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Why would "rice rabbit" become a buzzword in China?

The answer is simple: it's one of the ways that Chinese netizens try to get around the banning of #MeToo by government censors. The CCP doesn't like #MeToo because it enables women to organize and speak out against harassment and repression.

"China Is Attempting To Muzzle #MeToo", by Leta Hong Fincher, NPR (2/1/18)

Mǐtù 米兔 ("rice rabbit", aka Lepus oryzinus, aka Reishase) — mǐ 米 is also used to transcribe "meter", leading to some flagrant Chinglish mistranslations, e.g.:

"Drawing a line in the noodles" (8/14/11)

So, though the censors may be successful in blocking "MeToo" and its literal translation as "Wǒ yěshì 我也是", the humble mǐtù 米兔 ("rice rabbit") is an effective means for Chinese women to continue to get their message across: Weibo, Baike, VOA. In Pinyin we could also write it #MǐTù, #MiTu, #mitu, etc.

"Chinese authorities are hitting back at country’s Me Too campaign" (news.com.au [1/16/18])

"China's #MeToo Moment" (Jiayang Fan, New Yorker [2/1/18])

"Chinese women reveal sexual harassment, but #MeToo movement struggles for air" (Simon Denyer and Amber Ziye Wang, Washington Post [1/9/18])

"In Chinese, how do you say 'me too'?" (Quora)

"Backlash in Hong Kong against the ‘Me Too’ campaign" (Alex Lo, SCMP [12/5/17])

"Shadowsocks" (2/5/18)

"How Feminists in China Are Using Emoji to Avoid Censorship" (Margaret Andersen, WIRED, culture [3/30/18])

[Thanks to Jichang Lulu]

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