05 April 2011

"Love the Future"...爱未来...艾未未




Sina Weibo (microblog) editors have been busy deleting posts relating to Ai Weiwei since yesterday. (See our roundup of Ai Weiwei coverage here.) One user reported that she reposted a message about Ai Weiwei over 200 times and it was deleted each time.


However, some netizens have come up with a phrase, “Love the Future,” (爱未来) which looks and sounds very similar to Ai Weiwei’s name (艾未未). Many netizens have immediately adopted this new coded phrase to post on Sina Weibo as a form of protest; many of those “love the future” messages have also been quickly deleted.

CDT took screenshots of some of these “Love the Future” messages as examples. The majority of participants simply write, “I love the future!” Many include a photo of Ai Weiwei. Selected translations of other messages are below:

- “We love the future, not for any one person, but because we hope the future will be even better. We love it here, and we hope it can become better.”

- “It’s not that I really love the future. It’s that it hasn’t appeared. When I think about my own study, work, etc, and what I have to do tomorrow, I suddenly feel I have no power, and to think about it is no use.”

- “To love the future is to love yourself. Fill the microblogs with love. Fill the motherland with love. Donate your love to the future of the motherland."

- ”I really don’t dare believe that in this society, even love for the future can disappear.”

- “Have you loved the future today?”

- “Justice doesn’t die; faith is forever. Love the future!”



- “Love life; Love your dreams; Love freedom; Love the future! Good night!”



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