In the comment thread above, Hong Xing actually “comes out” and explains how he and his fellow trolls operate. This comes as a result of an astute commenter (thanks, Kevin) spotting HX taking credit for writing an article written by fellow troll Math. HX explains how they work in concert to take over and manipulate threads and forums.
Let me clarify a few things.
There were basically three leftist writers active on China’s forums. Me, Math, and Ma Beiming. I am currently living in the USA, and so is Ma Beiming. Math currrently resides in Mainland (no one knows who he is, it is rumored that he is a math professor in Xiameng Universty). I teach electrical engineering in an American college, and I’m not exactly sure what Ma Beiming does.
That “Sunzhigang is perhaps a prostitute-seeker” article was originally written by me. Math carried that article and acknowledged me in many occasions. And that article got copied and spread on China’s internet, and people lost who the original author was.
Right now I write for Baidu.com and Strong Nation Forum in China under several pseudonyms, and so does Math. Ma Beiming basically is responsible for commentaries on overseas Chinese communities such as Chinese Readers Digest (http://www.creaders.net) and Literature City (http://www.wenxuecity.com).
I foresee more and more leftist righters arise in Mainland China and dominate the forums in the near future. The rightest and pro-west writers on Chinese forums are already losing their battles, as they could not find good words to retort and could not write eloquent posts. When I was at my peak 2 years ago, I write about 5 original posts per day and I have a very massive distribution network. Math was even more proliferate, and was able to sustain about 8 posts a day for weeks.
Posted by HongXing at November 8, 2005 08:37 PM
Well, at least we now know how these bottom-feeeders operate. It was easy right from the start for most of us to spot math and HX as vintage trolls, responding reflexively, ignoring contradicting facts and shouting hysterically to get attention. But what about in the Chinese forums? Do these guys stand out as trolls, or do they actually fool gullible readers? Can anyone be so dense or stupid as not to see what their game is?
Meanwhile, Hong Xing, I suspect this means your gig at Peking Duck is up. Now that we all know you’re a dedicated operative with a specific one-sided agenda, there wouldn’t be much sense in interacting with you. So you may want to consider going elsewhere (hint, hint!).
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By Peter
We do know that the CCP pays people to do exactly what they are doing on Chinese forums, so the only question remaining is whether HongXing & co are paid hacks earning a bit of extra pocket money for their work, or “patriotic” individuals, acting on their own initiative.
Of course the CCP would want you to think the latter in any case, so there’s little point in asking them.
November 8, 2005 @ 9:37 pm | Comment
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By davesgonechina
who says a word of that is true?
November 8, 2005 @ 10:19 pm | Comment
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By Will
“leftist righters?”
November 8, 2005 @ 10:34 pm | Comment
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By richard
Good catch, Will.
Dave, who ever knows if a single syllable that comes out of Hong Xing’s mouth or other orifices is true? However, based on Kevin’s find there does seem to be a correlation between him and math, and in this case I suspect HX might actually be levelling with us. A real precedent, I know.
November 8, 2005 @ 10:42 pm | Comment
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By austin
ridiculous, how does he look in the mirror every morning?
November 8, 2005 @ 10:56 pm | Comment
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By kevin
From what I saw, there are a lot of people who claim that math is a man called Chen Bihong, and that he teaches at Shenzhen University rather than Xiamen University as our friend claims. Others also claim that he got a doctorate from Qinghua. Of course, a lot of this is probably just an attempt to make his seem “oh so smart.” I tend to not believe much of it. There’s always the “I live in the United States” claim as a preliminary defense against the “I’m a closeminded brainwashed idiot” argument, and “I’m a college professor” against the “what a fucknut” argument.
Math is notorious for coming up with completely fuck-tarded arguments (such as “the more corrupt officials the better, because then the government can catch them, confiscate their money, and thus earn money), as well as not responding directly to people’s arguments. From what I read, one individual claimed they provided a well thought-out response to a math article that literally tore this guy a new asshole, and he provided a less than insightful essay-in-response entitled “I’ll write what I wanna write.” Sounds more like a pre-school education to me.
for more information (all in chinese)
http://tinyurl.com/7pgvq
http://tinyurl.com/c6dbv
or just do a google search for the characters “chen bihong” listed in these websites…
enjoy finding out what a joke these guys are! i sure am!
November 9, 2005 @ 1:01 am | Comment
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By kevin
Also, more information:
http://tinyurl.com/953f9
November 9, 2005 @ 1:05 am | Comment
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By kevin
And as for red-star’s claim that “The rightest and pro-west writers on Chinese forums are already losing their battles, as they could not find good words to retort and could not write eloquent posts.”
I think the essays provided above disprove that point, and also show that these are immature guys who simply don’t know how to engage in an exchange of ideas. They inflate themselves with false credentials to back their weak logic and pay absolutely no mind to any logical response.
The sad part is that unlike the posts of more independent and insightful thinkers, these fuck-tards’ posts never get deleted… sad for the future of this country.
November 9, 2005 @ 1:19 am | Comment
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By richard
Math is a Qinghua College professor? I’m highly skeptical.
Great work, Kevin.
November 9, 2005 @ 1:42 am | Comment
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By kevin
Thanks, that was fun.
It’s amazing how much you can learn with a proxy server and google.
November 9, 2005 @ 2:03 am | Comment
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By nausicaa
Really, really doubt Red Star/Math/whoever’s a prof of any kind. I mean, geez, to think that’s what it takes to get tenure these days…
Anyway, for the Chinese posters in here, check out the third link Kevin posted, which is a refutation of one of Math’s articles by a guy called Donghai Yixiao, apparently a writer with PEN. Well-written and really good.
November 9, 2005 @ 2:38 am | Comment
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By Keir
Good work, Kevin. Is it any wonder why I’d confused Math with MAJ?
November 9, 2005 @ 3:23 am | Comment
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By Zhuanjia
I like how this troll describes himself as a “leftist”. Gives lefties like me a bad name, when he’s really just another “Big Han Chauvinist”.
November 9, 2005 @ 3:32 am | Comment
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By bellevue
Wondering how much RMB yuan trolls like bingfeng and wangjianshuo packaged as ‘shanghai bloggers’ get paid by CCP for their “blog”.
At first sight they are good at puttting a human face on the regime, but bingfeng’s impatience more than often betrays himself.
November 9, 2005 @ 3:45 am | Comment
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By davesgonechina
if they’re paying guys like bingfeng instead of Math or Red Star, then I for one feel I’m getting my money’s worth.
Why the playa hatin’ bellevue?
November 9, 2005 @ 4:30 am | Comment
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By davesgonechina
I mean their moneys worth, since I no longer live in China and they don’t get any tax money out of me.
November 9, 2005 @ 4:30 am | Comment
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By richard
Bingfeng and WJS are real people, and good ones at that. Even if one of the lets narcissistic trolls hijack his blog periodically.
November 9, 2005 @ 5:42 am | Comment
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By bellevue
Richard: Their cold cash must be good as legal tenders.
Seems like you didn’t leard anything from Romain Rolland’s Russian trip. No one can help you on this.
November 9, 2005 @ 6:22 am | Comment
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By Ivan
bellevue:
I have no idea what you meant about “Romain Rolland’s Russian trip”. And on THAT note, let me refer you (and Richard and others) to my last comment on the open thread, about how NO Russian spies would ever tolerate any operative exposing himself like HongXing has done.
I am 99 percent convinced that HongXing is not a PRC national, and I am 100 percent convinced that HongXing does not work for ANY branch of the PRC government. I have far more faith – and even trust – in the PRC government (and in all of its branches of intelligence organs) – than to believe that they would ever let a whacko like HongXing embarass them so openly, as HongXing has outed himself and exposed himself.
Even relatively foolish governments and relatively foolish intelligence organs – like those of Russia and China – do NOT tolerate such blatantly stupid things like admitting that you’re an operative, as HongXing has pretended to do.
HongXing is not an intelligence operative. He’s just a wanker.
November 9, 2005 @ 7:24 am | Comment
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By Ivan
PS,
Any Chinese MSS who might be monitoring this (and I think the odds are around 1:100 against them monitoring this particular thread, but on the off chance of one percent, I say):
Hey guys, don’t bother to thank me, for standing up for you and defending your reputation as decent, intelligent people. If you want to pay me back for defending your reputation, then ALL I ask, is that you stop blocking this website in my province. 🙂 Oh and also, you might want to start an investigation in Shenzhen, about a “Foreign Expert” who has been disrupting relations between foreigners in China, and who has published some suggestive materials about his relations with his own Chinese students admiring him in symbolically sexual ways……..anyway, my friends in the MSS, you know that we Foreigners are happiest and most cooperative whenever we are all harmonious with each other, so, you might want to investigate a certain disruptive Foreign Expert in Shenzhen, who has been creating disharmony among many other Foreign Experts throughout China…..
November 9, 2005 @ 7:36 am | Comment
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By Shanghai Slim
Kevin, you da man. And Keir’s early-warning bullshit detector was accurate again.
I’m with Davesgone on the credibility of HX’s swan song. After the ham-handed attempts at posting here, why on earth should we believe any further self-aggrandizing malarky this chump scrawls? He’s probably a small person somewhere, hoping to feel bigger by writing his “patriotic” crap. It won’t be long and real patriotic Chinese will be looking back on this era and wondering who these jerks thought they were.
By that time, I’m sure losers like HX will be boasting to their children about how they took to the net to bravely battle the evil CCP, meanwhile every night sweating over the possibility that the kids will learn from Google’s archive that Baba was a boot-licker.
Good riddance.
November 9, 2005 @ 8:49 am | Comment
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By Ivan
I said my bit. Now I’m having problems again, TPD being blocked again off and on. Ivan has left the building, until further notice.
November 9, 2005 @ 10:04 am | Comment
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By Mainlander
Photo of “Math”, or rather, of “HongXing”
Click on this link http://tinyurl.com/79vtt, and you will find the Photo of the mysterious “Math(?”Šw)”, or Chen Bihong, I seriously suspect that he and HX is the same person, for the style of their online writings are almost identical, in addition to their identical claim that “I believe Chinese police is the most excellent police force in the world”. I got that feeling also because HX claims that he is teaching electronic engineering, while “Math” also majored in electronic engineering before according to the resume contained in the above link. Anyway, if they are not the same person, they are identical twins, or two nuts share the same dumb brain.
November 9, 2005 @ 3:43 pm | Comment
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By kevin
For some reason, that’s exactly how I imagined these guys would look, haha.
November 9, 2005 @ 6:38 pm | Comment
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By Shanghai Slim
Hmmm, not me. I imagined a flat-top crewcut and big glasses, maybe a pocket protector.
Strange that there are no marks on his face from licking boots?
November 9, 2005 @ 7:58 pm | Comment
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By ACB
I see two things from this post
1) That there are far too many people like 红星 in the world who are willing to offer their unwaivering support to a regime that they themselves do not have to live through.
2) That Ruchard still hasn’t learnt how not to make enemies from the [names edited] fiascos.
November 10, 2005 @ 1:10 am | Comment
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By dishuiguanyin
Well, ACB, you also made an enemy during the [names edited] fiasco, if I recall correctly….
Could I suggest that possibly some people are coming here and looking for enemies?
And, while I know that it’s very upsetting for Richard to have to constantly battle against trolls, could I gently say that, looking on the bright side, without them we wouldn’t have so many chances to:
– admire kevin’s advanced sleuthing skills.
– watch Richard getting his moral indignation on. (Does moral indignation very well.)
– view Ivan’s creative genius.
– admire Kier, Shanghai Slim, davesgonechina, Richard (of course) and many many others as they easily, and frequently wittily, demolish the opposition’s position.
May I suggest that trolls (in moderation) add to the gaiety of nations?
November 10, 2005 @ 1:53 am | Comment
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By dishuiguanyin
PS Looked at the photo. Ug!
November 10, 2005 @ 2:06 am | Comment
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By richard
Good points, Dishiguanyin! Trolls can certainly be amusing – in moderation, and as long as they don’t go psychotic on us like we-all-know-who. They can add some spice to things and even get people to think, which is why I’m so reluctant to delete (I never deleted any of Hong Xjing’s comments, for example). That said, HX was getting very, very dreary.
November 10, 2005 @ 2:24 am | Comment