The recent remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae regarding “Taiwan’s situation” have stirred up the Chinese Communist Party. Amid the tense relations between China and Japan, various Chinese state media outlets have been loudly criticizing Japan. The party-controlled newspaper “Guangming Daily” published an article yesterday (21st), claiming that Chinese workers are voluntarily working overtime without pay in order to “counterattack” Japan. This report has sparked a wave of backlash online, with netizens calling it “sophistry.”
On November 21st, “Guangming Daily” published a front-page editorial by Deputy Editor-in-Chief Chen Pingao, in which he stated that some Chinese netizens commented: “I am an ordinary car worker on the assembly line. In order to counter Takaichi Sanae’s provocation, I have applied to my team leader to work an additional 5 shifts per month without pay starting this month.” The article even included the phrase, “Takaichi Sanaes, remember this…”
The hashtag #TakaichiSanaesRememberThis began circulating on Weibo. The article quickly sparked controversy on the platform:
“I hope that Guangming Daily’s Chen Pingao does not take credit for others’ actions. It’s two-faced, come work in the factory together.” “Deputy Editor Chen, what a well-written article that perfectly mixes low-grade propaganda with high-grade sophistry.” “Sophistry, don’t think we can’t see through it.” “Sinister motives, harboring evil intentions.” “The writers of these articles are sophists, are their thoughts still stuck in the last century?”
The article was later deleted from Weibo, but it remains on the official website of “Guangming Daily” and in reposted articles.
On overseas platforms, netizens commented on screenshots of the reposted article:
“This isn’t patriotic enough~ they should donate their organs for free so that soldiers can fight on the front lines without worry.” “If this is considered foolish, then what about saying ‘donate 50 million in war’ (from internet celebrity Zhang Xuefeng)?” “This article is comparable to the one from the time of the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, ‘Even as ghosts, we are happy.'” “They are all passive megaphones, with ten thousand different units only able to produce one voice, wasting air.” “North Korea isn’t even this shameless.” “Just change one word in the article, replace ‘Motherland’ with ‘Party.'”
As of now, “Guangming Daily” has not made any response.