By C C Pung J.P
Xiaohongshu, a China-made, China-based app used predominantly by Mandarin speakers.
Xiaohongshu – who would have thought that a tongue-twister name like this would be so much talked about?
Who would have thought that America’s tone-deaf government decision to ban Tiktok would result in a shit load of China-made Xiohongshu being dumped on its Congress?
The US fears everything, real or imagined, about China as the ancient civilisation threatens the American hegemony over the world.
Tiktok is banned because the US insisted that China’s government controls it.
Its CEO is Singaporean.
Its data centre is in the US. American users, an estimated 170 million of them, aren’t happy.
And where do they go?
Xiaohongshu, a China-made, China-based app used predominantly by Mandarin speakers.
New Xiaohongshu users in the US have been mocking the the Tiktok ban and enthused about their extraordinary experiences interacting with Chinese users.
Xiaohongshu is called Rednote to non-chinese speakers.
The correct translation in Little Red Book.
The only thing the name reminds me of is the little, palm-sized booklet of Mao Zedong’s thoughts that was compulsory reading for every Chinese during Mao’s infamous Cultural Revolution in mid 20th century. Its cover is, you guessed it, red. Millions died but Mao is revered.
Americans are embracing Rednote. Many users confessed to having been lied to by their own government propaganda about China.
The new Trump govt appears to be softening on Tiktok and conspicuously silent on the migration of millions of Americans to Xiaohongshu.
The US just proved, again, that governments everywhere are necessarily stupid.
To be fair, while the Tiktok ban has been hyped up, little discourse is heard about China’s ban of Google, Facebook and other apps.
Suck it up, America.
Editor: The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of talantang.com
