On June 5th, an article titled “Japan’s Real Wages Decline for 25 Consecutive Months” by Xinhua News Agency sparked heated discussions among netizens. This article, aimed at smearing Japan, was deemed too clumsy in its approach, leaving netizen “DeliciousBean” nearly speechless, saying, “I can’t believe this is from Xinhua, oh my god!”
The Xinhua article cited preliminary statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare on the 5th, claiming that, excluding inflation factors, real wage incomes in Japan have decreased year-on-year for 25 consecutive months in April, setting a record for the longest continuous decline in real wages in Japan since comparable statistics have been kept since 1991.
At first glance, the short 400-word article seems to have a basis, but upon closer examination, it falls apart. While “25 consecutive months of decline” may sound alarming, the article fails to disclose the actual wage base. Xinhua News Agency, a national-level news media and one of the Chinese Communist Party’s most important mouthpieces, surprisingly used such a clumsy report to deceive the public.
Netizen “WindOnTheHorizon” asked, “If you don’t know, just ask, how much is the wage in Japan?”
Netizen “SeriouslyAsking” sought clarification, “After 25 consecutive months of decline, what is the actual wage now? Please inform us, thank you!”
Netizen “TimeSingsLikeASong” directly pointed out to Xinhua, “Before reporting, look at what the actual wages are, see how they compare. Only then will it make sense.”
The author of this article is a reporter from the Xinhua News Agency’s Tokyo branch. Imagine, does a reporter not know how high wages are in Japan? Does a reporter not know that including Japanese wage figures in the news would clarify the issue? Clearly, these are not the reasons. If the high wages of Japanese workers were included, this news would shift from a low-level black smear against Japan to a counterproductive high-level propaganda piece.
This news, first released by Xinhua, has been reposted by several media outlets including People’s Daily Online, but they have disabled the comment sections, denying people the opportunity to comment. I came across this news on the Today’s Headlines platform and received feedback from netizens.
From June 5th, 17:22 to June 6th, 10:34, a total of 1986 netizens participated in commenting, and the platform displayed 765 comments. After reviewing all comments and compiling statistics, three types of comments stood out. Here is a brief summary and interpretation:
– “Haha, I came here to read comments.” – 17 people.
– Interpretation: Glancing at the title, it seemed amusing, what’s there to see? Xinhua is trying to deceive us again, but we are immune to it. So, they headed straight to the comment section for entertainment.
– “Is Japan on duty today?” – 71 people.
– Interpretation: At first glance, these six words seem like a mystery, but after reading the comments, the meaning becomes clear. (Examples of comments from netizens)
– “Read, hated, proud, please reassure the organization!” – 33 people.
– Interpretation: More of a translation than an interpretation. It translates to: “I’ve read this Xinhua article, stirred up deep hatred against Japanese capitalism! I am immensely proud of being born in a socialist country like China! Please rest assured, Party!”
This kind of response perfectly aligns with what the CCP mouthpieces aim for. Everyone is well aware of it. Of course, these are the netizens’ straightforward satire aimed at ridiculing the Communist Party. One can easily sense the undertones in their words.
Apart from these three types of comments, more netizens responded to Xinhua, for example:
– “Just came back from Japan, the economy seems good. My sister, who is 58, still has a job, earning 200,000 yen a month.” (TreasureBro0817)
– “Wow, really? Why are there so many people going to Japan for work on Douyin?” (NorthOfDesert)
– “They are talking about 25 consecutive months of salary reductions, while we are proud. I guess we’ll be experiencing 25 consecutive months of wage arrears! Please have Xinhua conduct a strong investigation into the wage arrears situation for certain workers in Guangxi, thank you!” (ThunderStripeStreetKid)
– “Mind your own business! The struggles… just like what the wise man said: Chinese people work hard to live. Like a wound-up robot, working hard just to survive.” (SmallSmall111)
Xinhua, formerly known as the Red China News Agency, was established in 1931 in Jiangxi’s Ruijin as the Red China News Agency. In 1937, it was renamed Xinhua News Agency in Yan’an, Shaanxi. It has branch offices throughout China and 180 branch offices overseas. It is the most important media outlet for the Chinese Communist Party’s “external propaganda.” Unexpectedly, due to one foolish misstep, Xinhua has stumbled.
When it comes to Communist Party mouthpieces stumbling, Xinhua is not the first, and definitely not the only one.
In recent years, especially since the Internet entered the era of self-media, ordinary people have frequently rained criticisms on Party media, including CCTV and People’s Daily, among others.
In 2023, People’s Daily Online published an article titled “Work Hard, Life Will Get Sweeter,” telling a motivational story of a couple from Henan who successfully started their own business. The intention was to resonate with readers, but it backfired. Some netizens parodied People’s Daily Online’s style with a humorous retort, saying, “Work hard, I will get you a wife next year!”
In 2023, CCTV Web posted a video on Bilibili titled “Earning Money with Strength Gives You Peace of Mind.” The story featured a character named Ran Guanghui, who worked tirelessly to support his family. However, netizens dubbed it as a “song that glorifies suffering.” After a few rounds of criticism, CCTV Web completely removed the video.
In 2023, Henan Daily released a video titled “How Healing is the Wheat Field in Spring!” The description was full of poetic imagery: “In Henan, the wheat fields in spring are so healing, with the earth covered in green poetic verses. In the spring of Henan, everything is lush and lively…”
While Henan Daily saw it as poetic, netizens saw it as off the mark. They asked the Party media, “If you have seen a father staying up all night guarding the well to irrigate the fields, unable to sleep, eyes bloodshot; if you have seen a mother carrying a box of pesticide that you can’t lift to the fields to spray; if you have experienced picking up peanuts dropped in the field one by one under the scorching sun, sweating but unable to finish, would you still find it healing?” Eventually, the video had to be taken down.
After nearly 28 years of Communist Party reign and 75 years of national calamity following its seizure of power, over the course of a century, violence and lies have been the driving forces of the regime.
When the Communist Party descended upon the earthly realm, the first words it spoke, “Communism,” were a lie. From then on, it has been a constant stream of deception. Phrases like “liberating suffering people worldwide,” “land redistribution is busy,” “serving the people,” “People’s Republic,” “faster and better construction of socialism,” “People’s communes are great,” “36,000 catties per mu,” “class struggle is a magic fix,” “Party, dear mother,” “dearness of the Party is deeper than the ocean,” “family affection ranks below loyalty to Chairman Mao,” “the proletarian cultural revolution is good,” “Confucius was a loyal son of the ruling class,” “let some people get rich first,” “Three Represents,” “scientific development outlook,” “Xi Jinping Thought,” “the people are the country, the country is the people,” and the like, are a series of lies shouted out by Communist Party mouthpieces. Formerly called “propaganda slogans,” now known as “spiritual chicken soup.”
As a Chinese person, from initial misperception and enjoyment to subsequent indifference, numbness, after belching from a full belly, and eventually nausea and disgust, the flood of “spiritual chicken soup” (poisonous soup, hallucinogenic soup) gushing out after holding back for so long! The people are breathing easy, and the CCP is thoroughly disfigured.
Originally, due to Japan’s past invasion of China, most Chinese people would not speak favorably towards Japan on topics related to it.
However, when Xinhua News Agency released this article smearing Japan on June 5th, before the Japanese even had a chance to react, Chinese netizens had already outmaneuvered the CCP, throwing it back in their face. Now, the CCP’s already disfigured face has been further blackened and is utterly unwatchable.