The paramount Chinese leader Xi Jinping has many things dedicated to him: viral songs, paintings, orchids, jackets, museums and tablets marking his footprints. Now he can boast the latest item in this collection: a newly found beetle species that has been named after him.
Wang Chengbin, a 32-year-old Chinese entomologist at Czech Univesity of Life Sciences Prague, has recently decided to name a rare species of beetles after the Chinese leader ”for his leadership making our motherland stronger and stronger.”
The name of the beetle, Rhyzodiastes (Temoana) xii which can be loosely translated into Chinese as Xi’s Rhyzodiastes, soon went viral and became the latest target of ridicule online. Netizens suggested that naming a type of bug after the president was “hardly a good way of showing admiration.”
And the censorship apparatus seemed to agree with them. On Monday, Chinese reports about the new beetles finding were deleted and the beetle’s Chinese name censored on Weibo.
However, Wang stood by his eye-catching naming decision. “It’s certainly an act out of respect,” Wang said, adding “as long as science exists, the name will forever exist. It’s a very rare species of beetles, and I would certainly appreciate it if people name it after me.”
“I’ve looked it up, while there isn’t any new species named after Chinese leaders, there are species named after US presidents and leaders of other countries. Researchers do name news species after their beloved leaders and my whole family admires president Xi,” Wang said, explaining the rationality behind the name.
While naming a new species after a Chinese leader is unprecedented, it’s not unusual for researcher and scientist to name their new findings after world leaders and celebrities.
A researcher at Alabama’s Auburn University has named a spider he found in California Aptostichus barackobamai, after the US President. Celebrities, including actress Angelina Jolie, U2 singer Bono and US civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, have all had spiders named after them.
In the loop 