Li Jun in The Ideas Letter:
Before Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, Nana (a pseudonym), a Chinese woman with an office job in Europe, was a happy twentysomething, content to lead a quiet life. She liked to travel and do her friends’ makeup. She had no interest in becoming an online influencer. Her Instagram page was set to private mode, and she shared selfies only with people she knew. Her account on Weibo, a Chinese X-like platform, had 30 followers.
The pro-war stance of her Chinese friends led Nana to sympathize with Ukraine, a country she had once visited, and aggressive pro-Russia propaganda on Chinese social media annoyed her. She began translating videos and articles about the situation in Ukraine to share on Weibo—a decision that changed her life.
Two years later, her followers had grown to over 200,000. By then, she had rallied supporters to fund the supply of drones for Ukrainian forces: Pro-Ukraine bloggers in China dubbed that plan “Roast Goose” (the words “goose” and “Russia” sound similar in Chinese). Using donations from fans and other Chinese people who sought her out, she delivered more than 400 drones to the Ukrainian military over three years. In May 2024, during the visit of President Vladimir Putin of Russia to China, her account was taken down.
In times of crisis, some people are willing to pay a higher price to seek out accurate information and fight censorship. And censorship also often fails then. Russia’s full-on attack of Ukraine in early 2022 was one such moment for liberal Chinese citizens like Nana. After the war broke out, mainstream Chinese social media, especially short-video platforms, overwhelmingly pushed Russia’s militant nationalism. Many Chinese interpreted this as signaling a potential shift in national priorities: away from the traditional focus on what the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party call “peace and development” toward the pursuit of unification with Taiwan by force. But pro-Ukraine and pro-West liberal bloggers such as Nana also emerged then.
More here.
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