Chinese social media marks ex-president Jiang Zemin’s birthday

In stark contrast to the official media’s silence, the Chinese social media has been abuzz Wednesday over former President Jiang Zemin’s 90th birthday.

A search on Weibo China’s Twitterlike platform using keywords “90 birthday” throws up over 32 million comments related to Jiang’s birthday.

Jiang’s trademark style of dressing in highwaist trousers, his thick glasses and supposed toadlike appearance led many to brand themselves as the ‘hasi’ (fans of the toad, in Mandarin), a term that has acquired shades of affection over time and that also helps the Chinese dodge censorship while discussing him.

In line with the silence in official Chinese media on the exleader’s birthday, a search for Jiang Zemin on Weibo or search engine Baidu, yields no results.

Notwithstanding his old age, Jiang still holds great sway in Chinese politics and heads the socalled Shanghai Faction that is allegedly opposed to current President Xi Jinping, who has been trying to purge his political enemies for years.

Meanwhile, Jiang became a wellrecognized face worldwide after some of his videos and photos went viral, including classic moments such as when he sang an Elvis Presley number before thethen Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, played the Hawaiian guitar or pulled out a comb to fix his hair while in the presence of Spanish King Juan Carlos.