“Because of Western media’s misrepresentation of the Tibetan events, both of us wanted to do something to help clarify the facts. So together we made the plan of creating a video. He was responsible for editing the video, and I was in charge of doing the Chinese voice-over,” said Wu, “In those days, the video got hundreds of thousands of hits daily and also drew tens of thousands of comments from Internet users across the globe, the overwhelming majority being in support of China’s handling of the situation.” For some reasons unknown, throughout March and June, YouTube, the largest US online video portal website, frequently shaded the video or removed it altogether.
While the video was undoubtedly aggressive in making its point, it did not contravene the terms of use nor did it violate the website’s guidelines. Yet despite News China’s frequent inquiries YouTube has failed to offer any explanation.
“We once planned to make a second video as a follow-up to the first one, but the torch relay issue came up soon afterwards in April and so we shifted our attention onto the torch relay,” Wu explained. “But, you know, the experience of making and publicizing that video made me feel the influence of Chinese netizens have in the world and the strength of their unity. I think this also helped me get the courage needed to post the Carrefour boycott notice online.”
An ‘Intensive-Doing’ Generation
Born in a small locality in Shanxi Province, Wu, though the only child in his family, didn’t have an easy childhood. His father, who was denied an education during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), worked for an ironwork company before making a decision to study law in his thirties. Inspired by his father’s courage and tenacity, Wu Hao became tough and resolute. Disenchanted with the routine boring courses at college Wu frequently skipped classes. He was finally expelled by the university authority when he was a junior. Yet despite feeling miserable and hopeless, he went back home and started another round of preparation for the college entrance examination.
A year later, He was enrolled into Taiyuan Institute of Technology as communication engineering major. He was supposed to stay at school to complete his four-year course as other college students did, but in 2007, one year short of graduation, he started his career in Beijing while continuing to study part-time and prepare his dissertation before finally graduated in June this year.
“Older people tend to harbor a bias against young people of our generation who were born in or after the 1980s,” said Wu. Having to support himself in a city far away from his hometown in Shanxi Province, Wu is well-acquainted with the hardship required to keep pace with everyday life. “Those who criticize our generation don’t really know that we have already shouldered the burdens of life,” he added.