Know the meaning of 'Laotian'
BEIJING: India and China Relations have been fatigued for years. Chinese President Xi Jinping has a lot of political problems with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Unlike the government, people in China have a different view of PM Modi and India. As per an article published in American magazine "Diplomat", Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very popular among netizens in China and is fondly called 'Modi laotian' which means "Modi is immortal". Despite the border dispute between the two countries, it is a rare honorable mention for an international leader.
Journalist Mu Chunshan, in an article titled 'How is India viewed in China?', for the strategic affairs magazine 'Diplomat', writes that most Chinese believes that under Modi's leadership, India maintains a balance among the world's leading nations. Notably, Chunshan is an expert for analyzing Chinese social media, especially Sina Weibo. Sina Weibo is a Twitter-like social media platform in China and has over 582 million users.
What does Laotian Mean?
According to the article, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has an unusual nickname on the Chinese Internet: Modi Laotian. Laotian refers to an old immortal man with some special abilities. The nickname means that Internet users in China thinks that Modi is different from other leaders.
He wrote that the Chinese people points to the dressing and body language of Prime Minister Modi and consider some of his policies to be different from India's past policies. Some Chinese citizens believes that India can have friendly relations with many big countries including Russia, USA. He said that the word 'Laotian' reflects the Chinese people's complex perception of Prime Minister Modi, including curiosity, surprise, etc.
"I have been doing international reporting for almost 20 years and it is rare for Chinese netizens (internet users) to nickname a foreign leader. Modi's surname is at the top. Certainly, he has left an imprint on Chinese public opinion." said Mu.
Significantly, In the article, Chinese Journalist wrote that the Chinese people believe that relations between India and China will be better, but they do not want India to be close to the United States. The article said that the Chinese believe that if India becomes the world’s second largest economy, the US and the West will try to suppress it, as they are doing with China now. Chinese people believe that strengthening cooperation between China, India and Russia could make the countries stand against pressure from the West.
In the article, Journalist Mu writes, "Chinese netizens believe China's attempts to use its all-weather ally, Pakistan as unrealistic as the gap between the two South Asian neighbours is getting wider, an apparent reference to the political and economic meltdown Pakistan is currently experiencing. The facts over the past nine years have proved that China and India have more room for cooperation. For example, China's trade with India is worth $115 billion a year far more than China's trade with Pakistan, which sits at around $30 billion."
