Last weekend, while social media platforms across China were flooded with posts mourning the death of Yuan Longping, lauded as China’s “father of hybrid rice,” some dissident voices did not escape from the Chinese regime’s clutches. China’s top agricultural expert Yuan, who is praised in state media for developing the world’s first high-yield hybrid rice strain, died of organ failure in a hospital in the southern city of Changsha on May 22. He was 91. Yuan’s death prompted a spate of coverage in state media, and China’s social media platforms were also overwhelmed by tributes. But at least five people were arrested in a day for posting remarks against Yuan on China’s social media platforms. In addition, China’s Twitter-like Weibo shut down 64 accounts for “insulting comments,” according to an official account. On May 22, Beijing authorities announced that a netizen, who goes by the user name “nanwanshanxia,” was detained due to …