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Comment by xlc0212 | Hacker News Reader

I want to point it out it is not only Chinese government, but also Chinese people, the people were enjoying the NBA, are abandoning it. This actually hurts the feeling of the fans.

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While this definitely exists, I’m not completely convinced the true intensity of the Chinese exactly matches the front that Beijing allows forth. I’m confident that most Chinese are unhappy (maybe very unhappy) with the comments, but an entirely organic nationwide boycott seems a little farfetched to me. Chinese aren’t robots; there’s significant variance of opinions and eagerness about politics among them just like all other humans.

However, if the government chooses to grease the wheels of fury or even light the flame via astroturfing while simultaneously censoring dissenting opinions, they look mighty unified.

Remember, this tweet was on _Twitter_. Twitter is banned in China, which raises the question of how this became such a mainstream issue there organically. Sure, I suppose it’s possible that an expat reshared it on Weibo and the entire country went bananas but that seems a like a bit of a stretch to me.

Why are you confident about Chinese? Do you have any evidence directly from mainland Chinese to support your arguments, or only speculations?

I am also confident that the Chinese aren't robots. Sadly I have no evidence directly from mainland China, you could say it's simply speculation.

They're abandoning anyone and everyone who hurt their feelings because of blind/toxic nationalism. Just take a look at this Weibo poll (there are no wrong answers):

https://twitter.com/rhokilpatrick/status/1181591094473052160

Let's not kid ourselves that there's any such thing as a genuine poll on a Chinese government communication poll. Give me a break.

Only because they are brainwashed by saturation lifelong propaganda.

Also hello to the MSS sockpuppet accounts joining the debate.

They maybe brainwashed, but so does a lot of other people.

but so are a lot of other people comrade xlc0212

One of the big problems I find with people supporting the Chinese position on something is that - are they really supporting it, or is this propaganda? Given the level of control on the media and internet there, it is impossible to know.

As I mentioned above, the Chinese are undoubtedly extremely sensitive about HK (I would argue due to propaganda but that’s irrelevant to the question). There is some amount of authenticity this (definitely at least 50%) and the HK protests are truly almost universally very unpopular in the mainland. That said, the degree to which this particular outrage is manufactured by Beijing vs organic is extremely difficult to determine.

for the nba case, i'm pretty sure its organic.. moreover, its chinese netizen pushes the gov to take action. the very first discussion happens probably on diba (sth like 4chan). then the screenshot of the tweet spread virally with outrage of netizens. after that the gov notices it and takes action

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