu has been a staunch supporter of the Chinese government, which made him a villain in the eyes of those critical of the Chinese authorities and its various policies. They labelled him “Frisbee Hu”, a derogatory nickname meant to make fun of Hu’s flexible positions on issues that very often depend on where the government stands. As the former editor-in-chief of the Global Times, Hu was once the face of Chinese nationalism.
But His recent praises of the reopening have angered nationalist influencers online, who constitute a significant portion of the “zero-Covid camp”(清零派) that in the past three years had constantly promoted and justified China’s Covid lockdowns and other measures.
After China’s abrupt change on Covid policies, the nationalist influencers and the “zero-Covid camp” are having a hard time pivoting themselves. Carefully avoiding criticizing the government while trying to stay consistent on their opposition towards opening up, the nationalist influencers start blaming those who advocate for or support less control, including but especially Hu Xijin, for the worsening infection situation and lack of medical resources.
Since last week, influencers and netizens on the liberal side have emphasized how ill-prepared China’s reopening has been. But it’s the attacks on Hu from the nationalists that underscores how unpopular the sudden change of policies has been. To many, the virus seems to be spreading uncontrollably and the government isn’t providing adequate assistance to its citizens.
On December 7, the day China released new guidelines that effectively ended zero-Covid, Hu wrote in a post: “we have to change our understanding and thoughts, instead of being scared and hesitant and blaming others. Our transformed policies are being rolled out after the virus became weak. Therefore the prices we’ll have to pay will be the smallest in the world.”
我们要转变认识和观念，不胆怯犹豫，不怨天尤人。我们的政策转型是在病毒已弱化之后开展的，我们因此而付出的代价也一定是全世界最小的。
Many were quick to point out Hu’s inconsistency in his positions on opening up.
On November 20, Hu wrote “the kind of opening up that some people wanted is impossible. China won’t do anything like that until at least after this winter and spring. It doesn’t matter if they like it or not. This is my assessment.”
一些人想要的那种“放开”是不可能的，至少今冬明春的中国绝不会那样做。无论他们喜不喜欢，这是我的一个判断。
Finishing the post, he wrote “In this winter where Omicron is spreading so quickly, if we can keep the infection rate low and death rate extremely low, it would be a huge success, which is what the people want.”
在奥密克戎转播如此迅速的这个冬天，我们保持住低感染率和极低死亡率，这就是巨大的成果，也是老百姓想要的成果。
The current Covid spread in China seems rather bleak. After the government halted mandatory testing, it becomes difficult to learn the actual infection rate in the country. But social media posts and online statistics have pointed to a huge rise in fever among the population, a symptom of Covid infection. Reporters from the Associated Press and Financial Times went to a funeral home in Beijing and talked to people there who reported a recent increase in deaths.
For days, Hu has tried to present the reopening and what has followed in a positive way. He has visited malls, restaurants, railroad stations, clinics and a medical emergency call center and recorded Vlog style videos at these locations with the intention to mitigate the public’s fear of the virus spread.
In the caption to a video recorded at a fever clinic, Hu wrote that “one of my impressions was that at least some of the patients visiting the doctors didn’t have severe symptoms. They came to the clinic mainly to get some medicine because they couldn’t get it from pharmacies. This problem needs to be solved quickly.”
其中一个印象是，至少有一部分来看医生的患者症状并不严重，他们来医院的主要目的是开点药，因为药店里买不着。这个问题要加快解决啊。
At the end of a video where he interviewed staffers at an emergency call center, Hu said that “none of us had it easy during the pandemic. We need to understand each other and unite in order to overcome current difficulties.”
其实在疫情当中，我们大家都很不容易。所以我们大家大概需要彼此相互理解，相互团结，一起度过当前的难关。
The underlying message of Hu’s posts and videos isn’t all that different from what the Chinese government is trying to convey, which is that there is no need to fear the virus and the country is on its way towards the end of the pandemic.
But Hu quickly became a target of the nationalist influencers and the “zero-Covid camp”, who usually stand closely with the official voice.
Taking a jab at Hu’s post where he said he had extra fever reducing pills and had shared them with others, influencer Ziwu Xiashi(子午侠士) wrote that “the rich have rich ideas. The poor have poor methods. The rich take Pfizer pills. The poor couldn’t even afford medicine. Not everyone is Hu Xijin”, suggesting that Hu is part of the privileged class that have easier access to resources.
Digua Xionglaoliu(地瓜熊老六), another nationalist influencer, wrote “I’m just curious, Mr. Hu, how many people do you have in your family? Is there only you? Of course you don’t have to worry. But many people have elderlies and children in their family, do you know?”
While attacking Hu and what they believe to be the media’s downplaying of the pandemic, the nationalist influencers made sure not to criticize the government.
Influencer Guyan Muchan(孤烟暮蝉) wrote “opening up had to be done. The people would understand it. Just clear things up and make necessary preparations. Our people is the best in the world when it comes to seeing the big picture. But what the media is doing is mysterious…”
On Wednesday, Hu tweeted that he welcomes “the attitude of the US government” to help China with the ongoing Covid spread and he called on Pfizer to lower the price of its Covid pills. Just days ago, a Chinese online pharmacy was selling Pfizer’s Paxlovid treatment at about $430 per package. After triggering public outrage due to the high price, the medicine was quickly pulled from shelves online.
Hu was slammed by nationalist influencers for expressing friendliness towards America’s willingness to help. Some angry netizens called Hu America’s running dog.
After Hu disclosed on Thursday that he tested positive for Covid, a joke started to circulate among the nationalist people online who celebrated Hu’s infection. They called it “one positive, thousands joyous”(一阳千喜, Yi Yang Qian Xi), a word phonetically identical to the name of China’s pop star and actor Yi Yang Qian Xi(易烊千玺).
Hu doesn’t appear to be deterred by the attacks. On Friday, he continues the preaching. In a new post, he wrote “in the past three years, we saved countless lives. From now on, we will get the economy to take off, proving in every way the superiority that socialist countries have in humanitarianism and liberating productivity.”
One netizen replies “his fever is at 39 degrees Celsius minimal.”