Tea Leaf Nation

Last week, a speech by U.S. President Barack Obama on the value of engaged citizenship made waves in Chinese social media. “The core of Obama’s speech yesterday at the Ohio State University Commencement is ‘a sense of citizenship,’” posted influential Sina Weibo user @假装在纽约, or “pretending to be in New York,” a widely followed provocateur [...]

“Wanted: Evildoer, drug lord, arms trafficker, may be wearing ladies’ makeup to avoid detection. If you spot him, you should immediately report it to the American FBI.” Criminal lawyer Gan Yuanchun’s February 12 announcement on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter, accompanied by photoshopped images showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un with eyeshadow, lipstick, and various colored [...]

On Sina Weibo, China’s major Twitter-like platform, a user with the handle “this is America” (@这里是美国) shared the below image on January 23, two days after U.S. President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. The accompanying caption reads: “Who really changed America?” Obama’s second inaugural did not capture the same amount of attention on China’s social media [...]

This article was produced in collaboration with ChinaFile, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. Are Chinese citizens happy with the direction their country is taking? Do they believe in a market economy? Do they believe that hard work brings success? Each year, the American think tank Pew Research Center asks questions like these to over 300,000 [...]

It was an interesting November for spectators on the island of Taiwan. Taiwan’s media has been paying close attention to the results of the U.S. presidential election and the recently-concluded 18th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Taiwan is awkwardly positioned between two giants, having close relations with the U.S. and an undetermined political [...]

What do people in China really think about U.S. President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Southeast Asia? A glance at Chinese mainstream and social media depicts conflicting narratives, with topics ranging from President Obama’s now-infamous kiss with Aung San Suu Kyi to geopolitical power dynamics between China, Myanmar, and the United States. Kisses, flirtatious eyes, [...]

In his acceptance speech in the early morning of November 7, re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama seemed to be talking to the world when he said: “We can never forget that as we speak, people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, [...]

U.S. President Obama may be known as “Renegade” to his secret service details, but the code word for him on China’s social media is “Sea-Watcher” (观海). Some call him “O-Sea-Watcher” (奥观海), giving a nod to his last name, while others, ever so endearingly, refer to him as Comrade Sea-Watcher (观海同志). For example, concerned citizen @LY_chnis tweeted on [...]

Dialogue. Understanding. Connecting people from around the world to talk about meaningful subjects. That’s what Tea Leaf Nation is all about, and so we are thrilled to partner with the good folks at ChinaDialogue.net to present “China-U.S.: A live discussion on elections, energy and climate change.” This live, online, interactive discussion will be accessible on this site [...]

China’s blogosphere has just taught an interesting lesson on the dual nature of soft power.  The U.S. and China have been trading jabs in a number of recent trade-related disputes. In early October, the U.S. congress angered Chinese netizens with a warning that government and private businesses should steer clear from Huawei and ZTE, two [...]

Last night President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney hit off their second debate of the 2012 presidential campaign series at Hofstra University, with a majority of analysts declaring Obama the debate’s winner.  The candidates argued over a range of topics such as the embassy attack in Libya, social policy, and foreign relations. Most [...]

Sarcasm in China: Check. On the cusp of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s diplomatic visit to the Middle Kingdom, a tongue-in-cheek critique of Americans has gone viral on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter, with over 42,000 retweets and 5,400 comments. This piece, of uncertain author and origin, laughingly criticizes Americans as foolish, primitive, and naive. Lest [...]