Despite the risks that may involve in publicly questioning or criticizing the government, netizens in #China flooded social media posts about the fire in #Urumqi and the subsequent official responses with criticism and skepticism, with many using repetition of words or...
... special symbols to express their despair. Either to mock the government officials’ responses to the tragedy or to prevent the posts from being censored online, many used the repetition of “yes,” “ok,” or “ha” in Mandarin under posts about the government’s response to the fire
Others are way more direct, as they point to the fact that the only fact is Urumqi and other parts of #Xinjiang have been placed under strict quarantine for more than 100 days.
Some say “can you imagine the last 100 days of the life of those who died in the fire were spent at home in lockdown?”
Another netizen cited a famous quote from Chinese author Lu Xun, saying if I stood by idly today, when troubles happen to me another day, no one will cheer me on.”
An angry netizen wrote “anything unreasonable will be twisted into a reasonable explanation when it’s cloaked with the idea of “pandemic prevention.”
Another one wrote “if this didn’t happen to us this time, it could happen to us next time. If it didn’t happen to our kids this time, it could happen to our kids next time. If they don’t change and reflect, no one can get away from it.”
“If we remain indifferent to problems in society, when tragedy happen to you next time, when you were in a truck that turned on its side, if you called the hot line but the ambulance can’t reach you, if you don’t speak out for others, who will speak out for you when you need it?
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