4 Chinese “craving” expression of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

It seems that Facebook has decided to abandon China. In a recent speech, CEO Mark Zuckerberg publicly criticized the Internet and said that it “focused on extremely different values”. However, Facebook’s leader does not always take such an extreme stance with China.

Like any other technology firm, Facebook shows signs of wanting to enter the world’s most populous market. One of the most obvious signs is Zuckerberg himself. At least four times Facebook CEOs tried to “flirt” with the authorities here.

Meet China’s top Internet manager

Lu Vi visited a Facebook headquarters in 2014. Photo: China Network

In 2014, Mark Zuckerberg invited a Chinese official to visit the headquarters. Lu Wei (Lu Wei) was then the Director of the Cyberspace Administration (CAC). The visit was part of Mr. Lu’s journey to Silicon Valley while attending an Internet seminar in the US, where he fostered the idea of ​​every country having control of its own Internet. Also during this trip, he visited the headquarters of Apple, Amazon. According to a Chinese newspaper, Zuckerberg organized the trip entirely in Chinese. Mr. Lu even offered to try sitting at Zuckerberg’s desk.

However, Mr. Lu was later arrested for corruption and jailed for 14 years in the anti-corruption campaign of President Xi Jinping.

Buy Xi Jinping’s book

One detail during Lu’s visit to Facebook headquarters was what was on Zuckerberg’s desk: the book “Xi Jinping on Managing the Country of China”. The book includes 79 articles, interviewed by Xi in the period between November 2012 to June 2014, divided into 18 topics, covering his new ideas.

According to Chinese media, Zuckerberg said buying books for even his colleagues to help them understand socialism. Another item that appears in the photo is Xiaomi’s mascot.

Running in Beijing

Mark Zuckerberg jogs in the polluted air of Beijing. Photo: Facebook Zuckerberg

In 2016, Zuckerberg started his visit to Beijing with a morning run on Tiananmen Square. The picture CEO posted on Facebook was quickly shared online, not only because it showed Beijing’s serious air pollution.

Chinese netizens mocked Zuckerberg for “craving” to please China. Even, many people pointed out the fact that Facebook CEO must use a VPN application to post photos from this country because Facebook is being blocked.

Show off Chinese

Facebook communicates Chinese with Tshinghua University student. Photo: Abacus

Zuckerberg displayed Chinese language skills on several occasions. At Tshinghua University, Beijing – one of the top two universities in China, the Facebook CEO answered students’ questions and gave a 20-minute speech in Chinese.

Zuckerberg said he studied Chinese in part to communicate with his wife’s grandmother, who only spoke Chinese. He is confident enough to speak with President Xi Jinping at the White House in 2015. This is his first time communicating with the world leader in a foreign language. Zuckerberg calls this a “meaningful personal milestone”.

What did they tell each other? According to the news, Zuckerberg asked Xi to name his unborn child. The New York Post reported that Xi had cleverly refused, saying it was a “heavy responsibility”. Although the spokesman for the Facebook CEO denied the article, the story was not stopped by other newspapers.