Posterous theme by Cory Watilo

Chinese Web Commentators Split on Kim Jong-Il's Funeral

[Ed: please see tealeafnation.com for more content]

Kim

On Weibo, Chinese netizens are once again focusing on Kim Jong-Il's death as images of his two-day long funeral are broadcast around the world. Indifference is rare, and most comments use the opportunity to reflect on the situation in China.

Slightly more than half of Weiboers who weighed in were glad to see Kim Jong-Il go. Referring to his cult of personality, one commenter wrote, "This…is not strange. Stalin did it. We once experienced it and now it's our North Korean brothers' turn." Another, enraged by North Korea's "evil" decision to build nuclear facilities near the Chinese border, would have been happy to see Kim die sooner. Some lashed out at the Chinese government. One netizen wrote, "what's interesting about continuously propagandizing this feudalist, imperialist, tyrannical, dictatorial stuff? Could it actually be so that [Chinese] study and imitate it?"

On the other hand, slightly less than half of commenters laud Kim Jong-Il and invoke Chinese patriotism. One commenter wrote, "resisting the U.S. and aiding North Korea is a means of defending our country," and compared the U.S. involvement in North Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam as efforts to stick a knife in China's head, waist and feet, respectively.  Another urged caution in judging North Koreans, writing, "there's nothing mysterious about them, and their lives are not necessarily as bland as we imagine. One era has passed and another begins; will North Korea be swallowed by 'American consciousness'?" One commenter was sympathetic to the Chinese leadership, arguing Chinese should love their Communist leaders as the North Koreans loved Kim Jong-Il. "Put yourself in their shoes for a moment," this netizen wrote; "can it be easy to lead a diverse country of 1.4 billion people?"

Netizens have taken particular interest in certain details of the funeral. Kim Jong-Il's ostensible final order--to give a fish to each resident of Pyongyang--mostly inspired derision. One netizen wrote: "from this, we can imagine the level of ridiculousness that the system has come to--from this, we can know the [North Korean] government has no road left to walk--now we just wait for the collapse."  Another was simply impressed Kim signed the order himself, writing, "no wonder Kim Jong-Il died of exhaustion; wouldn't even a party secretary [in China] be too lazy to do this?"

Commenters were also interested in Xinhua reports that North Koreans laid down their coats on the snowy road to prevent cars in the funeral procession from slipping. One dismissed this gesture, writing that the masses helped lay the road for Jesus' trip in Jerusalem, only to crucify Jesus later, adding, "do not think the people truly support the Kim family; humans are capable of great hatred."

Many commentators noted the parallels between Kim Jong Il's funeral and Mao Zedong's funeral. One wondered aloud how many of the tears at Mao's own funeral were real.

Finally, commenters debated whether North Koreans' tears were real.  One asked, "can they choose not to cry? Is it a crime not to cry?…Being unable to express your own emotions, now that's tragic!" But another netizen was certain, writing the tears "come from the heart, because in this evil world, they do not know who will protect them as Kim Jong-Il once did."

For more comments on North Korea, see also our earlier post 'Chinese Netizens React to the Death of Kim Jung Il'.