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GMMTV / Twitter
Actor Bright apologized for the content he tweeted.
China and Thailand have always been considered to have a good relationship with the outside world, but recently, the actor and girlfriend of a Thai idol drama posted on social media unexpectedly caused vocal criticism among netizens of the two countries.
Internet users from both countries responded on social networks Instagram and Twitter as of the weekend. Tens of thousands of posts are mainly tagged with #nnevvy and reached the top of Twitter’s trending list in Thailand, China, Hong Kong and elsewhere.
BBC Chinese leads you to understand the ins and outs of the incident.
Accused of “humiliating China”
The story begins with a Thai star named Vachirawit Chiva-aree. At 22, he is a leading actor in the Thai drama “Because we were born to be a couple” (also translated as “Dummy”), and the audience also calls him Bright. This gay school comedy broadcast this year has drawn a large following of loyal fans in Thailand, Taiwan and mainland China.
After a Thai photographer shared four landscape photos on Twitter, Bright retweeted the tweet, but in this tweet, the author refers to Hong Kong and Japan as countries.
This incident immediately caused dissatisfaction among some Chinese netizens. Bright later apologized for his personal account, saying he had not read it clearly, and the original author also deleted the tweet.
“I’m sorry for the retweets I didn’t consider. I just looked at the images and didn’t read the attached text carefully,” said Bright. “Next time I won’t have this error again.”
But the incident did not end there. Some Chinese netizens delivered the Bright Girlfriend message (nicknamed “Nnevvy”) on Instagram more than two years ago. Bright praised his girlfriend for looking good in clothes. “Like a Chinese girl.” “Than?” In another comment, she replied that her style is “Taiwanese girl”.
Not only that, some Twitter users “pulled out” the tweets that Nnevvy had posted. She was found to have retweeted another netizen’s post that the virus research institute in Wuhan had preserved 1,500 strains, including bats, and attached a report by China’s official media, China Daily.
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GMMTV
Bright (left) has won many fans for the television series “Because we are born together.”
Many Chinese netizens expressed more anger at this. They believe this observation is a kind of “conspiracy theory”, used to cater to “anti-China” forces, and to demonstrate that the new coronavirus “originated in Wuhan.”
Accusations by Chinese netizens have caused many Thai netizens to scoff. Some Thai netizens believe that it is an individual freedom to agree that Taiwan is a country, and some Thai netizens accuse China of “hiding the epidemic and causing the spread of the virus.”
Anger also spread within the Chinese firewall. The topic # Thailand #, # 泰 辱 华 # was put on China’s Weibo search list. Many netizens went to the movie review site “Douban” to give the play a bad review.
The Chinese translation of the Thai dramas “Tianfu Thai Drama” and “Hi Translation System” announced that they would stop translating the follow-up content for “Because we were born together.”
Even the National Tourism Administration of Thailand has to introduce itself and say that the speeches of individual artists cannot represent the national position.
“Humorous immunity”
Prajak Kongkirati, an assistant professor in the Policy Department of Thailand’s National University of Law and Political Science, said the war of words between Chinese and Thai netizens is “the strangest, most humorous and complicated” cyber warfare “in history of the two countries. “
He said that in this “war,” netizens in smaller countries like Thailand “had defeated the dragon king like China” with better criticism.
“Thai netizens also have better immunity and can laugh at the misfortune of their own country,” he said.
The “immunity” that Prajac refers to comes from the self-mockery of many Thai Twitter users. When Chinese netizens criticized Thailand and even pointed out the country’s “black history”, Thai netizens didn’t seem to mind and even used humor to solve it.
For example, a user suspected of being from China posted a photo of the 1976 massacre on the campus of Hosei University in Thailand, with a text saying “Is Thailand 1976? Terrible. # 中国”.
Many Thai netizens replied, “I hope they speak louder and help us remember this story.”
Some Chinese netizens accused Thailand of backward development, and Thai netizens replied, “Our government said this 30 years ago. What about that?” Some Thai netizens joked that Chiang Mai was also considered a country.
Some Hong Kong and Taiwan politicians and public figures also openly expressed their support for Thai netizens.
Huang Zhifeng, General Secretary of the Zhizhi Public of Hong Kong, tweeted: “Friends of Hong Kong and Thailand who appreciate freedom unite against Chinese harassment.”
Taiwan Mayor Taoyuan Zheng Wencan also thanked Thailand for its support. He said, “Thank you to our friends in Thailand. Thailand has always been a popular tourist spot for Taiwanese. I look forward to more exchanges after the new crown epidemic.”
China-Thailand relations
Despite these unpleasant, China and Thailand still have a very good relationship. A considerable number of Thai politicians and celebrities are of Chinese descent, and China has long been Thailand’s largest source of incoming tourist clients.
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AFP
The magnificent Wat Arun Temple in Bangkok is one of the landmarks of the city and is generally visited by a large number of Chinese tourists.
After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, some government agencies such as the Thailand Tourism Bureau and the Bangkok City Government produced videos to provide moral support. King Power, the country’s largest tax-free retailer, also produced a video of solidarity with China. In the video, people in the tourism industry waved the Chinese flag, including many celebrities, including Leicester City soccer stars and other Chinese celebrities who spoke Chinese. Thailand has yet to stop flights to and from China.
Today, some more sensitive Chinese netizens have also reached the hashtag #nnevvy to post articles, hoping the two sides can have more exchanges and understanding with each other, along with Chinese scenic spots, and invite Thais to to visit.
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