Pro and anti-Taiwan sentiments appeared to rule Weibo in equal measure as news of Wednesday’s earthquake on the island spread. By all accounts, it was the strongest to hit Taiwan in 25 years causing massive power outages, collapsing buildings and triggering tsunami warnings as far as Japan and the Philippines. Fortunately, fatalities were few, numbering nine.
On Weibo, sympathy and cynicism was evident in the staggering 520 million views that the quake gathered. A prominent user on Weibo with a Red Star verification—a symbol of high status on the platform—called Taiwan “the enemy” and a “stumbling block” to China’s progress, dismissing the notion of kinship between the people of Taiwan and China as mere fantasy.
His comments drew eyeballs given that Red Star verification indicated he was a producer of “exceptional content”, that was both engaging and positive. Whether describing Taiwan as an enemy made for positive content is a million dollar question. But such categories enjoy enhanced visibility on Weibo, preferential positioning in search outcomes and the possibility of brand partnerships.
Other nationalistic minded users described the earthquake situation as “double blessings come to the door,” meaning it would help China in the long term to absorb Taiwan. Some went to the extreme, demanding that the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) use this “favourable moment”, to invade the island under cover of offering humanitarian assistance.
A Chinese local TV host posted a video saying that he hopes every time an earthquake happens to Taiwan, Japan gets affected.
As if to balance the negative comments coming in, Weibo released a public statement cautioning its users against posting derogatory remarks about Taiwan’s earthquake. It said it had deleted more than 300 comments and banned over 20 users for passing negative remarks about the disaster.
Fortunately, other netizens denounced the critical comments and sent their prayers to the Taiwanese people. One wrote that as a survivor of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, he did not find any of these posts funny. Some suggested that the PLA help.
“In such a big earthquake, I personally feel that it is necessary for the People’s Liberation Army to provide support.”
