Recently, the deputy chief of the Internet Team of the Haikou City Public Security Department was sentenced to 10 years in prison. His crime: accepting bribes. Local media made a point of obscuring his name, identifying him simply as Wei X-Ning (魏某宁). Only when Southern Weekly followed up with an investigative report did everyone learn that his name was Wei Yining (魏一宁).
But one thing no media inside China bothered to talk about was the fact that this was a case of corruption in which the power to control the press (舆论监控) was abused — and the case should prompt deeper reflection on corruption of the propaganda system itself.
The court found that Wei Yining had used “the convenience of his position,” with the power to control the internet, to delete more than 280 internet posts in exchange for around 700,000 yuan. The bribe payers were 11 web police from the public security bureaus of 11 local cities in 6 provinces. They were responsible [to their local superiors] for removing posts on two major Haikou-based websites that was detrimental to the image of their local governments. They would pay up, and Wei Yining would send down an order for the posts to be deleted.
The way this was done was actually quite simple. Once the local internet control officers had paid Wei Yining the fee he demanded, Wei would issue orders for deletion of the content to senior web managers at the sites in question via QQ message. For the web managers executing such orders was simply a matter of habit. Even if they had their doubts, they wouldn’t dare say anything. Generally, it would take only 10 minutes for an order to be executed from start to finish.
Censorship for Hire
The Wei Yining case makes clear just how much room there is for corruption in the execution of ostensible official business. It is now routine practice for local governments to pay for the removal of criticism or for the promotion of laudatory coverage.
Many people have already noticed the way that official Party mouthpieces and individuals can enrich themselves by virtue of their official power and monopoly status. Local governments, for example, engage in all sorts of misconduct in order to ensure that their own local prestige projects (形象工程) are reported on China Central Television.
According to a report from The Beijing News, there is now a case before the court in Beijing’s Fengtai District in which it has emerged that a public relations company was searching online for negative news about governments and enterprises and then approaching them with offers to delete the content for between 500 yuan and 2,000 yuan per item. The suspects in that case include a person named “Liu X” who is identified as an internet cop. This Liu X was allegedly using his position as an internet cop — responsible for removing pornography and other undesirable content — in order to delete posts on behalf of this public relations company. The case is estimated to involve more than one million yuan in bribes.
The Golden Goose of Propaganda
The fact that Chinese media don’t dare report is that in the larger context of corruption within the propaganda regime, these web police are actually insignificant. The golden goose is the propaganda department and its local branches. The propaganda department controls not just the internet, but also newspapers, television and book publishing. It has not just the power to order the deletion of web posts, but can also tell all of the media under its shadow what needs to be reported.
Moreover, the propaganda department also controls personnel issues for the vast majority of media. It can order the punishment of media staff, remove publishers or editors in chief, and even tell media to fire journalists. Many local propaganda departments even have the power to impose economic sanctions on media.
I wrote an article last year for the iSun Times called “Striking Back Against the Propaganda Department” (“反击宣传部”), which recently won a Human Rights Press Award in Hong Kong. In that article I talk about two basic characteristics of propaganda departments. First, they operate without checks and balances. Second, they are completely non-transparent. There are no mechanisms, not even with the Chinese Communist Party apparatus, to check propaganda departments and address problems. Most resolutions or instructions from administrative departments in China are documented, and in many cases they must be open to the public. But the bans issued by the propaganda department are protected by the justification of national secrecy — and propaganda organs are in fact less and less willing to leave any sort of trail.
Who Watches the Propaganda Department?
It’s probably difficult for most people even to imagine how a junior web control official can swallow millions in bribes. How much more is possible for a senior-level propaganda official with nearly boundless power? But the secret nature of propaganda work is such that no media would ever dare expose corruption among the commissars charged with keeping them in line.
However, if you conduct an internet search for the term “bribery by propaganda officials” (宣传部长受贿), you will discover to your surprise that a great many propaganda heads or deputy heads have been removed for corruption. Looking at the public trials or investigations for propaganda officials we’ve seen recently, we have big fish like former deputy propaganda chiefs Li Dongsheng (李东生) and Shen Weichen (申维辰), and small fry like the former deputy propaganda chief of Zhejiang’s Yuhuan County, Geng Jiangping (耿江平). And between these there are no doubt countless propaganda officials acting with impunity.
You will find, however, the none of these propaganda officials have been tried for corruption they engaged in while serving in propaganda positions. No one it seems (based on our partial sample) has been tried for abusing their power to censor the media.
Is is that there’s no fat to skim off the surface in propaganda posts? Is it that the conduct of these officials was unimpeachable while they serve in propaganda posts? This recent case against internet cop Wei Yining suggests that the answer to both questions is NO, and that this corruption is just the tip of the iceberg.
This article was first published in Chinese at PaoPao.

On April 11, 2014, the day a Chinese court upheld a four-year jail sentence for lawyer Xu Zhiyong, the founder of the New Citizens Movement, I posted the following Chinese passage from Xu on Sina Weibo.

公民们，就让我们从现在开始吧。无论你身在何处，无论你从事何种职业，无论你贫穷还是富裕，让我们在内心深处，在现实生活中，在互联网上，在中华大地的每一寸土地上，坚定而自豪地说出本来属于我们的身份： 我是公民，我们是公民.
Citizens, let us begin from this moment. No matter where you are, no matter what your profession, rich or poor, let us in the depths of our hearts, in our daily lives, on the internet, and on every inch of this vast land, firmly and loudly declare the identity that rightfully belongs to us: I am a citizen; we are citizens.

The post was removed minutes later, and I was sent the following personal message from Sina:

Hello, you have been informed on by another user for violation of regulations. According to Sina Weibo Community Management Regulations, your post made on April 11, 2014, at 11:39:37, “Citizens, let us begin from this moment …” has already been designated as inappropriate for public sharing.

I was directed to a “Help Center” that listed out questions any user whose post suffered a similar fate might wish to ask. Like this one:
Why have I been notified that I’ve said something I can’t?
Answer:

In order to provide users with a clean Weibo environment, if your Weibo account is disciplined because it was found to have violated the Sina Weibo Community Regulations or relevant laws, regulations or policies, you might result in your inability to make subsequent posts. The specific time of the punishment will generally be sent to you by private notice. You are advised to check your private inbox to confirm. In order to avoid this situation happening again, we advise you to share healthy and upright Weibo content.

The second trial of lawyer Xu Zhiyong, the founder of the New Citizens Movement, is set to begin in Beijing this morning. For more, see our post yesterday.
The following are Xu Zhiyong’s words, conveying the spirit of the New Citizens Movement and shared today by the movement’s members:

Citizens, let us begin from this moment. No matter where you are, no matter what your profession, rich or poor, let us in the depths of our hearts, in our daily lives, on the internet, and on every inch of this vast land, firmly and loudly declare the identity that rightfully belongs to us: I am a citizen; we are citizens.
公民们，就让我们从现在开始吧。无论你身在何处，无论你从事何种职业，无论你贫穷还是富裕，让我们在内心深处，在现实生活中，在互联网上，在中华大地的每一寸土地上，坚定而自豪地说出本来属于我们的身份： 我是公民，我们是公民.

A Chinese court is expected to rule tomorrow on the appeal by lawyer Xu Zhiyong against his four-year jail sentence for “assembling a crowd to disturb public order.” The charges against Xu arise from his founding role in the New Citizens Movement, a broad grassroots campaign for civil rights through civil action on a range of issues, from equality of education to government transparency.
Xu Zhiyong was criminally detained in Beijing on July 16, 2013, several months after he was placed under informal house arrest.
In a 2012 article laying out the foundations of a new movement of Chinese citizens, Xu wrote that China was in urgent need of a “political movement in which this ancient nation bids utter farewell to authoritarianism and completes the civilized transformation to constitutional governance.”
Despite attempts by the authorities to reign in the New Citizens Movement by arresting Xu Zhiyong and other core members, activities of the loosely organized movement have continued in cities across China.
The New Citizens Movement has also now launched an official website covering all aspects of the movement and civil society in China.
The following is our full translation of the preface written by Xiao Shu, a former journalist and a core member of the movement, on the occasion of the website’s launch.

Standing Firm and Working Tirelessly
— A Preface for the Launch of the New Citizens Movement Website
The website of the New Citizens Movement is now online.
Offline, meanwhile, in the nation’s capital, our colleagues — Xu Zhiyong, Ding Jiaxi, Zhao Changqing, Zhang Baocheng and Li Yuzheng — continue to suffer [at the hands of authorities in Beijing]. Illegal trial proceedings against them move ahead.
Elsewhere in the country, in Hubei, Jiangxi and other places, illegal trials commence and illegal verdicts are announced against other members of the New Citizens Movement. The systematic persecution of the New Citizens Movement and its members is now reaching its culmination.
The authorities, however, have failed to achieve their desired outcome: the collapse of the New Citizens Movement. This is a movement that cannot be stopped.
Six weeks ago, the Ministry of Education ruled at last that students from any of the country’s thirty provinces are now permitted to take the college entrance exam outside their native place of registry [a crucial decision for the children of migrant workers]. Clearly, the push by the New Citizens Movement for greater equality in education has achieved one stage of victory.
When the Decision of the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the CCP was released four months ago, it included language pledging to “actively carry out trials for systems of transparency for the newly appointed leaders and cadres on relevant matters.” These “relevant matters” must include disclosure of the assets [of government officials]. And ultimately, the authorities will have to respond to the call by the New Citizens Movement for disclosure of the assets of government officials.
The dinner gatherings of members of the New Citizens Movement in various cities have continued unabated, even in the face of tremendous pressure — and even in jittery Beijing.
As ever, it is within the capacity of the authorities to persecute any citizen who speaks up about problems in our society. But now, unlike the past, the authorities cannot possibly turn their backs on the problems themselves. They cannot dismiss the demands of the public.
Social progress entails a definite price. To pay that price, we are prepared to sacrifice ourselves. To pay that price, we are prepared to hazard imprisonment — in order to turn the public’s attention to public affairs, in order to create the pressure necessary to force concessions on the part of the authorities, in order to compel changes to unjust and unfair policies, in order to bring change to the system.
This road of peaceful resistance, of peaceful change, of the New Citizens Movement, has already been opened for us by Xu Zhiyong.
We are not about empty slogans. We are not about abstract grand narratives, or insincere talk of opposition. We are about returning to society and putting down roots, about joining with the lives of ordinary people and leading thousands and tens of thousands to take up and protect the rights that have always been theirs — to become citizens in the fullest sense.
This sort of concrete resistance, grounded in the very substance of life, cannot be defeated. Society provides it with a solid foundation, and life imbues it with tremendous force. False charges, persecution and forced suppression will not avail [against this resistance], but in fact will only steel our resolve.
Just as we understand that all acts of conscience throughout human history have met with adversity, and that suffering is something all acts of conscience must face, we understand that the New Citizens Movement cannot escape adversity. For us, suffering for conscience is a matter of honor.
When we suffer by taking the rights and responsibility of the citizen seriously, by taking freedom, justice and love as our practice, this serves only to iterate the absurdity of the system, and underscore the imperative of change.
Repression will not end the New Citizens Movement, and in fact Xu Zhiyong and the others have drawn new strength from their hardship on behalf of the whole movement. From the courtroom and from their prison cells, they have never ceased their struggle — and they have never rested in their advocacy of the principle of the New Citizen.
The illegal trials against members of the New Citizens Movement resemble the show trials held in Taiwan after the Formosa incident of 1979. They serve only to consummate the New Citizens Movement and to announce it to the world. For the New Citizens Movement, this is an historic moment.
International support for the New Citizens Movement has never ceased, and this too forms an integral part of the movement. International opinion has rushed to the support of the movement, and in places like Munich and Portugal people have even gathered to show their support through “wine and dine” sessions in which they raise their glasses and express solidarity with the New Citizens Movement, calling for peace and justice worldwide. [Translator’s Note: In combination, the Chinese words “food” and “drunkenness”, here rendered “wine and dine,” are homonyms of the phrase “commit a crime,” a reference to the wrongful trial and persecution of rights defenders. This practice originated in China in 2011.]
All of these supporters know that the spirit and values of the New Citizens Movement — freedom, justice, love and conviction — are core values not meant to destroy, but rather to build, through the routine practice of rights, an order in which love replaces hate and courage replaces anger. They believe this spirit of the New Citizen should be shared far and wide.
The New Citizens Movement represents the rise of civil society in China. It has earned the respect of the world, and it has earned dignity for the Chinese people.
Civil movements in the broader sense — social movements of citizens pursuing their civil and constitutional rights — have continued unabated in China too. In south China, labor movements have advanced through organised rights defence actions. Networks of human rights lawyers have strengthened despite constant pressure. And grassroots NGOs on issues like public welfare, environmental protection and communal self-reliance have found space to grow like never before.
Freedom is our goal, justice is our spirit, and love is our foundation. Through the citizens movement we will galvanise society, rebuild our values, remake our social core. The new society that emerges will lead China’s transition to constitutionalism. This is the prevailing tide of our time, and any attempt to hold it back is destined to fail, like beating back water with a sword.
Attacks on the New Citizens Movement continue. Our brothers and sisters continue to suffer. Though we may not be free of sorrow, we refuse to despair. The work of conscience cannot be beaten down. The New Citizens Movement will not be toppled. And so we remain confident. The strength in our hearts will not be bested.
Xu Zhiyong and the others have already sacrificed their freedom in order to open a road for the New Citizens Movement. This is the road to a free China. It is the road to a better China. We have only to take to this road, to join forces with the New Citizens Movement. We are duty bound to forge ahead.
These are the aims and mission of the New Citizens Movement website. We cannot say for sure what impact our actions will ultimately have — each of us has limitations. But we will stand firm, and we will work tirelessly for our goals.
April 11, 2014
The New Citizens Website
www.xgmyd.com

According to news reports in early April 2014, a cemetery park in Laishui County, Hebei province, has been marketing graves for around 60,000 yuan per square meter, saying the plots have ideal “dragon contour” positioning according to the art of fengshui, or geomancy. The prices for these grave plots were about 15 times as high as the local price for price real estate. News media also reported that the registered legal representative of the company that runs the cemetery park is the deputy head of the local civil affairs bureau. In the above cartoon, posted by The Beijing News to Sina Weibo, a local official cooks a gravestone over an open fire, a reference to cooking up prices.

The following post by “Protect Human Rights” (保护－人权), a user with just under 20,000 followers on Sina Weibo, was deleted from Weibo sometime before 12:25pm today, April 9, 2014. [See more deleted posts at the WeiboScope Search, by the Journalism and Media Studies Centre]

If wining and dining with public funds was cut in half, kids in poor mountain regions could all attend school; if we cut the number of public vehicles [used by officials] in half, schools across China could all have school buses; if control was cut in half, we could become a cultural great power; if special privileges [enjoyed by officials] were cut in half, we would have true social harmony; if bribery and law-breaking were cut in half, no one would head to Beijing to petition; if we cut the number of public functionaries in half, the efficiency of our government agencies would achieve real progress; if we cut impudence in half, we would be a major power in earnest.

The original Chinese post follows:

如果把公款吃喝减一半，贫困山区的孩子都能上学了；如把公车减一半， 全国学校都有校车了；如把管制减一半，咱就成文化强国了；如果把特权减一半，社会就真的和谐了；如果把贪赃枉法减一半，就没人进京上访了；如果把公务员减一半，机关效率就真提高了；如果把无耻减一半， 咱真的就大国崛起了

China’s Central Propaganda Department and other agencies recently announced an aggressive cleanup campaign for the country’s news profession. In response to the campaign — which like past ones has taken a highly moralistic tone — I wrote last week about the central role of state media censorship in driving the debasement of professional news and fostering what the recent joint notice calls “journalism diseases.”
Essentially, how can you appeal to the best professional instincts of journalists when they are not permitted to professionalize at all — meaning that their role, and the acceptability of their work, is still defined in terms of the Party’s priorities?
“Fake news” is one of the targets of this latest campaign. But no one inside China would dare openly criticise — as Hong Kong commentator Leung Man-tao has — the fatuousness of state media reporting of sudden-breaking news events.