Visitors witnessed the celebration of two pandas from China at Washington's National Zoo on Friday. Fans posted zoo-like photos and videos on social media under the hashtag #dcpandas.
But in China, the government has sent a chilling message to panda fans to watch Panda fans online. Some online influencers have been arrested or questioned over what authorities call “rumors” and “radical fan culture.”
Police have targeted people who criticize foreign exchanges, such as animal welfare advocates or bringing pandas to Washington. But state media also broadcast warnings about the wider Panda Fandom. The moves join Chinese leader Xi Jinping's forays into Internet fan culture.
China has millions of panda fans, many of whom have taken up the cause of animal welfare in the country Aggressive breeding tactics injured and resulted in prematurely separated cubs from their mothers. Over the years, authorities have tolerated online activism and criticism targeting both Chinese and foreign zoos.
No more. Last month, police in Sichuan province arrested 12 people for defaming panda experts, inciting violence and spreading false information about pandas, including those living at the National Zoo.
Officials have blamed attackers at Chinese panda breeding centers on influencers and the rise of wealth through LiveStream donations. Police claim to have uncovered panda-focused “radical animal protection groups” in three provinces, according to state media.
In a proposal for a reassessment of Internet cultureMr Xi, in a war on online fandom, has compared enthusiast groups to “evil cults”. Authorities have caught sports fans defaming Chinese athletes, people greeting celebrities and airport scrubs that have suspended k-pop fan accounts.
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to questions sent Wednesday morning.
Castdown shows how fragile discourse can be in China, even when the subject is pandas.
“These civilian 'patriots' were sometimes recommended by the government or turned into toletics,” said Xiao Qiang, an Internet freedom researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. “But when the official narrative needs a new one,” he said, “Panda fans can also be punished and jailed.”
Online influencers maintain playful social media pages where users coalesce around their favorite animals. These communities exploded during the pandemic as people stuck at home became a reel of animals munching on bamboo. a panda, A productHe has more than 880,000 followers on the Weibo platform. A panda famous for his mischievous escape attempts, Meng lanthere are about 380,000.
Panda enthusiasts even provided security changes. Their activism helped the National Forestry Bureau improve standards for panda enclosures and ban people from paying for them hug the panda.
When Beijing Zoo closed the windows of Meng Lan's enclosure with metal plates last year, activists flooded government hotlines and social media with complaints to prevent an escape. The zoo has removed the tiles and announced it will renovate the space.
It helped that he was often as interested in nationalism as propaganda returning a broken panda From the Memphis Zoo in 2023.
The National Zoo has often been a target. Zoo application to import pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao approx 38,000 comments to the American government, some of which were partly written in Chinese. Many commentators have noted the Zoo's history of use Invasive artificial breeding techniques.
“Pandas are a symbol for China,” Mr Xiao said. Activism, he said, is “a particular kind of advocacy and a particular kind of advocacy” that can help promote a political narrative.
But the careful dance with the government's panda fans is over. Last month's arrests followed the surveillance of four men, including a panda expert at a breeding center in western China who was a traitor to work with zoos abroad.
State News Agency in December Xinhua Calling supporters to create a good environment for giant panda conservation on the basis of science, rationality and peace, saying “violation of harmlessness from irrational love, let them harm the panda conservation area”. “
Authorities in Sichuan, middle-aged, middle-aged, spent a lot of time online.
Police said a woman “has circulated more than 60 rumors and defamatory videos involving giant pandas since August 2023.” They charged several misinformation spreads on CaniStreams for money. The authorities did not release the full names of the people.
While a few panda fans have resorted to extreme measures, most others have reasonable requests, says Sarah Cheng, Sarah Cheng of China Volunteers with Panda Voices, a group that organizes international campaigns for panda welfare.
“They just want the pandas to live better,” he said. “They want these to be bamboo shoots and proper bamboo to eat.” But a lot of concerns, he said: “They've basically been fired or fired.”