‘China's Mouth’ Hua Chunying, Why Did She Storm Twitter with Foreign Currency Tweets During National Day?

Posting Tweets Targeting the US Daily
Emphasizing Belt and Road Achievements, "China Has Fulfilled Its Promises"
"US Fabricates Lies About Muslims"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Kim Hyunjung] The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, known as the "mouthpiece of China," attracted attention by consecutively posting photos of foreign banknotes from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and others on her social networking service (SNS). A common feature of these banknotes is that they depict local social overhead capital (SOC) projects constructed with Chinese investment.

On the evening of the 5th, Hua Chunying, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posted 13 photos of foreign currencies in succession on her Twitter. She wrote, "China has fulfilled its promise to build a better world together," adding, "This is a fact recorded on banknotes issued by allies and partners around the world."

All the currencies in the photos she posted depict local SOC projects. Among them, the Gwadar Port on the 5-rupee banknote of Pakistan was built by China, and the Puttalam coal power plant on Sri Lanka's 100-rupee banknote was funded and constructed by China. Additionally, the Rama VIII Bridge on Thailand's 20-baht banknote was also built by China.

Other examples include the Nam Lik Hydroelectric Power Plant on Laos's 20,000 kip banknote, the Algiers Grand Mosque on Algeria's 1,000 dinar banknote, Alcomsat-1 (satellite) on Algeria's 500 dinar banknote, the Malawi Parliament on Malawi's 200 kwacha banknote, Malawi University of Science and Technology on Malawi's 2,000 kwacha banknote, the Merowe Dam on Sudan's 100-pound banknote, and the Ginska Bridge on the Democratic Republic of Congo's 500-franc banknote. These are known to have been either directly constructed by China or built through Chinese loans.

There is also an interpretation that the spokesperson posted these photos to target and criticize the United States. In fact, one netizen retweeted Hua Chunying’s post, writing, "How many universities has the U.S. government built in Afghanistan or Iraq? The answer is ‘0.’"

On the weekend of the 9th, she wrote, "These figures reflect China’s global cooperation over the past decade," citing "136 countries and 30 international Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation organizations, 2 billion vaccine agreements, $100 million support to COVAX (the international vaccine supply project), and 40,000 UN peacekeeping personnel."

She also voiced overt criticism of the United States. Sharing a post that stated, "Among Tibetans in China, 96% can speak Tibetan, while only 8% of Native Americans can speak their original languages," she emphasized, "Who is lying, and who is acting to protect citizens’ religious rights? Just do a simple calculation," adding, "The U.S. and its allies are fabricating stories about China’s Muslims."

Hua Chunying often posts English-language tweets or photos targeting the U.S. through the American SNS Twitter. In August, she tweeted Mao Zedong’s remark that "America is a paper tiger," and the previous month, she posted an illustration implying that the G7 are "frogs in a well." However, her statements on SNS have sparked controversy. In August, she emphasized that Taiwan is part of China, citing as evidence "the many Chinese restaurants," which led to online ridicule.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.