China gives a wary welcome to influx of 'TikTok refugees' on RedNote
中國謹慎歡迎「抖音難民」湧入小紅書

SHANGHAI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Users of the Chinese social media app RedNote welcomed "TikTok refugees" from the United States with selfies and messages on Wednesday, as Beijing said it encouraged stronger cultural ties with other countries in response to the sudden influx.
上海，1 月 15 日（路透社）—— 中國社交媒體應用程式「小紅書」的用戶週三以自拍照和訊息，歡迎來自美國的「TikTok 難民」。北京當局表示，為因應這波突如其來的人潮，將鼓勵與他國加強文化交流。

Known in China as Xiaohongshu and as a platform to find lifestyle recommendations on areas from beauty to food, the app has in recent days been transformed into an unexpected bilateral channel for U.S.-China exchanges, with users swapping photos and questions about pets, favourite foods and their lives.
「RedNote」在中國被稱為「小紅書」，是一個提供從美妝到美食等生活風格建議的平台。近幾日，它意外地轉變為美中交流的雙邊管道，用戶們互相分享照片，並詢問彼此關於寵物、喜愛食物和生活等問題。

Not everyone was happy, though, with some grumbling that their platform was being taken over and nationalist bloggers warning against American influences.
然而，並非所有人都樂見此現象。有些人抱怨他們的平台被佔據，而民族主義博主則警告要提防美國的影響力。

The influx of more than 700,000 new users has been driven by a looming U.S. ban on TikTok, used by 170 million Americans, on national security concerns.
由於美國以國家安全為由，即將禁止 1.7 億美國人使用的 TikTok，因而湧入超過 70 萬名新用戶。

Many Chinese users on Wednesday posted selfies and messages saying "welcome TikTok refugees", and responded eagerly to questions from U.S. users on topics such as popular Chinese dishes, city tourist sights and even China's birth policies.
許多中國用戶在週三發布了自拍照和訊息，表示「歡迎 TikTok 難民」，並熱情回應美國用戶關於中國熱門菜餚、城市觀光景點，甚至中國生育政策等問題。

Among them was Jacob Hui, a translator in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, who said he joined a live chat co-hosted by Chinese and American influencers on the platform and posed questions - such as what video games were popular in the U.S. - to the new users.
其中一位是來自中國東部城市杭州的翻譯人員 Jacob Hui，他說他在該平台上參與了一場由中美網紅共同主持的直播聊天，並向新用戶提出問題，例如在美國流行的電子遊戲有哪些。

"There were not many such opportunities to directly interact with Americans in the past," he said.
他說：「過去很少有這樣的機會可以直接與美國人互動。」

Chinese state media has also cheered the trend, with state broadcaster CCTV saying that the TikTok users had found a "new home". Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, asked at a regular press briefing, said the use of social media was a "personal choice".
中國官媒也對此趨勢表示贊同，國營電視台央視表示，TikTok 用戶找到了「新家」。中國外交部發言人郭家坤在例行記者會上被問及此事時表示，使用社群媒體是「個人選擇」。

"China has always supported and encouraged strengthening cultural exchanges and promoting mutual understanding among the peoples of all countries," Guo said.
郭家坤說：「中方一貫支持和鼓勵加強人文交流，促進各國人民相互瞭解。」

China has for years tightly controlled cyberspace through its "Great Firewall" censorship architecture and blocked foreign social media networks such as Instagram and X.
多年來，中國透過其「防火長城」的審查機制嚴格控制網路空間，並封鎖了 Instagram 和 X 等外國社交媒體。

In turn, most Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo require users to have a Chinese phone number to log on, limiting users to mainly Chinese residents. ByteDance restricts TikTok to foreign users and runs a separate version for mainland Chinese residents called Douyin.
反過來說，大多數中國的社群媒體平台，例如微博，都要求用戶必須擁有中國的手機號碼才能登入，這使得用戶主要侷限於中國居民。字節跳動將 TikTok 限制為外國用戶使用，並為中國大陸居民提供名為「抖音」的獨立版本。

RedNote, in contrast, does not require users to have such a number and maintains only one version of its app. The company did not respond to Reuters' request for comment on Wednesday.
相較之下，小紅書並不要求用戶擁有中國手機號碼，並且僅維護一個版本的應用程式。該公司週三並未回應路透社的置評請求。

In the past, other Western social media platforms, such as Clubhouse, have enjoyed a similar trend of Chinese mainland users joining in swathes before being blocked by Beijing's censors.
過去，其他西方社群媒體平台，例如 Clubhouse，也曾出現過類似的趨勢，即大量中國大陸用戶加入，隨後遭到北京當局的封鎖。

The newcomers to RedNote have not been universally welcomed, however, with criticism from some Chinese users unhappy with how they were changing the content of the platform and from some nationalist Chinese bloggers.
然而，這些新加入「RedNote」的使用者並未受到普遍歡迎。部分中國使用者不滿他們改變了平台的內容，而一些民族主義的中國部落客也對此提出批評。

Ren Yi, the Harvard-educated grandson of a former Chinese Communist leader who runs a popular WeChat blog under the pen name "Chairman Rabbit", warned his followers against being unsuspectingly influenced.
任毅是一位曾在哈佛接受教育的中國前共產黨領導人之孫，他以筆名「兔主席」經營一個熱門的微信部落格。他警告其追隨者，要提防在不知不覺中受到影響。

"Propagandists from the United States can easily achieve their goals by following a simple routine - first praise you a few words to make you 'relax your vigilance', and then bring their own goods to subtly influence you," he said in an article first published on Wednesday morning that was later deleted.
「來自美國的宣傳打手可以輕易地達成他們的目標，只需遵循一個簡單的套路——先誇你幾句，讓你『放鬆警惕』，然後夾帶私貨，潛移默化地影響你。」他於週三上午首發的一篇文章中如此寫道，但該文隨後被刪除。

Beijing-based independent industry analyst Liu Xingliang said he believed the sudden popularity of RedNote among TikTok users would be short-lived, though the current atmosphere was "very warm and joyful".
駐北京的獨立產業分析師劉興亮表示，他認為「RedNote」在 TikTok 使用者間的這股熱潮將是短暫的，儘管目前的氛圍「非常熱烈且歡快」。

"American netizens are in a dissatisfied mood, and wanting to find another Chinese app to use is a catharsis of short-term emotions and a rebellious gesture. You can see that Xiaohongshu is also caught unprepared, the experience on it is not very good for foreigners," he said.
「美國網友正處於不滿的情緒中，想找另一個中國應用程式來使用，這是一種短期的情緒宣洩和叛逆的姿態。你可以看到，小紅書也措手不及，對外國人來說，上面的體驗並不是很好。」他說道。

There were also signs that some new foreign users were testing the platform's censorship limits, with some posting on social media network X that they were unable to post about topics known to be sensitive in China such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
也有跡象顯示，一些新的外國使用者正在測試該平台的審查界限，部分使用者在社群媒體 X 上發文稱，他們無法發布關於 1989 年天安門事件等在中國已知的敏感話題。

Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing two sources familiar with the company, that the platform was scrambling to find ways to moderate English-language content and build English-Chinese translation tools.
路透社週二引述兩位知情人士的消息報導，該平台正急於尋找方法來審核英語內容，並建立英中翻譯工具。