Tens of thousands of people in China are flocking to an unusual venue to vent their outrage about the continuing meltdown in the country’s stock market.
They’ve been posting comments on a Chinese-language social media account of the US Embassy in Beijing expressing anger and frustration with the market rout.
Mainland Chinese markets slumped again Monday after their worst week in years. More than 1,800 stocks on the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets, accounting for a third of all stocks listed in China, slumped more than 10%.
A post by the embassy Friday on Weibo about protecting wild giraffes in Africa attracted more than 160,000 comments, many of which were unrelated to animal protection.
“The US government, please help Chinese stock investors,” a user wrote in a repost of the article.
Many posts later appeared to be scrubbed by censors. Chinese authorities have recently stepped up their censorship of criticism about the stalled economy and market chaos.
I don’t but I’ll hazard a guess. Firstly censorship, they have to be careful what they say so maybe using the US Embassy account it’s a way of saying “we blame america” whilst still asking for help.
Secondly because of censorship maybe the general consensus that their downturn IS the result of US behaviour. So they believe their government has let them down and genuinely believe US can help them.
Maybe ironicly as well but I don’t see it, anyone else got suggestions?