Taiwanese financial expert mocked for saying many mainland Chinese ‘can’t afford pickles’
- Huang Shih-tsung said on television that the economy must be in trouble because shares in a well-known producer of the condiment were down
- Social media users posted pictures of costly items like seafood since ‘pickles are too expensive for every day, so we have to have other food now and then’
A Taiwanese financial expert’s remark on a television show that many mainland Chinese could not afford a 2 yuan (28 US cents) packet of pickles – a popular condiment usually made from mustard tuber – has been met with derision and disbelief across the strait.
Social media users had a field day on Friday mocking Huang Shih-tsung after he concluded on the EBC News show Crucial Moment that the mainland Chinese economy must be in serious trouble because shares in a well-known pickles manufacturer were down.
“Everyone knows [mainlanders] add pickles to their instant noodles. Middle-class and low-income, they always have pickles when the economy is good,” Huang said during his regular segment on the show on Wednesday.
“Recently, shares in Peiling Pickles have been falling because they can’t afford to buy pickles,” he said, mispronouncing Fuling Pickles, a company based in the city of the same name near Chongqing in southwest China.
The comment drew a similar reaction to that of a Taiwanese professor who, in 2013, declared on television that mainlanders were too poor to afford tea eggs. The popular street food, made by cracking the shell of a boiled egg then boiling it again in tea, sauce or spices and letting it steep to absorb the flavour, usually costs about 2 yuan.
On Friday, mainlanders took to social media to express their disbelief over the pickles remark – mainly with a sense of humour – after state-run tabloid Global Times posted the video clip of Huang on Weibo, China’s Twitter. It has been liked, commented on or forwarded by more than 930,000 users since it was posted on Thursday.
Mainland Chinese responded with photos of pickles under the hashtag “Taiwan programme said mainlanders can’t afford pickles”. Some posted pictures of more costly items like seafood, because “pickles are too expensive for every day, so we have to have other food now and then”.
One person wrote: “I had pickles with my rice porridge today. I even had a tea egg. Oh how rich I am.”
Others were baffled at how a Taiwanese financial expert could be so ignorant of life on the mainland.
“Why does Taiwan have such a biased view of the mainland? Is the news blocked that mainland China has been developing? Just how outdated is their information – how can someone say something so ignorant?” one comment read.
After ad goes viral, hotel in China denies it is selling boiled eggs for US$421
The Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China also weighed in, posting a photo of instant noodles topped with pickles and a tea egg, which drew many more pictures and comments.
Fuling Pickles was quick to seize the marketing opportunity, announcing on its Weibo account on Thursday, “Can’t afford pickles? We’ll give them to you for free!” The company said it would hold a lucky draw on social media with the prize of a carton of pickles for 10 people.
Shares in the Shanghai-listed company rose 1.55 per cent to 22.24 yuan on Friday, while the Shanghai Composite Index closed down 0.71 per cent.
Wednesday’s episode of Crucial Moment was removed from the EBC News website on Thursday night, but reappeared on Friday with Huang’s remarks about pickles removed.
