China’s cracking on the panda invitation via the Internet

Visitors went down to the Washington National Zoo on Friday to see the disclosure of two pandas on loan from China. Fans posted pictures and videos on social media, as the zoo did Under the #DCPandas.

But in China, the government sent a chilling message to Banda fans to see what they say online. Some influencers were arrested online or interrogated about what the authorities called “rumors” and “radical fans culture”.

The police targeted the people who called for the welfare of animals or criticized external exchanges such as those that brought the panda to Washington. But government media also published warnings about the broader Panda Fandom. The movements come amid a campaign of suppression of Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the culture of the Internet fan.

There are millions of panda fans in China, many of whom have taken the reason for caring for animals in a country where Tactics of aggressive reproduction They were wounded and led to the separation of the cubs prematurely from their mothers. For years, the authorities have tolerated their activity and criticism online, which targeted Chinese and foreign zoos.

no more. Last month, the police in Sichuan Province said that they had arrested 12 people to stain panda experts, incite violence and publish wrong information about the panda, including two who used to live in the National Zoo.

The authorities accused Panda’s influences of harassment of employees in Chinese education centers and increasingly wealthy inner donations. Police claims that they have revealed “animal protection gangs” that focus on panda in three provinces, according to government media.

In an attempt to curb the internet cultureMr. Shi launched a war on Vandum on the Internet, and compared the enthusiastic groups with “evil sects.” The authorities detained sports fans to stain Chinese athletes, arrest people who gathered on airports to salute celebrities, and hung the K-POP fans.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to the questions sent on Wednesday morning.

The campaign shows a fragile extent in China, even when the topic is panda.

“These patriots” were sometimes encouraged or tolerated by the government, “said Xiao Qiang, a researcher in the University of California, Berkeley. “But when official accounts have new needs,” he added, “Panda fans can also be punished and arrested.”

Online influencers maintain fun social media pages, where users are connected to their favorite animals. These societies exploded during the epidemic, as people at home turned into rollers of muddy animals on bamboo. One Panda, projectHe has more than 880,000 followers on the Weibo platform. Panda is famous for attempts to escape harm, Meng LanHe has about 380,000.

Even panda lovers guaranteed politics changes. Their activity helped to push the National Forest Office to improve the standards of panda packages and prohibit people from payment Panda embrace.

When the Beijing Zoo pulled metal panels on Ming Lan windows last year, to prevent escape, activists immersed hot government lines and social media with complaints. The zoo removed the paintings and announced that it would renew the space.

This often helped that the invitation is saturated with nationalism, such as campaigns for The stunning panda return From the Memphis Zoo in 2023.

The National Zoo was a frequent target. The zoo app to import Pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao has almost raised 38,000 comments To the American government, some of them were partially written in Chinese. Many commentators mentioned the history of the zoo in using Invasive artificial education techniques.

“The panda is a symbol of China.” He said that the activity is a “unique mixture of advertising and protecting certain types” that can help “enhance political narration.”

But the accurate dance of the government with panda fans has ended. The arrests last month followed the detention in June of four people who followed a panda expert at a center of education in western China, screaming that he is a traitor to work with external zoos.

In December, Government News Agency Xinhua The fans warned against “allowing the love of irrational love in the field of panda protection”, and they call them “to create a good environment to develop giant panda protection research on the basis of science, rationality and peace.”

Sichuan authorities accused a sudden, middle -aged demographic group, of spending a lot of time online.

Police said that a woman has been publishing “more than 60 rumors and defaming videos that include giant panda since August 2023.” They accused a few wrong information on their relief for money. The authorities did not release the full names of people.

Sarah Cheng, a Chinese volunteer in Singapore with the Panda Group, which organized international campaigns for Panda’s well -being, while a few panda fans have resorted to severe measures, most of the others have reasonable requests.

She said, “They just want the panda to live better.” “They want them to have bamboo buds and bamboo suitable for eating.” But many of their concerns, “have not been dealt with or rejected.”