Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner was
criticised at home and abroad after posting a
tweet during a state visit to China, in which
she seemingly poked fun at Asian difficulties
pronouncing the letter R.
Kirchner, on a mission to China to expand
trade and political ties, tweeted in Spanish on
the number of people attending one of her
events in Beijing, asking: "Are they all with La
Campola?"
She was referring to La Campora, her party's
youth organisation, led by her son.
Más de 1.000 asistentes al evento… ¿Serán
todos de “La Cámpola” y vinieron sólo por
el aloz y el petlóleo? …
— Cristina Kirchner (@CFKArgentina)
February 4, 2015
"Or, are they only there for the lice (rice) and
petloleum (petroleum)?" she added. It was a
play on a political joke from home:
Kirchner's
detractors say that her supporters only attend
party events so they can get a free sandwich
and a soda.
After the tweets triggered criticism and
accusations of racism, she followed up with
another saying: "Sorry. You know what?
There is too, too much craziness and
absurdity, only humour can get you through
it."
Sorry. ¿Sabes qué? Es que es tanto el
exceso del ridículo y el absurdo, que sólo
se digiere con humor. Sino son muy, pero
muy tóxicos.
— Cristina Kirchner (@CFKArgentina)
February 4, 2015.
The Argentine president is already under the
spotlight at home after the suspicious death
of a prosecutor.
Chinese reaction
While the tweet was prominently covered in
Argentine and international media, China's
government-run news outlets carried no
mention of the gaffe or commented on its
diplomatic implications.
Twitter has been banned in mainland China
since 2009, over fears it could be used to
organise protests, with Chinese using home-
grown platforms that strictly adhere to
government censorship orders.
Facebook, YouTube and Google are also
inaccessible from within China, which uses a
system dubbed the Great Firewall to filter
what content is allowed in.
But posters on Chinese social media sites
were still disdainful, with some pointing out
that Kirchner was referring to more of a
Japanese tendency than a Chinese one.
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