Chinese blogger fans flames of controversy by blaming ‘lazy and unpatriotic’ Australians for bush fires
- Post contrasting China’s handling of the 1987 Daxinganling wildfire with the current situation in Australia prompts vigorous debate
- Comments that blame fires on ‘human rights and democracy’ face criticism for turning a Chinese disaster into patriotic ‘song of triumph’ to gain clicks online
A viral blog that attacked Australia’s failure to stop the months-long bush fires and implied Chinese firefighters were braver and more patriotic has stirred a vigorous online debate.
The WeChat post contrasted the situation in Australia with China’s largest-ever wildfire, which lasted just under a month in 1987, and quickly racked up more than 23 million views after it was published.
The piece attracted more than 100,000 likes and multiple patriotic comments praising the country’s firefighters, but was criticised by high-profile media commentators for insensitivity and using nationalism to generate cheap viral clicks.
Friday’s article, titled “If it weren’t for the Australian bush fires, I would’ve never known that China was so powerful 33 years ago”, also suggested that Australian firefighters were lazy and unpatriotic for taking rest days, and claimed that “human rights and democracy” were responsible for the continuing fires.
“That’s right, Australia has the world’s best firefighting technology. But putting out fires depends not only on technology, but also on how much you love the people who live on this land,” wrote Yong Bo on the little-known WeChat blog Youth Courtyard.