Pelosi’s Taiwan visit dominates Chinese social media, briefly crashes Weibo | The Straits Times

BEIJING – News of United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit was the hottest topic on China’s social media over Tuesday (Aug 2) and Wednesday, with 19 of the top 20 trending hashtags related to the event, chalking up hundreds of millions of views and interactions. The top three hashtags – “Pelosi lands in Taiwan”, “The PLA is obviously encircling Taiwan through its military exercises” and “Foreign Ministry responds to Pelosi visiting China’s Taiwan region” – garnered nearly 500 million engagements between them. While the frenzy has since calmed down slightly, terms relating to Beijing’s announced sand ban and…