Divided Internet camps will soon be part of history
0 
I don't know when the terms "Wu Mao (five mao, or 0.50 yuan) Party" and "Five Cents Party" began to be used online to attack people speaking either for, in the first case, or against, in the second, the Chinese government.
But the two terms have become more and more popular, especially the first. Even at the Second China-Germany Media Forum, hosted by the Global Times in Berlin, the two countries' elites debated heatedly over the issue.
We can't deny the possibility that authorities hire people to post comments online in order to "guide public opinion." It may even be five mao a post, as, for instance, the Changsha publicity department is reported to have paid.
We also see claims that there are some Western anti-China organizations which incite some people to tarnish China's image with a few US dollars. Calling people members of the "Wu Mao Party" or the "Five Cents Party" is not entirely groundless. But we believe that most of the people making comments online do so of their own volition, not for financial reward.
The spread of the two terms shows that China's Internet world has become divided, chaotic, and mean. Under such circumstances, no matter how honest those people who praise China's progress are, or how sincere some people's criticisms are, the sharp division has become an established fact.
There is no way for them to communicate calmly. So the two parties give each other the labels of "Wu Mao Party" and "Five Cents Party" in a disdainful tone to prove the dishonesty of the opposite side. This hardly helps anybody.
The existence of the "Wu Mao Party" and "Five Cents Party" reminds us constantly that we must hold a practical and realistic attitude toward various opinions online. The thousands of PR companies online are now generating armies of fake personas to make one-sided, ungrounded comments on particular topics to create a fake sense of public feeling. It undoubtedly increases people's suspicions about how representative online opinions can really be.
Where we need to be more cautious is that because under the international background of the fierce fight over different values between China and foreign countries, the public opinion online could be manipulated by overseas forces which would have harmful political consequence.
As a result, eliminating the false and retaining the true seem more and more important when it comes to really trying to discern the public will online. Judging by the Internet itself, it is hard to be rational.
The 420 million Chinese netizens must have the wisdom to make a clear distinction between right and wrong. We should not relay erroneous information or blindly support our own camp.
It is true that China has many defects and problems. But perhaps one day these defects and problems do not need to be covered up by the "Wu Mao Party" and those intentional smears by the "Five Cents Party" will not influence the public's basic ability to judge between true and false. The debate over different opinions should be more rich and rational instead of just two parties attacking each other.
Actually the more prosperous and strong a country is, the smaller the possibility of such camps appearing. A strong society would be able tolerate critics and its citizens could also resist the temptation of money from overseas.
By then the terms "Wu Mao Party" and "Five Cents Party" will disappear naturally in the advancement of Chinese society, just as the oblivion of measuring a rich family by only 10,000 yuan ($1,538) in the early 1980s. They will become a relic of a pre-modern and underdeveloped society.
Go to Forum >>0 Comments