An angry Chinese internet acquires privilege

 

Nashi joins a growing number of people in China who are under intense scrutiny for their privilege. Chinese actress Nashi was expected to have a breakout year this year with major roles in two blockbuster films and a TV drama that was highly anticipated. However, in June, the 35-year-old's star plummeted as a result of a controversy over her exam scores from more than a decade earlier, which sparked an online backlash and ultimately led to an official investigation into her academic record. The repercussions were immediate. The drama Lychees in Chang'an removed her name from the credits, and brands began cutting ties with her. She is one of a growing number of people in China who are under intense scrutiny because of their privilege, and the authorities have launched investigations to quell public outrage. Two actresses, a Harvard graduate, and a doctor from a prestigious Beijing hospital have all been affected by these viral scandals, all of whom are young women. They were accused of using connections in their families to gain an unfair advantage. One Weibo user states, "There is privilege every year, but this year there is more than ever." "I would love to see more scandals like this," wrote another. They truly open the eyes." According to research, a growing number of young Chinese people are dissatisfied with the economy's slowdown and rising unemployment rate believe that connections, or guanxi, outweigh hard work. Nashi, for example, was accused of enrolling in a prestigious drama school by utilizing her actress mother's connections. Her mother took part in the 1980s program, which was for Mongolian students of the same ethnicity as them. But then old interview clips came back, and she said that she didn't fulfill a crucial obligation. She said that she went to Norway to study after she graduated instead of returning to Inner Mongolia to work as the program required. At the same time that millions of high school seniors took the arduous university entrance exam known as Gaokao,

 speculation grew that Nashi would be accepted to the drama school in 2008. The lowest scores for that year were discovered by internet sleuths, who suspected they belonged to her. They inquired whether she only attended the drama school because of her mother. The allegation was so serious that officials eventually intervened to clarify that she had a significantly higher score. However, it wasn't enough. The scandal that set everything off Skanks on the internet aren't unique to China, but in a society with strict censorship, they've evolved into a much-needed outlet for anger, questions, or just plain disappointment. Since there are almost no independent media outlets in China, rumors and speculation can quickly spread through the vast social media landscape. In addition, in some instances, online users have conducted their own investigations to verify claims and uncover wrongdoing. That's what happened in April when Mr. Xiao and Ms. Dong, two doctors at a prestigious Beijing hospital who only went by their surnames, got caught up in a national uproar over an alleged love affair. Getty Images A girl walks with a dozen high school graduates into a Gaokao exam location while reading a book. Beginning in June, as millions of high school seniors took the strenuous Gaokao exam for university admission, speculation about Nashi grew. In a letter to his employer, Mr. Xiao's wife said that because he was dating Ms. Dong, he treated her better at work. One of her many claims eventually cost him his job: she said he had left a sedated patient on the operating table unattended for forty minutes to defend Ms. Dong in a fight with a nurse. The incident was shocking, but as attention shifted to Ms. Dong, it quickly escalated. She completed her education to become a doctor in just four years, as opposed to the minimum of eight, which enraged the internet. She was accused of plagiarizing her graduation thesis and cheating her way into an elite program at Peking Union Medical College, China's most prestigious medical school. The National Health Commission looked into the allegations and found that the outcry was so intense. In the hope that this would put an end to the controversy, authorities revoked Ms. Dong's medical license and degrees. Along with her family's political ties, her clinical experience, which covered a variety of specialties, also came under scrutiny. However, officials did not respond to those allegations, raising additional concerns regarding a cover-up. "There were setbacks at each stage. "There's no way they'll dig any deeper," declares a young Qingdao city doctor who declined to provide her name. She asserts that using "guanxi" to assist children in finding employment is not uncommon, but what she finds troubling is the "deep-rooted unfairness." She claims that she and her coworkers had never heard of the program from which Ms. Dong graduated, despite having worked for 11 years to become a resident: "We were all shocked when we learned about it." It is evident that it is not intended for normal people like us." This scandal was especially hurtful in China, which is a highly competitive country where doctors put in long hours to get a residency at top hospitals or just keep their jobs. She asked, echoing the disillusionment that was prevalent in the online comments, "Why is everything so unfair?" "As if we were their grandchildren, we work tirelessly to treat patients with the utmost care. However, our situation is far worse than Ms. Dong's. Getty Images During the commencement exercises at Harvard University, Yurong "Luanna" Jiang delivers the Graduate English Address while wearing colorful traditional Chinese clothing and a black rope. 

On the Chinese internet, Harvard graduate Yurong Luanna Jiang's speech at a graduation ceremony went viral. In June, the outrage directed at Harvard graduate Yurong Luanna Jiang was also fueled by this discontent. She got a lot of attention after her speech at a graduation ceremony went viral on the same day that a federal judge in the United States stopped President Donald Trump from preventing foreign students from attending Harvard. She talked about a difficult childhood that she spent "drifting from place to place" online and how hard study had given her everything she now has. She received initial applause for her call for unity in a divided world, and even some Chinese people commented that her words touched them. However, the Chinese internet quickly became enraged by her social media posts, and they began looking at her resume and challenging her claim that only hard work had brought her success. Her critics did not understand her challenges because they found flaws in every story and doubled down when she pushed back. She seemed to be yet another sign that many young Chinese people's opportunities were getting smaller. There have been layoffs, salary reductions, and a freeze on hiring as a result of the company's sluggish growth since Covid. Millions of graduates are having trouble finding work, settling for lower-paying jobs, or giving up on the race entirely. One RedNote user claimed that she had posted online in retaliation for these scandals, only to learn hours later that a job offer she had accepted had been withdrawn due to the company's hiring freeze. She wrote, "Sure enough, you'll never have the things you weren't born with in this lifetime." "You are aware of what you are" Twelve people stand on the street, courtesy of AFP and Getty Images This rage is not brand-new. The Chinese government has been censoring celebrities and influencers' excessive wealth displays for some time. However, there are things, like earrings, that can defy even their close observation. When skeptics on the internet began speculating that the earrings that actress Huang Yang Tian Tian had just worn were worth more than 2.3 million yuan (£237,100) They discovered that her father was a civil servant turned businessman, which led them to begin asking how she could afford them. After that, they learned that he had been employed by the local government in Ya'an, which was struck by a devastating earthquake in 2008. More inquiries about the family's wealth and allegations that they had benefited from post-quake recovery funds sparked the controversy.

 The authorities denied this and claimed that Ms. Huang's glass earrings were a cheap imitation of a luxury pair. However, not everyone agrees with them. "You know what you know," reads a comment on Weibo that has received over 1,000 likes. "Did the officials have a good time?" Another user inquires. Even though the Chinese Communist Party is worried enough to start an investigation, it does not appear that their quick response is sufficient. A RedNote user writes, "The loss of public trust didn't happen in a day or two." "It's the result of one investigation after another, one unsolved incident after another, that insults our intelligence." As the Party tries to deal with growing discontent, public anger persists. In addition, its message to young people is that they should strive for "national rejuvenation" by "eating bitterness," a Chinese expression for enduring hardship. However, as people debate the advantages enjoyed by "the elites," who are frequently referred to as "they," online, which is one of the few places where Chinese people still speak openly, that message appears to be hollow. A top-liked Weibo comment reads, "They are the reason why we worked so hard for three generations and are still in misery." "We earn money one cent at a time, while they embezzle hundreds of millions - and then they teach us that hard work leads to prosperity and that labor is honorable," reads another comment on RedNote, where no one in particular is being accused.