Trending in Beijing: Online Manhunt for Unruly Train Passenger
Trending in Beijing wraps up the top stories and hashtags Beijingers have been discussing on Chinese social media this week, exclusively for the Beijinger by What’s on Weibo editor-in-chief Manya Koetse.
1. Controversial Proposal for One-Year Maternity Leave
“They'll really do anything to let us have more babies," some say
Over the past weeks, Chinese social media has seen countless discussions in response to new measures or proposals that, against the backdrop of China’s dropping birth rates and aging society, are aimed at encouraging Chinese young couples to get married and have more babies.
The latest controversial proposal comes from Professor Yuan Ailing (袁爱玲) at the South China Normal University, who recommends the maternity leave in China to be extended to one year. The proposal has been widely shared by Chinese state media over the past few days.
Currently, working mothers in China are entitled to 98 days of maternity leave, commencing two weeks before the child is expected. If a pregnancy results in a miscarriage within four months, there is a 15-day leave; if it is after four months of pregnancy, it is 42 days.
The one-year maternity leave proposal has ignited another social media storm. One thread on the issue by People’s Daily received over 25,000 comments at time of writing, with more than 10,000 shares. The hashtag 'proposing one-year maternity leave' (#建议让女性休满一年产假#, jiànyì ràng nǚxìng xiū mǎn yī nián chǎnjià) already had more than 30 million views.
Many commenters are not happy with the proposal. “Companies won’t recruit female workers anymore,” they say, fearing that the labor market position of young women without children will be affected if such a law would actually be implemented. Others wonder why the burden of child-rearing in the first year is solely put on women.
Companies won't recruit female workers anymore.
“They’ll really do anything to make us have second babies,” some female commenters replied.
This is not the first time experts are calling for an extension of China’s maternity leave. For years, Beijing’s National People’s Congress delegate Wang Youjun (王幼君) has been advocating a three-year maternity leave for Chinese women. The businessman argues that children need their mother nearby when they are still young and that mothers of young children have trouble combining their household responsibilities with their career, which supposedly negatively influences their work and that of their co-workers.
But then, just as now, an overwhelming majority of social media users said such measures would only weaken the position of women in Chinese society today.
What if women have six months maternal leave, and men do, too (paternal leave). "It's fair, then we won't have gender-based discrimination in the workplace.
“What if women have six months maternal leave, and men do, too (paternal leave),” one commenter proposes on Weibo: “It’s fair, then we won’t have gender-based discrimination in the workplace.”
2) Online Manhunt for Seat-Stealing Man on Beijing-Bound Train
The PHD graduate is now blacklisted, reputation is damaged
A top trending story on Weibo this week concerned the peculiar behavior of a man on a G334 express train from Jinan to Beijing, who sat in a seat that belonged to another passenger. His actions turned out to have great consequences.
On Tuesday morning, Aug 21, a woman filmed (see above) how the man refused to stand up from the window seat she had booked. “What’s wrong with you?” a train conductor asks him: “Are you unwell? Did you drink too much?” When the man denies, she continues to ask: “So why won’t you stand up?” The man first says, “I don’t know,” but then later claims he is disabled and will need a wheelchair to get up from his seat – even though he did not require one when boarding the train.
The anonymous poster of the video writes that the man absolutely refused to give up his seat and that he told the female passenger that she had three other options instead: “You can stand, you can sit in the seat I booked, or you can go to the dining car to sit.”
You can stand, you can sit in the seat I booked, or you can go to the dining car to sit.
After the video went viral on Weibo and WeChat last week, being shared thousands of times within two days' time, and even temporarily becoming the #1 trending topic on Weibo’s hot search lists, the man’s identity was revealed through an online manhunt.
The story became the number one topic in Weibo's 'hot searches' lists
The passenger was discovered to be 33-year-old Mr. Sun from Linyi in Shandong, the holder of a Doctoral Degree in Economics from a renowned South Korean university.
A close friend of Sun told Nanfang Daily that he usually is a “helpful and hard-working” man, who now “greatly regrets” his behavior on the train that day. Sun himself also made an apology video (see below), which was posted by various media.
His regret is understandable. Since his identity has been revealed, authorities have fined the man (a modest RMB 200/USD 29) and have put him on a temporary blacklist that will ban him from buying train tickets. “He has been exposed by the internet, netizens have scolded him, this will influence his life and his career,” one top commenter on Weibo says.
He has been exposed by the internet, netizens have scolded him, this will influence his life and his career.
“He doesn’t deserve such a harsh punishment for taking someone’s seat,” some netizens say: “He has apologized, and we need to be tolerant.” Next time, however, he’ll probably think twice before taking someone else’s place.
3) Beijing Launches First “Panda Culture Week”
Okay, China, we know you love pandas
As if it wasn’t already clear enough that the panda is China’s national symbol, Beijing has now launched its first “Panda Culture Week” with the aim of promoting the giant panda as a cultural symbol to the world.
An exhibition at the China Millennial Monument in Haidian is an integral part of the week, as well as a gala that took place earlier this week at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sanlitun. The event, that will take place bi-annually from now, started on Aug 23 and lasted until Aug 26 (yesterday).
One of this year’s ‘panda ambassadors’ is China’s ‘Super Girl’ singer Li Yuchun, better known by her stage name Chris Lee. Li also comes from Sichuan, home of the Giant Panda.
The panda has been a cultural symbol of China and a state priority since the 1960s, when China’s first wild animal protection reserve focused on panda protection was opened in Sichuan.
This new cultural event is also to commemorate the fact that China’s efforts to prevent the extinction of the panda started half a century ago.
Earlier this year, experts stated that the Giant Panda no longer faces the threat of extinction, but there is still much to be done to increase its population in the wild.
Feel like celebrating the Panda Week yourself? iPanda (en.ipanda.com) livestreams directly from the Research Center for the Giant Panda in Chengdu so you can see China’s favorite ‘national treasures’ at all hours of the day.
To see more topics that have been trending in the capital recently, go here.
By Manya Koetse @manyapan
What’s on Weibo editor-in-chief
Manya Koetse is the editor-in-chief of whatsonweibo.com.
She is a writer and consultant (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends in
China, with a focus on social media and digital developments, popular
culture, and gender issues.
Images: Weibo, China News
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