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Comment by gvhst | Hacker News Reader

Not to be overly pedantic here, but Zuck didn't offer to name his child after the Xi Jinping, but asked him to help provide a chinese name for his child [1]. To give some context, in Chinese culture, asking a family member or a close friend to advise on the naming of a child is normal. While Xi Jinping is far from either, keep in mind that he was asking for a Chinese name, which for all intents and purposes can be thought of as a secondary name and thus isn't as significant of a request. On the flip side, my father's (who is Chinese American) Chinese co-workers have approached him to help give their children english names.

[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/china-s-president-...

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> To give some context, in Chinese culture, asking a family member or a close friend to advise on the naming of a child is normal.

In all cultures.

To the downvoters: In all cultures happens and is considered normal, that doesn't mean everybody does it. I'm glad your family/circle of friends has a different tradition. This just means that when someone does it no one finds it weird. What is weird, is asking the president of another country for advice. That is weird in all cultures.

In my experience that's not the case for American culture.

Quite the opposite, people tend not to divulge the chosen name until after s/he has arrived as it's less likely anyone will react in a way that might cause them to rethink their choice.

In some cultures names of children are determined algorithmically. If the first born male child is expected to be named after the father's father, it would not be normal to ask for advice on a name.

Is that Zuck cuddling up to the leader of a totalitarian government, or is that standard etiquette for anyone who meets the President of China? It sure comes off as creepy, but if it's a necessary formality of dealit with a powerful tyrant, so be it. Certainly doesn't win Zuck any cred with the anti-globsist-One World-government folks who'd rather not see oligarchs and tyrants working together to oppress the masses.

You go meet the leader of China.

Your wife is Chinese and you have a baby on the way.

This invokes some topical conversation and builds rapport so you say, in jest and without any real intent to follow through, "We're still thinking about names. We have an idea for English but not Chinese. Mr. President, would you like to perhaps suggest a Chinese name?".

Attendees and translators smile, the ice breaks a little more, and they move on to something more substantial.

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It's lighthearted throwaway banter. Watch, or attend, a meeting of world leaders or business execs...generic blah-blah proceeds all meetings.

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