The prominent patriotic influencer 'Eagle of God' recently shared a post on his Weibo account that included a video featuring the June Fourth 'Tank Man,' which led to his account being banned. (Screenshot)
[People News] The well-known patriotic influencer 'Eagle of God' posted on his Weibo account to discuss an incident involving Chinese individuals who were attacked in Japan earlier. The video he shared included footage of the June Fourth 'Tank Man,' resulting in his account being banned. Despite this, mainland netizens celebrated, calling it 'good news on the first day of August.'
According to reports from Japanese media, two Chinese individuals were seriously injured on Thursday morning near Kanda Station in Tokyo's subway after being attacked by four strangers armed with iron pipes. Once the news reached mainland China, it quickly became a trending topic on Weibo.
Recognised as a 'Good Internet Citizen of China,' 'Eagle of God,' who changed his name to 'Loyal and Unwavering Aijiao' in 2024, discussed the incident on July 31 in the afternoon on his Weibo account, which boasts over 2 million followers.
According to Lianhe Zaobao, 'Eagle of God’s' post not only summarised the events but also included a video report from Japanese media. This video was sourced from YouTube, a platform banned in China, and featured the highly sensitive 'Tank Man' footage at the end. As a result, 'Eagle of God’s' Weibo account was swiftly banned the following day (August 1).
The abrupt 'disappearance' of God’s Eagle has drawn significant attention from internet users. Some remarked that witnessing God’s Eagle being 'banned' was both amusing and nerve-wracking. 'The takeaway from this incident is that sharing videos from foreign websites carries risks; if you don’t watch the entire video before sharing, you might end up in trouble.' 'In a country where even a single photo or a sentence is treated as a major threat, it’s surprising to see foolish five-centre trying to gloss over the situation.'
Following the suspension of his account, a wave of celebration swept through mainland Weibo, with many users expressing their delight, stating 'there’s good news on the first day of August,' sarcastically implying that God’s Eagle 'died in the line of duty' or 'was crushed by the very bricks he carried.' Some prominent Weibo accounts even launched a retweet lottery to enhance the celebratory mood.
Moreover, some netizens made further wishes on Weibo, saying, 'Let’s see “Lonely Smoke and Late Cicadas” get banned, let’s see “Sweet Potato Bear Old Six” get banned,' and 'When will the whole mother cult catch up?' 'One of the Six Gentlemen of Okamoto has been banned; the other five should quickly follow suit.'
Lonely Smoke and Late Cicadas, and Sweet Potato Bear Old Six boast 7.35 million and 6.67 million followers on Weibo, respectively, and like God’s Eagle, they are prominent figures among patriotic internet celebrities promoting positive energy. In 2020, they collectively retweeted an advertisement for 'high-quality hairy crabs,' with a unified caption 'can choose all females' (female crabs have more roe), and many customers who placed orders later discovered they had been scammed, leading to this group being ironically dubbed the 'whole mother cult.'
A report by端传媒 in 2021 highlighted that God’s Eagle gained notoriety on Weibo for his frequent political denunciations, first entering the public eye in China in August 2017.
At that time, the God of Eagles shared a photo on Weibo, stating, 'Four individuals labelled as 'Jingri' dressed in World War II Japanese military uniforms took photos at the renowned anti-Japanese site and patriotic education base, the Sihang Warehouse, at night, maliciously desecrating the spirits of the heroes, which is infuriating. Please spread this.' This post was widely retweeted and praised by numerous netizens, along with favourable coverage from state media.
The BBC reported that the emergence of these patriotic internet celebrities is closely tied to the recent surge of nationalism in China. It noted that they frequently employ sharp language to criticise Western countries and media, expressing their views on various issues such as feminism, democracy and human rights, and the perceived 'erosion' of Western ideologies in Chinese society.
The report indicated that it remains unclear whether these internet celebrities have direct ties to the authorities, but some have indeed been invited by local governments to participate in events or have been awarded honorary titles. △
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