Beijing Street Scene

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Post tags: Gary Lerude
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Soon after barring children from reality TV and scrubbing the colorful language of a rising vlogger, China’s top media regulator has scolded 15 outlets for publishing false news reports. From Reuters’ Engen Tham:

The business magazine Caijing, Shanghai’s The Paper and the Jinan Times were among the publications that published false news, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) said on Friday.

The regulator said a report by Caijing in February on the social decline of a village contained false information and it had retracted the certification of the journalist responsible, Xinhua said.

Online websites that circulated the article without confirming its authenticity would be penalized, it said. [Source]

Elsewhere, the Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned the sentencing of journalist Wang Jing to nearly five years in prison over the distribution of “unconfirmed” and allegedly defamatory information which “caused serious disruptions of online order.” Wang was previously detained in 2014 for reporting an apparent self-immolation in Tiananmen Square.

The authorities’ guardianship of factual accuracy has often focused on rumors, which state media have described as “a cancer that threatens the Internet and society.” In 2013, prison sentences of up to three years were introduced for deliberate falsehoods shared more than 500 times or viewed more than 5000 online; last year, sentences of up to seven years were approved for concocting inflammatory or merely untrue information on topics like diseases, disasters, or police incidents. Even April Fools’ Day jokes are considered inharmonious: state news agency Xinhua warned this year that the occasion “does not conform with our nation’s cultural traditions, nor does it conform with the core values of socialism. Don’t believe rumors, don’t create rumors and don’t spread rumors.” Jason Q. Ng, who has studied the proliferation and censorship of rumors on social media, has written that the Mao-era concept of rumor as “‘any information or opinion at variance with the official construction of reality’—even when that information or opinion was mostly factual” has now been codified in official regulations. This, he suggests, reflects “a strategic attempt to reclaim the commanding heights of mass communication by denigrating unofficial news and commentary outlets.”

Like its definition of rumor, the government’s interpretation of journalistic truth is more complex and idiosyncratic than it might first appear. At China Media Project, David Bandurski translates and comments on a recent People’s Daily op-ed by Renmin University communications scholar Chen Lidan, which offers “an enlightening look at how the Party envisions ‘truth’ in light of its relationship to ‘the people’ or ‘the masses.’”

Chen includes a snippet from Xi Jinping’s February 19 speech [background] that seems to reiterate the crucial role of factual reporting: “Truth is the life of the news. [We] must describe the facts according to the facts, and accurately report individual facts, and from the macro-perspective grasp the full picture of events or things.”

The devil here is not in the details, but in the “macro-perspective” and the “full picture.” After all, it is the Party’s own “macro-perspective,” its own “full picture,” that must arbitrate factuality.

[…] As Chen invokes the words of Lu Dingyi (陆定一), who served as editor-in-chief of the Liberation Army Daily beginning in 1942, the meaning of “factuality” for Chinese journalists becomes clear. Here is what Chen tells his People’s Daily readers:

In 1943, Liberation Army Daily editor-in-chief Lu Dingyi (陆定一) wrote: “When you do reports, you must go and seek advice from those who are personally involved with a matter or in charge of it; listen carefully, taking meticulous notes, and after it is written you must also invite them to look at it (or listen to it) and [abide] their changes. If it is written poorly, you must listen to their opinions and completely rewrite in order to really and truly get at the facts.”

This is factuality with Chinese characteristics. As a practical matter for the news professional, it means checking one’s facts against the enveloping fact of Party rule. [Source]

At South China Morning Post, meanwhile, Nectar Gan reports on an open letter from eight members of the Chinese Academy of Science calling for corrections and changes to an official scientific literacy checklist:

The checklist was compiled by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the government’s Central Propaganda Department.

[…] One “serious mistake”, according to the scientists, was the description of the relationship between force and motion.

[…] They also claimed the were other inaccuracies, such as “all materials consist of atoms” and “the sunlight consists of seven different kinds of monochromatic light”.

[…] Under the section of “knowing how to use systematic methods to analyse and solve problems”, the guidelines demands people know about traditional Chinese philosophical concepts such as yin and yang and the five-elements theory: wood, fire, metal, earth and water . It states these concepts are part of the materialist theory of ancient China and have “realistic significance”.

The scientists reject this claim and say these so-called theories are often associated with superstitious beliefs. [Source]

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Post tags: central propaganda department, Chinese Academy of Science, David Bandurski, journalism, people's daily, rumors, SAPPRFT, science, scientists, Xi Jinping
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Addressing top government officials at a two-day national conference on religion this past weekend, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that China must defend against extremist ideology and potential religious infiltration by foreign forces. Nectar Gan at South China Morning Post reports:

Xi also said the internet was a key propaganda front to promote the Communist Party’s stand on religion. “We must resolutely resist overseas infiltration through religious means and guard against ideological infringement by extremists,” Xinhua on Saturday quoted Xi as saying.

He urged officials to fully implement policies on religious freedom, stressing that religious groups must abide by the party’s leadership.

Religious groups should “merge religious doctrines with Chinese culture, abide by Chinese laws and regulations, and devote themselves to China’s reform and opening-up drive and socialist modernisation to contribute to the realisation of the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation,” he was quoted as saying. [Source]

Xi’s statements follow broad efforts by the Chinese state to control and regulate religion, particularly the practice of Islam in Xinjiang and the spread of Christianity elsewhere across the country. Under Xi’s administration, authorities have passed new rules governing dress for Muslim Uyghurs and education policies aimed at cultural “blending” in Xinjiang. These measures have accompanied an anti-terror campaign launched in response to a series of violent attacks attributed to Xinjiang separatists and religious extremists whom authorities claim are linked to the global jihad movement. Meanwhile, officials in Zhejiang have removed over 1,200 crosses and demolished several churches since 2013 in an apparent attempt to halt the growth of Christianity in the region. A number of Christian activists and lawyers were detained and later released for protesting against the removal of crosses. A prominent Protestant pastor was also taken into custody in February on suspicion of embezzlement, a case that supporters believe is linked to the pastor’s involvement in the protests. Buddhism, too, faces many legal and political hurdles as a large number of temples struggle to obtain the required religious licenses. The Party has also appointed itself guardian of Buddhist tradition in a long-running dispute with the Dalai Lama over his reincarnation.

In his address, Xi ordered Party members to act as “unyielding Marxist atheists.” In addition, he called on religious groups to abide by “socialist core values,” echoing earlier efforts by the state to promote a kind of Christianity that is “compatible” with Chinese socialism. From the AFP:

“Religious groups… must adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC),” Xi told senior party officials at a conference ending on Saturday, the official Xinhua news agency said.

But party members must be “unyielding Marxist atheists”, he said, calling on them to “resolutely guard against overseas infiltrations via religious means”.

[…] “We should guide and educate the religious circle and their followers with the socialist core values,” Xi told a two-day meeting attended by several members of the ruling Politburo Standing Committee, Xinhua said.

Beijing in the 1970s abandoned attempts to eradicate organised religion, opting for control through officially sanctioned churches, temples and mosques which blend theology and Communist rhetoric.

Xi indicated that such attempts would continue, calling for efforts to “merge religious doctrines with Chinese culture”. [Source]

A blueprint to “localize” the country’s officially sanctioned religions has been put forward as the centerpiece of the campaign against foreign infiltration. The scheme has been praised by a number of religious leaders within China. From Kou Jie at Global Times:

During the conference, Xi said that one key mission in helping religions adapt to the socialist society is localization.

[…] “Promoting the localization of foreign religions is a highlight of the conference, and it’s the first time the general secretary of the Party’s central committee has given a comprehensive theoretical explanation on the issue,” Zhu said.

“Generally speaking, China’s religious situation is in good shape, though there are some problems that need to be urgently solved,” Zhu said, saying Islam in some regions is inclined toward de-sinicization and extremist infiltration, while the Vatican uses hierarchy to vie for dominant rights over China’s Catholics.

“Localization of foreign religions does not mean a denial of their basic doctrines and canons, but to follow the lead of the Party, as well as adding Chinese characteristics to the religions. The localization of foreign religions is beneficial for the country and its people, as well as for religious heritage,” Zhu said. [Source]

The attack on religion is one facet of China’s campaign against Western influence. Most recently, the government issued warnings about the potential dangers of dating foreigners as well as the national security risks posed by students returning from overseas. Officials are also currently reviewing a draft Foreign NGO Management Law that, if passed, would require foreign non-governmental organizations to register with the Ministry of Public Security and operate under an official sponsor.

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Post tags: Buddhism, Christianity, communist party, foreign, ideology, islam, religion, religious freedom, socialism, Xi Jinping, Xinjiang
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The firing last week of a former top editor at Hong Kong’s Ming Pao newspaper after the outlet ran a front page story on the Panama Papers stoked long-running concerns about the erosion of press freedom in the semi-autonomous region. The sacking of Keung Kwok-yuen, formerly the number two editor in Ming Pao’s newsroom, recalled the 2014 removal of Kevin Lau Chun-to from his role as editor-in-chief of Ming Pao after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) collaborated with the paper to release the Offshore Leaks disclosure; Ming Pao was one of many outlets that collaborated with ICIJ on the Panama Papers. At the South China Morning Post, Peace Chiu reports that three columnists protested the sacking by submitting blank columns that made it to print (despite attempts to block the move) in Sunday’s issue:

In its Sunday Life section, the paper ran blank columns by Audrey Eu Yuet-mee, founding leader of the Civic Party, and Eva Chan Sik-chee, a former Ming Pao journalist, with just headlines criticising the decision to sack Keung.

Veteran media personality Ng Chi-sum also left his column empty bar one line explaining his headline, which was quoted from a poem written by demonstrators at a 1976 Tiananmen protest in Beijing: “In my grief I hear demons shriek; I weep while wolves and jackals laugh.”

The Ming Pao Staff Association said editor-in-chief Chong Tien Siong had tried to block the move to run the blank columns.

The association said in a Facebook post that Chong, who had been on leave, returned to work suddenly on Saturday night, proposing not to feature the columns about an hour after the pages had been sent to print.

After discussions, the blank columns were kept, but an editor’s note was included reiterating that the paper’s decision to dismiss Keung was due to cost-cutting measures and that the paper’s editorial stance remained unchanged.

The pages therefore had to be reprinted. [Source]

At the Hong Kong Free Press, Kris Cheng reports that the Sunday edition also included a comic protesting the firing of Keung, and notes that two additional blank columns were printed in Monday’s edition:

Comic artist Wong Chiu-tat also drew on Sunday a six frame comic which the first five only printed dots, and a last frame with a red jacket on an empty chair, apparently referring to Keung who usually wears a similar jacket.

[…] On Monday, the newspaper printed two more blank columns by radio host Lee Wai-ling – with a headline They Can’t Kill Us All – and university journalism educator Vivian Tam Wai-wan. The same editor’s note was also added to each column. [Source]

Ming Pao columnists also reacted to Kevin Lau’s removal in 2014 by submitting blank columns in protest; protests eventually spread to the street and stimulated political debate in Hong Kong.

On Twitter, journalist and CUHK lecturer Yuen Chen compares the Sunday edition as it would have looked without the editor’s note, and reports that the Canadian edition of Ming Pao chose to fill the blank spaces with visuals:

Concerns around the erosion of press freedom have grown in recent years as many in the former British colony have noted an increase in self-censorship due to economic pressure from China. This year, after several Hong Kong booksellers known for publishing titles on top Chinese leaders disappeared to emerge in detention in China, exacerbating concerns in the region. While three of the five detained booksellers have been released, the location of Gui Minhai—last seen in Thailand in October 2015—is still unknown. At The Washington Post, Fred Hiatt details Gui’s story, focusing on his daughter’s growing concern. China’s use of extra-legal means to detain people from abroad was criticized recently by Human Rights Watch’s Sophie Richardson.

As press freedom concerns continue to grow in Hong Kong, they are beginning to affect foreign media organizations with ties to Hong Kong. At The Guardian, Tara Conlan reports that the BBC’s planned relocation of its Chinese service to Hong Kong has some BBC staff worried that it could jeopardize editorial independence:

A letter is being sent to former BBC chairman and the last governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten and the Foreign Office to petition for support after the corporation decide to relocate the Chinese service off-shore to save money, but also because “competitors are outperforming us”.

Staff are worried the plan “risks undermining the UK’s long-term national interest “and so-called “soft power” and “grossly underestimates the level of threat posed by the Chinese regime in Hong Kong to both BBC editorial integrity and safety of BBC journalists”.

In an internal email to director of news James Harding, the BBC World Service head of language Liliane Landor laid out plans to restructure the Chinese service.

She makes a reference to the censorship in the region, saying: “We know that web-blocking and censorship have been a serious impediment but even in that context, our reach has been disappointing. Competitors are outperforming us. In such an important market, we have had to look at what we are doing that’s not working and try to address this.”

[…] According to Landor, 10 new posts will open in Hong Kong and 16 close in London, while creating one new post each in London, Washington and Nairobi, so “overall there will be a net loss of three posts for BBC Chinese”. [Source]

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Post tags: BBC, Hong Kong journalists, Hong Kong media, media control, ming pao, press freedom
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At Reuters, Engen Tham and Matthew Miller report efforts by China’s State Council Information Office to recruit a Western PR firm to help promote China’s image abroad. Hill+Knowlton, Ketchum, Ogilvy, FleishmanHillard, and Edelman are all said to have auditioned for the role. None would comment.

China’s President Xi Jinping, who has called for Beijing to take a bigger role in a global governance system, has cranked up the state machinery to project China’s “soft power” and better communicate China’s message to the world since taking power in November 2012.

China’s leadership recognizes it needs to communicate more effectively to Western audiences, said an executive at one of the agencies that made presentations.

“They feel they’re being unfairly treated by foreign media,” the executive said.

[…] The SCIO asked the public relations firms to give presentations, in separate meetings, on China’s most pressing image problems and demonstrate their expertise on managing new forms of media, according to an internal email and sources.

[…] At the SCIO presentations in February, government officials showed more interest than in previous engagements with foreign PR agencies, said one executive familiar with the meetings. He did not elaborate. [Source]

The meetings appear to have roughly coincided with Xi Jinping’s call for state media to better tell China’s story to the world and build “flagship media with strong international influence” while acting as the Party’s “throat and tongue” at home. Twitter’s new managing director for Greater China sparked near panic among the service’s Chinese users this month when she appeared to offer help in this global mission.

Efforts in this direction have already been underway for some time, however, predating Xi’s leadership. (Read more from media commentator Chang Ping in light of the Twitter controversy, translated at CDT.) In December, they gained a boost from e-commerce giant Alibaba, which announced its plan to acquire the English-language Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post. The news aggravated longstanding concerns about Beijing’s editorial influence on the newspaper, especially in light of Alibaba’s ties to mainland ruling elites and executive Joseph Tsai’s comments that “mainstream western news organizations cover China […] through a very particular lens,” which “taints their view. We see things differently, we believe things should be presented as they are.”

In an interview with the Post this week, published two days after his appearance at a symposium on Internet development led by Xi Jinping, Alibaba founder Jack Ma addressed the question of the Post’s future editorial direction. His vision, he explained, is to make the paper “a global media outlet through [Alibaba’s] technology and resources,” enabling it to “play the role of a connector between the West and the East.”

Alibaba said the Post should offer readers a narrative of China that is different from that offered by other Western media. What narrative will this be?

I think first of all, it is important to be fair to the reader. Readers have the right to know what’s happening in China in a factual and objective way. I’m lucky that I have the opportunity to travel around the world. The more I come to know about the outside world’s perception of China, the more I feel there are all sorts of misunderstandings and, to a certain extent, people do not get the full picture from the media. A lot of foreigners have few opportunities to visit China, and a lot of Chinese people do not have the chance to go to Europe or to the West. There is an immediate opportunity for us to bridge this gap as a responsible media outlet. What a publication can do is to help people get a clearer picture without jumping to any rash conclusion. I’m very happy that the Post can take the responsibility to report on China in a broader and deeper way. I believe the Post must be fair to our readers. We should let our readers see China from more angles and perspectives.

Some commentators reacted to the statement by speculating that it means the Post’s China coverage will become more positive or even gloss over some tough issues confronting China. What would you say to these speculations?

I’m not a journalist. But I think if we come with a predetermined angle in our coverage, be it positive or negative, the final report will surely become one-sided. I don’t see it as an issue of being “positive or negative”. It is about being impartial, not one-sided. The paper’s China coverage should be objective, reasonable and impartial. If people really want to understand China better, we need to provide media [reports] that can be easily understood by readers in both the East and the West. As I’ve said, we should offer a fair chance to the readers, not only a fair chance to China and to us.

[…] I have neither the experience nor desire to interfere with the newsroom operation. I will not take part in the editorial decision-making. The media has its own professional rules and standards. For me, maybe I will give input on the business side of the operation and the future business model of the paper. I can also participate as a reader and give feedback on how to improve readers’ experience. […] [Source]

Rebutting complaints about the Post’s initially low-key coverage of the Panama Papers leaks, senior editor Yonden Lhatoo recently attacked “the fringe narrative, much of it perpetuated by butthurt ex-Post employees with axes to grind, about this newspaper avoiding stories that show China in a bad light.” Writing at The Financial Times last week, former Post reporter Tom Mitchell argued that “Mr Ma cannot win. Even if it is not his intention to do Beijing’s bidding, he will always be suspected by some of doing just that. [… The] SCMP runs so many stories about the country — both positive and negative — that its critics and admirers can simply highlight those that prove their point about its alleged pro-China bias, or lack thereof.” If the actions of China’s web censors can be taken as evidence, they do not seem to have found its content consistently acceptable to date: according to GreatFire.org’s monitoring, SCMP.com has been inaccessible from mainland China since the start of this year’s Two Sessions political meetings in Beijing, following a nine-month block that ended last summer.

In the interview, Ma also offered his opinion on the differences between Western and Eastern cultures, and a sunny forecast for China’s economy. He addressed the question of “why there are so few American internet companies becoming successful in China,” suggesting that “doing business in another culture and another country is always difficult [….] You need to learn how to understand and appreciate local culture. That is the key to success in today’s globalized world.” The role of political controls and Internet blocking did not arise. Ma also said that problems facing Hong Kong—which many in the city would argue include mounting threats to press freedom, apparent abductions of publishers, and perceived erosion of the “one country, two systems” arrangement—are “self-inflicted,” not of China’s making, and that the city “has become intolerant.”

© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2016. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: alibaba, external propaganda, foreign media, jack ma, journalism, public relations, SCIO, South China Morning Post
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The recent announcement of veteran tech executive Kathy Chen’s new position as Twitter’s Greater China Managing Director sparked serious concern among longtime users of the American microblogging platform over her work history with Chinese government and security organizations. Chen’s appointment comes as President Xi Jinping has revitalized an external propaganda strategy implemented by his predecessor Hu Jintao, launching new English-language state media ventures, calling on established overseas state newsrooms to “better tell China’s story to the world”, and reportedly enlisting the help of Western PR firms; judging from Chen’s inaugural posts reaching out to state-run media outlets on Twitter, many suspect that she will be aiding in crafting that tale from inside Twitter headquarters. Blocked in China since 2009, Twitter has nonetheless attracted many Chinese dissidents (inside and outside of China, the former forced to find ways around China’s Great Firewall to do so), and they have rallied on the platform to warn that Chen’s role in the company could spell the end of its usefulness to them.

Germany-based Chinese journalist Chang Ping (whose given name is Zhang Ping) published a Chinese-language article at Deutsche-Welle putting Kathy Chen’s new position at Twitter in the context of Beijing’s long-running goal to tell the “Great China Story” to the globe. CDT has translated the article in full. Contextual hyperlinks have all been added to the translation by CDT editors.

Twitter and the “Great China Story”

by Chang Ping

There was once a reporter in Guangzhou who drew ridicule for always starting reports like this: “So-and-so never thought in his wildest dreams that…” Even that reporter could have never thought in his wildest dreams that there would come a day when the news would be written like this: Internet users never thought in their wildest dreams—a Twitter official has reached out to China Central Television: “Let’s work together to tell great China story to the world!“

This tweet has left many Twitter users absolutely dumbfounded. No, their eyes were not deceiving them. Kathy Chen, Twitter’s newly appointed Managing Director for Greater China, had indeed tweeted out the message. After taking office, her first action on Twitter, her public “inaugural address,” if you will, was to start courting CCTV and Xinhua News.

The Chinese Communist Party propaganda machine has referred to the “Great China Story” countless times. This same machine, in times of great famine, has said that “rice fields are yielding tens of thousands of jin per square acre.” When the Red Army was firing their guns in the streets, it said that “the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution is Good.” And when the “June Fourth” democracy movement was being crushed, it declared the movement a “counterrevolutionary riot.” Today, it proclaims that China has its own “special circumstances,” which necessitate the resolute rejection of democracy, freedom, human rights, and other such “Western values.”

To those in Hong Kong and Taiwan, regions that also lie within “Greater China,” the “greatest” story out of CCTV at the moment is none other than the owner of the Causeway Bay bookstore, which for years had been publishing books banned by the CCP. He “voluntarily” snuck into mainland China to “surrender” to Chinese authorities, “cooperate with investigations,” publically admit guilt on CCTV and its affiliates, and to declare that he wished to give up his foreign passport. There’s also the story of Chinese police forcibly deporting Taiwanese “criminals” to mainland China, where they were made to confess their guilt on CCTV.

Contrary to what many Westerners may think, CCTV has never been satisfied telling the “Great China Story” to people in mainland China alone. Rather, as a major exponent of the CCP’s “Grand External Propaganda Strategy,” CCTV is constantly looking for partners all over the world, through which it intends to peddle these stories to all of humanity. The Chinese government has brought one fourth of the world population under its control, dictating how they consume news and culture. They then use this “giant marketplace” as a bargaining chip. Add to that the harassment, threats, refusal to issue visas to reporters, and other measures, and this is how they coerce foreign media to cooperate.

Whether it be because of greed or fear, it’s not surprising that foreign media end up cooperating with the CCP. However, many people assumed Twitter would be the last to cave in. Like many other media organizations that do not submit to CCP censorship, Twitter is blocked in Mainland China. In Twitter’s case, it has been blocked since 2009. As one of the biggest representatives of self-media in the internet age, Twitter has been called a “bistro of eternal freedom” by idealistic Chinese internet users. Many remain committed to “scaling the wall” to use it.

Helping to Filter Politically Sensitive Information?

“I never thought a bushy-eyed guy like you would betray the revolution!” Just like comedian Chen Peisi’s famous crosstalk line goes, Kathy Chen’s statements have astonished these loyal Twitter users. Never mind that Twitter has never thanked them for their loyalty and trouble. They’ve never cared about that. However, this kind of offense and humiliation is unacceptable. They have already expressed great doubts and strongly protested over her hiring. They have even started a joint petition on the White House website.

It gets more ironic. Internet users have discovered that Kathy Chen may have ties to the Chinese military. She previously served as the general manager of Computer Associates-Jinchen, a joint venture between an American internet company and China’s Ministry of Public Security. One of its software products was used to filter email. And what were they filtering? As Kathy Chen explains, “…We would filter content for, possibly the Falun Gong or politically sensitive or harmful information.” The Chinese authorities were apparently very pleased with this software. Chen received the “2004 Outstanding Contribution to the Safeguarding of Chinese Information Security Award.”

She later joined Cisco, an American company widely suspected of helping the Chinese government erect its internet firewall. At Cisco she served as Senior Vice President for China. Her responsibilities included “special focus on establishing good government relations with various government departments and affiliated agencies.”

Now, this is a “Great China Story”—it is very possible that someone who once helped the Chinese government block Twitter has now been hired as Twitter’s Managing Director for Greater China. And she’s not seen as a traitor. Rather, she has publically declared her intention to continue working with the Chinese government.

Even though Twitter has officially stated that Kathy Chen’s main job is to boost advertising, not to build its platform, it goes without saying that her work experience and “inaugural address” have left Twitter users feeling disgusted and concerned.

Chinese Government Working Hard to “Connect the World”

When I was training fellow media professionals in Paris at the end of last year, I talked about how I define self-media. I discussed my own experience as an example. My first job after graduating from university in the early 90s was founding my own news magazine. I wrote and prepared its content, delivered it to the printers myself and distributed it myself. I achieved economic success. Although at that time the magazine was still all typed on a typewriter, I still call what I was doing “self-media.” But as for Weibo, WeChat and other social media under the regulation of the CCP Propaganda Department, no matter how technologically advanced the internet or people’s phones may be, it would be difficult to classify these services as authentic “self-media.”

The “self” in self-media, or the “new” in new media, lies not in its production or technology. Technology only provides greater possibilities, allowing everyday people to supplement and challenge the elite-controlled traditional media. This enabling of relatively independent and autonomous publication and broadcast of information provides everyday people with a platform through which to make their voices heard, and each of these voices can be treated equally. Facebook and Twitter have succeeded in providing this value to their users in most places of the world. They have become classic examples of new media. And that is precisely why they have been arbitrarily blocked by a Chinese government that seeks to control public opinion.

Only through fundamentally changing their values, for example accepting the censorship and control of the Chinese government, would it be possible to enter mainland China unimpeded. They must first become just like all the other online Chinese media—new media by name, traditional media under authoritarian control in actuality. Without that kind of fundamental change, no matter how much polluted air Mark Zuckerberg breathes, or no matter how warmly Kathy Chen embraces Xinhua News on her first day as a Twitter account holder, Twitter won’t gain much other than offense and humiliation from its current users.

Ms. Chen has since posted a traditional “Chinese knot,” with the phrase “connecting you and me” written in Chinese and English. “Connecting the world” is also one of Zuckerberg’s mantras. But they don’t talk about how hypocritical it is to advocate “connection” on one hand, and on the other attempt to ingratiate oneself with an information-blocking authoritarian regime. This low-brow “chicken soup for the soul” covers up the real truth—that the Chinese government at once blocks information and yet strives to connect with the world under their own rules, to relentlessly “tell the Great China Story” to all of humanity. Therefore, to merely advocate “connecting the world” is simply not enough. That is, unless your intention is to deceive. [Chinese]

Before moving to Germany, Chang Ping had worked as deputy editor-in-chief at liberal Chinese newspaper Southern Metropolis Weekly, and his writing frequently irked censors in China. Recently, Chang Ping reported that his family members had been detained and threatened after he published an article criticizing the detention of a journalist in connection with a strongly-worded open letter calling for Xi Jinping’s resignation. Chang details the incident, as well as greater efforts by Beijing to pressure overseas journalists, in an op-ed for The New York Times.

Translation by Little Bluegill.

© josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), 2016. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chang Ping, external propaganda, longform, state security, Twitter
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