Trending searches on Weibo: COVID-19 in Jilin; Paralympic Winter Games; H.E. Justin Sun
One of the 两会 Two Sessions, the fifth session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, China's top political advisory body), held its closing meeting on Thursday [Xinhua: China's top political advisory body wraps up annual session].
The other one, the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature body, will hold its closing meeting Friday. Premier Li Keqiang will meet the press after the closing meeting, which is normally the last focus of attention of the Two Sessions every year.
If you want to get a broader picture about China's development in the long-term, you can check the 中华人民共和国国民经济和社会发展第十四个五年规划和 2035 年远景目标纲要 Outline of the People’s Republic of China 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives through the Year 2035 (Chinese), which was approved by the fourth session of the NPC during the Two Sessions last year. Ginger River didn't find a full translation version of the outline from the government, but the Center for Security and Emerging Technology of Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service has provided a full translation of that, which can be a reference for you.
Today’s newsletter on hot searches on Weibo, a Twitter-like Chinese social media platform, is mainly about the COVID-19 epidemic in northeast China's Jilin Province, the Paralympic Winter Games and H.E. Justin Sun, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Grenada to the WTO and founder of TRON.
Thursday's top 10 trending searches on Weibo as of 7:00 p.m. (1100 GMT):
1. COVID-19 epidemic at Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University
吉林农业科技学院疫情
2. Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University transfers students of close contact of COVID-19 cases from campus [to places of quarantine]
吉林农业科技学院将密接次密接学生转运出校
3. [Athletes] smile and cry after getting Shuey Rhon Rhon [mascot of the Beijing Paralympic Winter Games]
得到金容融后笑着笑着就哭了
4. Party chief of Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University was dismissed from his post
吉林农业科技学院党委书记被免职
5.The weather app on iPhone does not work any more
苹果手机天气不能看了
(It seemed to be a temporary problem. Ginger River checked and found it had resumed normal operations)
6. Justin Sun is being investigated by FBI [claims The Verge]
FBI调查孙宇晨
7. Russia to no longer participate in Council of Europe -- Xinhua
俄罗斯将不再参加欧洲委员会
8. Press briefing on Shanghai's epidemic situation [More venues closed as Shanghai reports 26 new COVID-19 infections -- Shanghai Daily]
上海疫情发布会
9. "It was too late for my boyfriend to escape"
#男朋友想逃已经来不及了#
(It was a social media hashtag event for netizens to share their love stories)
10. Chelsea, Roman Abramovich [The U.K. sanctions Roman Abramovich, halting his plan to sell Chelsea Football Club -- NPR]
切尔西 阿布
(Ginger River has reported the Chinese soccer enthusiasts' attention to Abramovich in a newsletter before.)
#1, #2 and #4 were all related to COVID-19 epidemic at Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University
Northeast China's Jilin Province reported the highest number of locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and the highest number of local asymptomatic cases among all the provinces and regions in China for Wednesday (165 of 402, and 179 of 435, respectively), according to the National Health Commission.
Jilin's cases drew people's attention to the Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University, which saw an outbreak at a student residence. Students of close contact of the COVID-19 cases were being transferred from campus to places of quarantine and the party chief of the Chinese university was sacked.
Chinese university chief sacked after Covid outbreak at student residence infects dozens -- SCMP
Zhang Lifeng, the Communist Party secretary and top manager of the Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University, was dismissed on Thursday afternoon, Jilin provincial party committee said in a terse notice that did not state the reason.
The local health commission has announced that 57 people had tested positive at an unnamed university residence on Tuesday. They did not name the site in question, but said it was in the city’s Jiuzhan neighbourhood, where the agricultural university, which has around 13,500 staff and students, is located.
Obviously, the government upholds its "dynamic zero infection" approach.
3. [Athletes] smile and cry after getting Shuey Rhon Rhon [mascot of the Beijing Paralympic Winter Games]
得到金容融后笑着笑着就哭了
When Guo Yujie, the second gold winner of the Chinese team in the Beijing Paralympic Winter Games, was interviewed by the media, her housemate Wang Yue came back. Wang added a bronze medal from the women's middle distance vision impaired to China and was awarded a Shuey Rhon Rhon, the fluffy red lantern-shaped Paralympic mascot. The two girls laughed, hugged each other and cried. Guo said she had a sense of inferiority as a child and hid her hands when she went out. After doing sports, she changed. "I do not feel bad any more when I walk outside. And I fight for my country!" -- Footage of interview from CCTV
6. Justin Sun is being investigated by FBI
FBI调查孙宇晨
Justin Sun is being investigated by FBI, claims The Verge -- Cryptocurrency News
The Verge's "The Many Escapes of Justin Sun" by Christopher Harland-Dunaway revealed that Justin Sun is being invested by SEC and FBI.
In a report from The Verge, the author said that the SEC and FBI are investigating Justin Sun
The Verge report also said that Sun has a wash trading set-up in Beijing and also performed illicit activities via Poloniex exchange
In response, Sun claimed that the report was "a blatant defamation about the Poloniex operation" and that it has state-of-the-art KYC
The alleged investigation of FBI on H.E. Justin Sun, a crypto mogul, was also widely followed Thursday evening, even though cryptocurrency was outlawed in China and Sun himself was reported banned from leaving the country, which he denied. Curiously, some online users are commenting on the fact that they mistakenly thought that it was Hua Chenyu, a Chinese singer and songwriter, was under FBI investigation.
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Explainer: For people who are unfamiliar with 微博热搜 hot search on Weibo, conceptually, the ranking of the hot searches is updated once every minute by calculating the popularity level of a certain topic during a certain time of period (12 hours, for instance). Because Weibo didn't unveil its full algorithm for its hot search ranking, Ginger River cannot give you a perfect answer. Similar situation applies to rankings of WeChat and Douyin (the Chinese equivalent to TikTok).
Ginger River normally selects rankings as of 7 p.m. , or 8 p.m. for this newsletter. For reference, China's 新闻联播 "Xinwen Lianbo," the daily evening news bulletin containing the most important news items for the day is broadcasted by China Central Television at 7 p.m.
Disclaimer: Analysis contained in this newsletter reflects the personal views of Ginger River, not those of Xinhua.