The Guardian-Chinese celebrity chef offends China with egg fried rice video
November 29, 2023 2 min 364 words
王刚这一做法引发了中国民众对毛泽东之子的不敬之情，引起了巨大的争议。这种时刻发布如何烹饪蛋炒饭的视频，被指控是对毛岸英忌日的嘲讽。这不仅是对历史的不尊重，更是对牺牲于国家的人民的冒犯。虽然王刚道歉并删除了视频，但这已经超越了个人行为，成为社会责任的问题。在中国高度敏感和受控制的政治环境中，触及毛岸英和蛋炒饭这个话题是不明智的。政府已经立法禁止对“英雄和烈士”的侮辱，而王刚的行为显然触及了这一法规。在未来，公众舆论应该更加谨慎，避免触碰这些涉及国家历史和英雄的敏感话题。有网友支持王刚，认为问题不在于蛋炒饭，而是在于受限的言论环境。这一事件反映了中国社会在历史和文化观念上的敏感性，同时也引发了对言论自由的思考。
A Chinese celebrity chef has apologised after he was accused of insulting the memory of Mao Zedong’s son by posting a video about how to cook egg fried rice.
Wang Gang, who has more than 3.3 million followers on Weibo and more than 2 million on YouTube, faced a torrent of criticism by viewers who accused him of deliberately publishing his cooking tutorial around the anniversary of the death of Mao Anying as an act of mockery.
“As a chef, I will never make fried rice again,” Wang said in his apology on Monday after taking down the video.
Mao Anying, a Chinese military officer, was killed by US bombers on 25 November 1950 during the Korean war. A persistent but frequently denied rumour says he was trying to cook egg fried rice instead of taking shelter, and the smoke from the fire exposed his position to enemy forces.
One commenter wrote on Weibo of Wang’s video: “As an ordinary person who gets a lot of money by posting some cooking videos, he should at least not be disrespectful to this country and the people who sacrificed for this country.”
In 2018, China’s government criminalised the act of insulting “heroes and martyrs” said to have sacrificed themselves for China or the Communist party cause.
The Chinese Academy of History has said the claim about Mao Anying is a “most vicious rumour”, but the story remains popular. The rumour – and references to egg fried rice – are now a taboo topic in China’s highly sensitive and controlled political environment. References to the dish are not censored but are fraught around this time of year.
Hu Xijin, a public commentator and nationalistic media personality, said: “In the future, around the anniversary of the death of martyr Mao Anying, the public opinion field should avoid touching the topic of egg fried rice.”
Some supported Wang. “There’s nothing wrong with egg fried rice,” said one Weibo user. “What’s wrong is that you were born in the wrong place. Chefs can consider going abroad to find freedom in food teaching.”