Our thoughts are with the people of the Philippines following today’s devastating earthquake. As a close neighbor, Taiwan stands ready to provide any assistance needed and we pray for a swift recovery and rebuilding effort.
A Chinese propaganda account recently reposted the Canadian congressional hearing clip in which Liberal MP Michael Ma challenged Margaret Johnston @M_Johnston1 apparently hoping to discredit her.
The reaction, however, was not what they expected.
Instead of attacking Margaret, many Chinese netizens flooded the comments section with over 37000 messages of support. Some even claimed to be victims of forced labour themselves and offered to provide evidence.
Margaret Johnston told me that after the video went viral, she received numerous emails from people inside China expressing their support and thanking her for speaking up on behalf of those who have no voice.
Some of the comments translated from Chinese include:
“Dear Margaret, I’m sorry I can’t testify for you in court because I can’t get time off work.”(6890 likes)
“How can I testify on behalf of this righteous woman?”(4150 likes)
“Does anyone have Margaret’s contact information? I have a lot of evidence.”
(8597 likes)
“Please publish Margaret’s contact information. I can provide evidence.”
(10000 likes)
“It’s hard to imagine that someone I’ve never met, and who has nothing to do with me, would care so much about my life.” (9770 likes)
“They absolutely need to be exposed.”
“Every step of progress seems to require involvement from foreigners”(5632 likes)
These comments reveal a striking disconnect between official propaganda narratives and the lived experiences of many ordinary Chinese workers.