The Chinese people have begun to tremble

中国人民从此战栗起来了 (zhōng guó rén mín cóng cǐ zhàn lì qǐ lái le): The Chinese people have begun to tremble

This is a play on Mao Zedong's declaration, “The Chinese people have stood up!” (中国人民从此站起来了).

While the quote was traditionally thought to have been made at the opening ceremony of the People's Republic of China, the statement was actually made more than a week earlier on September 21, 1949 at a Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress. The phrase is the title of the fifth volume of Mao Zedong's selected works in Chinese.

The parody of the phrase is used by netizens to indirectly critique what they perceive as the repressive nature of the Chinese government.

Mao declaring the establishment of the People's Republic of China.