Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army search for victims among debris following an earthquake on May 13, 2008 in Dujiangyan of Sichuan Province, China.
The Sichuan earthquake of May 2008 killed about 87,000 people and ranks as the 22nd deadliest earthquake of all time. But one user of the Douban Web forum felt that officials were cynically exploiting relief efforts to inculcate nationalist sentiment. Diebao, as she was known, argued her point so vehemently that some opponents began hunting for evidence to undermine her. After trawling through reams of material, they found a rambling post published immediately as the quake hit that seemed to revel in the unfolding carnage. “I felt really excited when the earthquake hit,” she wrote. “I know this experience might happen once in a lifetime. When I watched the news at my aunt’s place, I found out that it caused five people to die. I feel so good, but that’s not enough. I think more people should die.” Diebao was soon expelled from her university and had to go into hiding.