A personal observation on the Chinese graffiti on Brick Lane in the UK

Anyone who has been to the Mainland probably knows that slogans are everywhere in the Mainland, just like advertisements in other places. In the old Mao era, people were familiar with the phrase "serve the people". How great and noble it was. I knew that some foreigners regarded him as an idol because of this. However, everyone also knew that paying the bill was counted. Propaganda phrases That’s it, if you take it seriously you will lose.

These slogans are very common in rural areas. Some of them are crudely painted on the walls. Because the brick walls are mostly red, they are painted with a layer of white paint first and then written in red oil on top. The intention is obvious. In the past, it was mostly Mao Mao's remarks, such as "grasping the revolution to promote production," and also the promotion of government policies, such as the birth policy. Later, it was changed to written on cloth strips and hung up, and then developed into printed banners. It is widely seen in Hong Kong and can be seen on the streets, which greatly affects the city appearance.

Today, this kind of slogan can be a decoration of the city or a kind of propaganda, but what should be promoted is a matter of opinion. For example, does the picture above remind everyone of the core values ​​of socialism? Or it’s propaganda, what you have, we have too. And over the years, everyone gradually realized that their writing skills were fake, and they only wrote what they didn't have. For example, in mainland cities, we often see them reminding everyone to be civilized people and build a civilized society. You wouldn’t see this kind of propaganda in cities like Hong Kong or Taipei, would you? Because we are already a civilized city, we no longer need to talk about it all the time. People and cities that are not civilized enough need to be reminded of it all the time. It's a pity that when they come back, they have already done what they said, so they feel civilized by hanging these propaganda everywhere. He even dared to show his sword and said, "You are blind. We have democracy and freedom everywhere, and you are making irresponsible remarks to discredit us." The highest level of deception is to believe it yourself.

Going back to the graffiti incident in Brick Lane, England, they were not the work of one person, but a group of people, but it seemed that the representative was a Chinese international student. What their (or only his) motivations were, it seems unclear, the representative student later The IG message said it was not politically motivated and was intended to spark further discussion. How old-fashioned is this really, using the core values ​​of socialism as the title and then saying that it has no political stance? What a person says or does not say is already a political stance. How can an artist not paint anything but not have a political stance? Graffiti in public places is by no means an appropriate space for discussion. Others can graffiti on top of your graffiti, and there will be no response from the team. On the contrary, the student representatives responded several times on IG, but it was not a rational and useful discussion. Instead, it aroused opposition and support from all walks of life. In the end, the student representatives complained about being bullied online and stopped responding, and the incident was resolved. Let it go.

Different media have reported a lot of space, each with their own orientation. Some are from a political perspective, some are from an artistic perspective, some are based on moral standards, and even some are from a tourist attraction perspective. It is really a hundred schools of thought contending. However, most descriptions claim that they are graffiti with twenty-four Chinese characters. Obviously they are twelve core values ​​of socialism, so why do people only see them as twenty-four Chinese characters? Because "I can recognize all the words, but put them together and I don't understand them"? Or maybe everyone understands that the magical country is just a blur of words and words. People have their own interpretations, and their democracy, freedom, and even the rule of law have their own definitions. People no longer think that because the words are the same, they are the same as the universal values ​​recognized by others. In fact, they are the difference between apples and oranges, so they can simply regard them as the twenty-four Chinese characters.

As for online comments, there are both support and opposition, which is normal, but to insist that this is irony is a bit hasty. The biggest reason is that no one knows this group of people, and no one clearly knows the political background and stance of the spokesperson, what remarks he has made in the past, and what stance he has taken. People who have lived abroad for many years and live in the free world can still "do things" for the Chinese government, and there are quite a few of them.

For example, not long ago, a person signed by "Jing Haihou" published an online article "What kind of Hong Kong do we need?" which attracted attention. The article seemed to criticize some officials and members of Hong Kong for overcorrecting, which has made Hong Kong's situation increasingly worse. severe. For Hong Kong people, they will think that the central government has pointed out these problems and is trying to bring order to the chaos, which is naturally what they want. But the question is, who is this "Jinghaihou"? Can he represent the central government? Everyone was talking about it, but no one could confirm the identity, background and political stance of "Marquis Jinghai". It would be meaningless to talk about it any more. Bullets flew one more time, and everyone stopped talking about it. However, Hong Kong officials and parliamentarians were operating as usual, and there was still news about arrests or sentences under the national security law every day.

One thing we must keep in mind is that the CCP’s infiltration work is beyond anyone’s imagination. If those democratic European and American countries have already made arrangements for many years, then Hong Kong is now even more accessible. Moreover, they are particularly good at a trick of "lubing the snake out of its hole", which seems to be self-examination and pointing out some shortcomings. If someone responds, they can distinguish between ourselves and the enemy.

In today's new Hong Kong, after the implementation of the National Security Law, everyone is indignant. The red line keeps drifting and is unpredictable. They even say unfavorably: It will matter if you say it (you say it). But in fact, the red line is always the same, but we all looked at it in the wrong place. This great law of the universe is not aimed at things, but at certain people! Because some people say similar things and do certain things, they will be fine, but other people will pull the lock. For example, some remarks make people hate Zhengku. Some people say them every day, but there are no consequences because they are not the people Zhengku is targeting.

Welcome to the New Hong Kong.