"The Chinese they worship Vučić and they call it 577, which in Serbian is pronounced like vu-qi-qi".
This is what the tabloids wrote a few years ago and some people's deputies from the ranks of the Serbian Progressive Party, such as Luka Kebara, who spoke in the Serbian Parliament in 2021, spoke in Chinese.
The same story about Vučić's cult of personality in China seems to be being recycled now, as the editor-in-chief of Informer Dragan J. Vučićević on Saturday (September 20) during the military parade, appeared in the studio of this television wearing a T-shirt and cap with the inscription "577".
As Informer writes, "despite the curiosity of many about the message of the mysterious number, Vučićević decided to remain mysterious and not reveal what it was about until the moment this news was published."
However, since the editor of the main pro-regime tabloid soon boasted on social media of a photo in the mentioned T-shirt, with the words "Long live Serbia" and three fingers raised, many social media users recalled that it was not the first time that progressives and people close to them used the number 577 for propaganda purposes.
By the way, in numerology this number is known as "angelic".
Vucići is synonymous with Serbia
The President of Serbia recently, during his visit to China, spoke about his popularity in that country.
He stated that it is so popular there that it has practically become a synonym for Serbia for the Chinese.
"Go out here on the street and tell people what they say to you when you say you're from Serbia - the first word is 'Vučići'. Wherever you move, wherever you go," said Vučić.
"Superstar in China"
The story about "Vućići" and the number 577 originates from 2021, when the Serbian Telegraph published an interview with Zhang Ying, a correspondent for Chinese state television CCTV from Serbia. Just before that, she did an interview with Aleksandar Vučić, who, as she said, "has the status of a superstar in China."
"The Chinese call him 577 because in Chinese pronunciation 577 sounds like wu-qi-qi, quite similar to his last name Vučić. To make it easier for people to remember, Vučići - 577," Yang told Serbian Telegraph at the time.
She also explained that she told the president of Serbia the story of the three numbers.
"He was laughing, he really liked her and I joked with him at the end. I told him: 'Mr. President, I haven't returned to China for a year and a half, not because of the coronavirus but because I'm afraid that I would be blocked in Beijing by your fans if I couldn't bring them your photos.' Then he signed three photos, which I sent to his fans on CCTV," Yang said.
