Chinese authorities recently sought to alleviate flooding by diverting stormwater from the Yangtze River to eastern China’s Anhui Province. The logic behind the water diversion is that even the biggest city of Anhui, the capital city Hefei, is less developed than Wuhan, Nanjing, and Shanghai, the three metropolitan cities along the Yangtze.
Chinese state media claimed that Anhui residents willingly sacrificed themselves to make a contribution to the nation, and praised their altruism. While China’s internet trolls supported and magnified this “positive energy” propaganda, flood victims, including a local TV anchor, expressed their anger and despair in front of cameras.
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