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Patrick Boehler has published on China and Southeast Asia in four languages for publications in the US, Europe and Asia.
Allez les bleus! A sweeping victory by France over China at an international mahjong tournament has left the nation that invented the game of tiles in shock.
French players won gold, silver and bronze at the championship held last week in the medieval city of Toulouse, in southwestern France.
To complete the European dominance, the three were followed by two Italians and a Dutch player. The best Chinese player ranked only seventh. Among the 108 participants, 13 were Chinese citizens.
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News of the national humiliation went viral on Sina Weibo at the weekend. Mostly jocular microblog comments on the humbling defeat were shared tens of thousands of times.
“We cannot let foreign devils beat us," one person commented.
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"As a person from Chongqing, I feel the nation needs me now," said a resident of the city known to produce talented mahjong players.
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