The obvious exasperation with a fawning question — a rare unscripted moment from the National People’s Congress — spread quickly on social media. Censors clamped down.
It was the eye-roll felt around the world.
Happy Women’s History Month! This month, we appreciate and recognize the women that have made history. Here’s one who’s making it right now: Liang Xiangyi, a reporter with financial news site Yicai, for the world’s most iconic eye-roll.
Ms. Liang was one of the reporters attending China’s annual parliamentary session, a notoriously scripted, coiffed, airtight event–questions are screened heavily beforehand, to the point where many correspondents question the value in going at all. Even after recent news of Chinese President Xi Jinpeng’s removal of term limits, politicians were still getting thrown softballs.
When the reporter on the right lobbed a particularly fawning, paragraph-long question their way, Ms. Liang couldn’t help but roll her eyes so hard she felt it with her whole body.
All of China’s netizens felt it with her: all over social media, users were praising, sharing, remixing, and GIFing the moment faster than the censors could snuff it out. It even inspired merch on e-commerce site Taobao. Within hours, it became the most censored term on China’s Twitter equivalent Weibo, and many of the remixes, including the merch, were taken down.
As funny as her reaction was, it’s important to remember how incredibly brave it was, too. She had her media accreditation revoked, and it is entirely possible she will face further repercussions.
Ms. Liang, we support your bravery and your brutal honesty. Keep on rollin’!