HEADLINES & HASHTAGS

We follow the stories, conversations and broader developments shaping the Chinese media environment as they emerge, offering an inside look at a dynamic but challenging space.

HEADLINES AND HASHTAGS

Latest | Headlines & Hashtags

January 28 — February 3, 2008

Feb 4, 2008 | David Bandurski

January 28 – Yunnan Province passed new rules (关于省政府部门及州市行政负责人问责办法), to take effect on March 1 this year, specifying that news reports may be presented as support for the launching of investigations against government officials suspected of abuse of power. One Yunnan official, Yang Hongbo (杨洪波) said the rules “patched up existing inadequacies in monitoring by […]

Editorial: China should leverage civil society groups to combat snowstorms and other emergencies

Feb 4, 2008 | David Bandurski

By David Bandurski – Chinese leaders launched an all-out publicity drive last week to demonstrate the party’s concern for the public welfare amid devastating winter storms. In the midst of that charm offensive, addressing hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded at the rail station in Guangzhou, Premier Wen Jiabao actually said, “I apologize.” Over the […]

China announces "newsy" changes for CCTV's official nightly news broadcast

Feb 4, 2008 | David Bandurski

By David Bandurski – In the latest signal of support for state-promoted media commercialization, China’s broadcast minders announced today that they would “work toward raising and improving” the quality of China Central Television’s nightly national newscast, Xinwen Lianbo (新闻联播), a key tool of state propaganda. [ABOVE: Screenshot of QQ.com coverage of Xinwen Lianbo‘s 30th anniversary […]

From the Archive

Riding into the Uncanny Valley

May 21, 2024 | Alex Colville

Military mouthpieces have joined Chinese state media in experimenting with AI anchors. But how effective will these digital propagandists be in the fight for hearts and minds?

Shades of Yellow

Apr 24, 2024 | David Bandurski

In its latest two-month campaign against public accounts on domestic social media platforms, China’s cyberspace control body is targeting falsehood and sensationalism. The ugly truth is that the country’s state-run media, which are not to be touched by the purge, are some of the worst culprits.

Fingertip Formalism

Apr 18, 2024 | David Bandurski

In recent years, China’s leadership has pushed innovation at the intersection of tech and governance. But mobile-based solutions have created a new problem — how to get officials off their phones.

The Flip Side of Influence

Apr 17, 2024 | Alex Colville

For foreign influencers, China’s massive and potentially lucrative market is a huge draw. But national sensitivities are also a very real pitfall — as one influencer has learned this month.

Who is Seeing the Real America?

Apr 15, 2024 | Initium Media

“Zero-dollar shopping” videos depicting America as a lawless hellscape where woke politics mean criminals now go unpunished have been going viral for years within China and on Chinese-language social media abroad. What lies behind this strange trend?

Pleas and Appeals

Mar 22, 2024 | Alex Colville

After it went viral in China this month, video footage of a woman wailing before the altar of Bao Qingtian, an 11th-century official who has become a popular symbol of justice, drove a debate online about the difficulties of seeking recourse for official wrongs.

When the ByteDance CEO Groveled

Mar 20, 2024 | David Bandurski

With a US Senate debate on TikTok and its national security implications on the horizon, some media have asked what signs there are that the app’s parent company, ByteDance, is under the thumb of China’s leadership. An abject politically-laden apology six years ago by the company’s CEO cuts right through the questions.

The Ugly Politics of Media Obstruction

Mar 14, 2024 | David Bandurski

The harassment of state media reporters during a live report from the scene of a deadly explosion yesterday has angered some as an unacceptable act of interference. A closer look reveals a more disquieting truth — that such acts of obstruction are not an exception but the very nature of media policy in China.

Mo Yan Against the Martyrs

Mar 11, 2024 | Alex Colville

A spat about the red credentials of one of China’s most celebrated writers has been blown out of proportion on the Chinese internet, thanks to harsher nationalist laws and an increasingly rabid cancel culture.

When Science Fiction Meets Political Fact

Feb 22, 2024 | Alex Colville

A win for China in the Best Novella category at the 2023 Hugo Awards for science fiction has been lauded by state media amid global controversy over authors being shut out of the Chengdu-hosted event. But many Chinese readers have panned the winning work — and some suspect that its victory is politically too convenient.

What Does the Party Stand to Gain from AI?

Jan 30, 2024 | Alex Colville

With the help of AI, CCP propaganda is becoming more targeted, accessible, and quickly made than ever before. We found one state-backed AI website and took it for a test drive.

Furious Misreadings

Jan 25, 2024 | Alex Colville

How China’s latest pique over the ills of “Western media,” stemming from a cover illustration in The Economist magazine, entirely misses the point.

One Election, Two Reactions

Jan 23, 2024 | Dalia Parete

While China insists Taiwan is an internal affair, domestic media reactions to Taiwan’s elections have been muted. The bulk of state media coverage has instead been directed outwards at foreign readers. How do we account for this dichotomy?

Quake Comments Bring Suspension for TV Host

Jan 11, 2024 | Alex Colville

Remarks last week by Xiao Chenghao were just the latest in a pattern of schadenfreude that rears its ugly head in China whenever natural disaster strikes Japan. The disciplining of the Hainan Satellite TV host shows the tension between the official drive for a positive global image and the anti-Japanese sentiment often stoked for the leadership’…

China’s Press Under Xi Jinping Thought

Nov 22, 2023 | David Bandurski

State media coverage of a ceremony yesterday to honor the recipients of China’s most prestigious journalism awards makes clear that the most prized asset in China’s press is control.

Flowers in Hefei

Nov 10, 2023 | Xue Laidi

In cities and villages across China, young and old gathered in places like Hefei’s Patriot Lane last week to mourn the passing of China’s former premier, Li Keqiang. Who they were mourning mattered less than the idea that he had been a good man.

Sidelined in Death, as in Politics

Nov 1, 2023 | David Bandurski

Since former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang passed away last week, his legacy has been quietly boxed up and filed away. The current leadership under Xi Jinping hopes that the nation can move quickly past his pragmatism and the questions it raises about the present.

China’s Fake Press Problem

Oct 26, 2023 | David Bandurski

Controls on news and information in China, seen as key to protecting the CCP regime, are perhaps the strictest in the world. So how — and why — are entirely spurious media outfits operating right under the nose of the authorities?

Gilding the Panda

Sep 20, 2023 | David Bandurski

Attending the Cannes Film Festival and taking home the coveted Palme d’Or is every filmmaker’s dream. Will they someday yearn for the Panda d’Or? Not if the prize is about the politics of civilization.

A Law to Protect China’s Feelings

Sep 14, 2023 | Ryan Ho Kilpatrick

The draft of a new legal amendment criminalizing speech or dress that “hurts the feelings of the Chinese nation” has attracted a wave of criticism online. Against the backdrop of rising nationalist sentiment in China, has Beijing overstepped the mark?

The Chinese People Have Stand-Up

Aug 30, 2023 | Vickie Wang

China’s crackdown on stand-up comedy in May this year was swift and decisive — as was the medium’s rise during the pandemic years. Taiwanese comedian Vickie Wang offers her inside perspective on why the format has struck such a chord with young Chinese audiences.

The Battle of Brick Lane

Aug 18, 2023 | CMP Special Contributor

The “core socialist values” suddenly appearing on a wall in London might have sounded familiar to locals. But the line drawn by China’s leadership is clear: “universal values” are Western and “core socialist values” are Chinese — and never the twain shall meet.

Red Patriots in Hong Kong

Aug 8, 2023 | CMP Staff

A school that raised eyebrows during the territory’s colonial past for nurturing “red aristocrats” is today being upheld as a model school for patriotic education. A letter to students from Chinese leader Xi Jinping is the latest attempt to drum up enthusiasm for an issue that has long been controversial in the city.

China’s Foreign Minister is Sacked, and Erased

Jul 26, 2023 | David Bandurski

The fate of Qin Gang has been the subject of endless speculation in recent weeks, as he has disappeared from public view. The apparent erasure this week of all official news releases including his name within the ministry’s own website is another bizarre twist.

Jewish Conspiracy Theories Find an Audience in China

Jul 18, 2023 | Jordyn Haime

Anti-Jewish content and conspiracies take up significant real estate among the top results on Chinese media platforms including Douyin, WeChat and Bilibili. Though borrowed from the West, they have taken on a localized identity.

The Telegram

Jul 13, 2023 | Qian Gang

In this wonderful reflection from our 2014 archives, former CMP director and veteran journalist Qian Gang shares his experiences as pro-democracy demonstrations gripped China in the spring of 1989 — and the consequences of his own support for a newspaper editor at the center of events.

Fake News on the Front Line

Jun 20, 2023 | David Bandurski

The story of “Paul Kotzatie,” the bogus Russian soldier from Henan, is not just a case of outlandish CGI fakery. It is a reminder that in China the right to speak, and the right to be heard, is ultimately in the hands of those in power.

His Authorship, Xi Jinping

Jun 13, 2023 | David Bandurski

These are dark days for writers and publishers in China. And in a telling sign of the times, one writer reigns supreme at the printing press, and in the headlines. Guess who?

Confessions of a Han Chinese Woman

May 19, 2023 | Initium Media

“During the wave of protests against lockdowns in China, I took part in a candlelight vigil overseas for the victims of the fire in Urumqi… I had the profound feeling that night that as a Han Chinese, I was a Chinese White.”

Slogan Not Funny (Not a Bit), State Media Say

May 17, 2023 | David Bandurski

A quip on stage from comedian Li Haoshi over the weekend deeply offended China’s military. But red lines can be hard to spot in a world where overwrought propaganda often spills over into self-satire.

China Appoints New NRTA Chief

May 16, 2023 | CMP Staff

Now the youngest female senior official at the full ministerial level, Cao Shumin is known for her chops as a telecommunications researcher — but also as a loyal and ideologically committed Party member.

A Propaganda Ghost Sighting in Cambodia

May 3, 2023 | CMP Staff

Over the past few days, a strange apparition has haunted the sidebar of an English-language news site in Cambodia — an eery and unexplained echo of a long-abandoned policy that China’s leaders once staunchly defended.

Eight Long Hours of Silence

Apr 21, 2023 | Initium Media

The complete lack of early news coverage or social media attention to a major fire at Beijing’s Changfeng Hospital this week raised serious questions about the Chinese government’s growing capacity to control information.

On National Humiliation, Don’t Mention the Russians

Mar 24, 2023 | Ryan Ho Kilpatrick | history, National humiliation, Russia

In an era of revanchist territorial claims and chest-thumping nationalist rhetoric, one topic remains revealingly taboo: taking back what Russia took from China.

Framing China’s Health Experts

Mar 9, 2023 | CMP Staff

When experts provide neutral and apolitical input, policies on public health can benefit enormously. When propaganda and censorship stand in the way, this does more than damage general well-being — it destroys the credibility of experts in the public eye.

A Model Opera at Lujiang Middle School

Mar 3, 2023 | David Bandurski

Viral footage of a confrontation between a professor and a student reveals how individuals’ voices are erased and replaced with that of the Party, and how the collective voice of a billion people can still ring so hollow on the global stage.

Looking the People’s Daily in the Eye

Dec 1, 2022 | David Bandurski

The official announcements of the death of former top leader Jiang Zemin may seem like heaps of nonsense and overwrought praise. But take a closer look at newspaper layouts today and they tell us clearly where the Chinese Communist Party would like us to focus.

Colorless Tributes for Jiang Zemin

Nov 30, 2022 | CMP Staff

Online media directly run by the Chinese Communist Party media responded to the news of the death of former President Jiang Zemin by going all black. More commercially oriented media made different choices.

A New Slogan Rises from the Past

Nov 8, 2022 | CMP Staff

In defining the period ahead for China and the CCP as a road of many twists and turns, requiring historic resolve, Xi Jinping has borrowed from the language Mao Zedong used ahead of the Party’s victory in the Civil War in 1949.

The Long and Short of the CCP Congress

Oct 16, 2022 | CMP Staff

Lengthy though it may have seemed as Xi Jinping delivered his political report live to the 20th National Congress of the CCP today, this was not the full report. The draft crafted for delivery at the podium was cut by close to an hour.

Chance and Defiance on the Front Page

Oct 16, 2022 | David Bandurski

One of the key themes in Xi Jinping’s “New Era” over the past 10 years has been much tighter control of the press. Shortly after Xi’s most crucial media policy speech in February 2016, CMP wrote about the absurd levels such control can take, with reference to the CCP’s pre-reform history.

Writing the Future into History

Oct 14, 2022 | David Bandurski

In China, official versions of history in the present are meant to signal future plans and ambitions. Here’s a look at today’s chronicle of the last five years under the CCP.

“Xiplomacy” Gets Rare Stage Time

Oct 3, 2022 | CMP Staff

Xi Jinping’s legacy foreign policy phrase got a slight boost last week with prominent coverage in the CCP’s flagship newspaper. But make no mistake — it has been a rough year.

“We Must Wake Up!”

Sep 20, 2022 | David Bandurski

The fatal crash of a quarantine transport bus in Guizhou province over the weekend has galvanized anger over China’s Covid policies. One private post from a well-known journalist yesterday was shared widely on social media before being deleted. It spoke of 1.3 billion Chinese held “in bondage” over irrational fears of contagion.

When Laws Fail for Policies

Sep 19, 2022 | CMP Staff

Following a deadly bus crash in Guizhou province, authorities have promised a swift investigation into the causes and those responsible. But some of the key factors behind the accident are plain and predictable given China’s unyielding pursuit of “zero Covid.”

Good Will and Hostility

Sep 12, 2022 | CMP Staff

A video from the US Embassy in Beijing wishing Chinese a prosperous Mid-Autumn Festival sparked a wave of comments and counter comments over the weekend — and prompted the deletion of an article about the incident.

China’s Front on Human Rights

Sep 1, 2022 | David Bandurski

Chinese media have reacted with blistering silence today to the release of a UN report on human rights in Xinjiang. But while we wait for the torrent of denials to come, it’s a good time to look more closely at the organizations through which China engages internationally on these issues.

Pelosi in the People’s Daily

Aug 25, 2022 | CMP Staff

US House Speaker Pelosi has appeared in more than 70 articles in the CCP’s flagship newspaper so far in August — stratospheric by historical standards. The latest outpouring of rage from China appears across two pages today.

Looking Back on China’s “Golden Era”

Aug 5, 2022 | CMP Staff

Continuing our series on investigative reporter and former CMP fellow Yang Haipeng, who passed away on June 30, we look at tributes from former Nanfang Daily Group deputy editor-in-chief Jiang Yiping, and columnist Xiao Shu, which offer glimpses of a brighter and more hopeful era for China’s journalists.

The Didi National Security Mystery

Jul 22, 2022 | David Bandurski

Left conspicuously unanswered in accounts of the company’s misdeeds by the Cyberspace Administration of China is the exact nature of its alleged national security violations.

Major Glitch at Virtual Tech Event

Jul 22, 2022 | CMP Staff

A virtual event hosted yesterday by Baidu and CCTV News was meant to showcase “avant-garde” AI applications. But the tech giant’s live video feed for the event was hijacked by old-fashioned regulatory hurdles.

A Tribute to the Journalist’s Spirit

Jul 5, 2022 | CMP Staff

A former investigative reporter reflects on the immense influence of journalist Yang Haipeng, who passed away recently in Shanghai — and on the huge toll worsening repression has taken on those hungering for justice.

Remembering Journalist Yang Haipeng

Jun 30, 2022 | David Bandurski

One of China’s top reporters from the heyday of print journalism a decade ago, the veteran investigator and editor passed away suddenly in Shanghai on June 30.

A Steep Drop for China’s Journalists

Jun 14, 2022 | David Bandurski

State media coverage of a report released last month by the All-China Journalism Association emphasized the development of media convergence. But the report tells another important story — about a rapid fall in the number of licensed journalists in China.

Shades of Hostility

Jun 8, 2022 | David Bandurski

Last month, a set of questionable illustrations included in primary school mathematics textbooks in China sparked a fierce debate online over curriculum standards — and wild conspiracies about foreign infiltration. How could this happen in a country where internal standards of political discipline within media and publishing are among the stric…

Paper Trails in the Digital Age

May 31, 2022 | David Bandurski

If the closure in the past five years of once prosperous publications like the Beijing Times and Shanghai’s Oriental Morning Post signaled the steady decline of commercial print newspapers and magazines in China, the recent shuttering of China Computerworld can be seen as the full stop on a bygone era.

Political Plot Twists

May 25, 2022 | Stella Chen

Late last year, Chinese authorities cracked down on a popular role-playing genre called “script murder,” arguing that violent and supernatural themes were harmful to youth. But the genre may be finding new life — as pro-Party propaganda.

Obey the Party, Cut the Nonsense

May 23, 2022 | David Bandurski

In recent remarks, Inner Mongolia’s top CCP leader emphasized the news media’s role as mouthpiece, and the need for obedience. But he also urged shorter reports, less jargon and more relevance.

Passing of Shanghai Culture Writer Raises Questions

May 12, 2022 | Stella Chen

Days before her death on May 4, Shanghai journalist Tong Weijing was kept busy writing from lockdown for one of the city’s leading state-run dailies. Some have wondered why state media have responded with silence to the tragic news of her passing.

Honoring China’s Heroes

May 10, 2022 | David Bandurski

Last week veteran journalist Luo Changping was given a seven-month jail sentence for defaming the country’s martyrs and heroes. The harsh penalty for the former senior editor of Caijing magazine, who in the past has been hailed in China for his heroic journalism, reveals how profoundly the values in Chinese society have shifted under Xi Jinping.

Mystery Kills

May 5, 2022 | Stella Chen

Alibaba stock was driven down sharply last week by furious online speculation stemming from a mysterious state media report. It’s time, some said afterward, to reform to the national system of Party-state driven news releases, which encourages a culture of error and secrecy.

Clickbait Nationalism Misses the Mark

Apr 11, 2022 | Stella Chen

The serious failings of Covid-19 responses in major cities like Changchun and Shanghai have deepened frustration online with influencers who continue, in the face of real suffering, to pander to China-can-do-no-wrong nationalism.

Putting the Soft Back in Soft Power

Mar 31, 2022 | Stella Chen

In a recent paper for a Chinese journal on international communication, two scholars suggest the surefire way to tell China’s story well is to give young Chinese internet users more freedom to be creative online and influential internationally. But is the Chinese leadership capable of loosening up when it comes to the country’s messaging overseas?

“This Does Not Need to Be Featured”

Mar 25, 2022 | Stella Chen

Coverage of the tragic crash this week of China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 has relied chiefly on information from state media focussing on the government response. Rare efforts at more human and relatable coverage have been the subject of controversy over when it is appropriate to show the human side of tragedy.

Human Stories of War

Mar 22, 2022 | David Bandurski

While coverage of the Ukraine war in China’s official state media has emphasized a number of limited Party-state frames, other Chinese media have worked to tell more human and nuanced stories about the unfolding humanitarian crisis.

Doubling Down on US Bioweapons

Mar 18, 2022 | David Bandurski

While the US has continued its focus this week on exerting pressure on Putin and isolating him internationally, China has insistently sought to shift the focus to the question of US biological weapons labs in Ukraine – an allegation that has basis only in claims made by the Russian Defense Ministry on March 6. The result is a disconcerting rift …

China Rails Against US “Disinformation”

Mar 15, 2022 | David Bandurski

In today’s People’s Daily newspaper there is not a whiff of news about yesterday’s exchange in Rome between top US and Chinese diplomats. Meanwhile, a high-level foreign affairs column heaping blame on the United States and accusing it of “disinformation” suggests that, publicly at least, Chinese and American views of the Ukraine war remain worl…

An Anthem for the New Era

Mar 14, 2022 | David Bandurski

A meeting in Rome today between US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and China’s top foreign affairs official, Yang Jiechi, could be crucial to securing peace in Europe and beyond. But the top story dominating the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper today is the glorious closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games…

Reporting Official China

Mar 2, 2022 | Stella Chen

Former Southern Weekly journalist Chu Chaoxin (褚朝新), the first reporter in the early days of the 2012 Bo Xilai scandal to break news of the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood in Chongqing, speaks in a recent interview about the challenges of reporting on the inner workings of Chinese officialdom.

Fluff Diplomacy

Feb 15, 2022 | Stella Chen

The immense popularity — and now scarcity — of Winter Olympics mascot Bing Dwen Dwen is a story that has topped the headlines. For China’s government, the chubby panda, enormously popular by all accounts, has been the fluffy friend who launched a thousand fluff pieces. And that may be less about accident and more about design.

Remembering Cao Jingxing

Feb 14, 2022 | CMP Staff

Journalist Cao Jingxing (曹景行), whose work impacted media development in both Hong Kong and China, passed away on February 11 at the age of 75. Cao Jingxing’s father was renowned Republican Era journalist and author Cao Juren (曹聚仁), who was reportedly close to such May Fourth writers as Lu Xun (魯迅) and Zhou Zuoren (周作人), and was active as a write…

Positive Designs

Jan 14, 2022 | David Bandurski

As the Covid lockdown in the city of Xi’an continues, one media observation site calls the colorful and inventive front-page designs of a local commercial newspaper “a light in the darkness, lighting the way for people in their fight against the epidemic.”

Remembering Xu Zhuqing

Jan 11, 2022 | Stella Chen

The former director and editor-in-chief of the China Youth Daily newspaper passed away in Beijing on January 5 from lung cancer. He led the paper through what many now see as its golden age in the intellectual ferment of the 1980s.

Re-brand for Official Cyberspace Magazine

Jan 10, 2022 | Stella Chen

The Cyberspace Administration of China will change the name of its flagship publication this month. Not exactly news to write home about — but nevertheless, something for observers of Chinese internet control and related policies to pay attention to.

Struggling for Historical Truth

Dec 20, 2021 | David Bandurski

Late last week, Song Gengyi, a journalism teacher at a vocational college in Shanghai, was fired for making “erroneous remarks” on the number of victims of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. Her firing prompted a fierce struggle online between those who saw her as a lacking patriotism and those who believed she was treated unfairly. But online censorshi…

Good Bye Hu Xijin

Dec 16, 2021 | David Bandurski

After serving for more than 15 years as the controversial editor-in-chief of the Global Times, China’s most outspoken newspaper on foreign affairs, Hu Xijin announced his retirement on Weibo today. Other sources say his departure has been compelled — and that there are moves underway to strengthen “political guidance” at the newspaper.

Douban Pulled From App Stores

Dec 10, 2021 | Stella Chen

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced on Thursday that Douban (豆瓣), one of the country’s most popular social networking platforms, had been removed from app stores along with 105 other apps, citing “excessive collection of personal information.”

The Histrionics of Cultural Promotion

Dec 1, 2021 | David Bandurski

Xi Jinping has stressed the urgency of “cultural confidence,” “cultural security” and the “building of a cultural power.” But when culture becomes a matter of political urgency – more about apparatchiks than about artists — what are the real implications for culture as a creative enterprise? CMP translates a recent essay on cultural policy by f…

Don’t Flaunt It

Nov 25, 2021 | Stella Chen

Since the Cyberspace Administration of China launched its internet cleanup campaign in May this year, social media platforms have been working with authorities to crack down on the phenomenon of “wealth flaunting.” One of the country’s most ostentatious platforms just shared its own report card on how effectively it has cracked down.

Remembering Zuo Fang

Nov 15, 2021 | David Bandurski

Zuo Fang, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 86, was one of China’s most influential press figures of the reform era. His reflections on his country and its media sector seven years ago while in Hong Kong to promote the publication of his book “How Steel is Not Made” are keenly relevant today.

Cracking Down on Fandoms

Nov 5, 2021 | David Bandurski

As China’s government has moved to crack down on “fandom culture,” state media have claimed that the country’s youth must be saved from “toxic idol worship.” In this recent analysis for Brookings TechStream, David Bandurski looks at the deeper political reasons for this move against youth obsessions.

Topping the Inequality Rankings

Oct 12, 2021 | Stella Chen

When a recent news headline pegged China as leading the world with its high Gini coefficient, some web users flushed with patriotic pride. But hang on . . . . Isn’t a high Gini coefficient a mark of deep income disparity?

Shaming China’s “Buddhist Beauties”

Oct 8, 2021 | Stella Chen

The recent wave of criticism in China’s state media of online influencers appropriating the trappings of Buddhism is a cautionary tale about what happens when internet enforcement becomes rule by shame, an exercise in moral finger-pointing.

Questions Linger on New Education Rules

Sep 15, 2021 | Stella Chen

A new policy issued back in July governing China’s multi-billion dollar tutoring industry was ostensibly meant to reduce pressures on parents and kids. Here’s a quick look at some of the questions and concerns about the policy and its impact as glimpsed through the Chinese media.

Fandoms in the Crosshairs

Sep 13, 2021 | CMP Staff

Chinese state media have characterized a broad internet clean-up campaign undertaken since May this year as an effort to correct the moral failings of internet culture. But a closer look at the discourse used to describe the “clean up” of fandom culture, communities of online enthusiasts sharing in the enjoyment of popular culture, makes it clea…

State Media Post on Taliban Prompts Backlash

Aug 17, 2021 | David Bandurski

As the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan and its capital, Kabul, prompting concerns about possible acts of violence committed by the Islamic militant group, a Weibo post from the CCP’s official People’s Daily newspaper seemed to whitewash the group’s origins — drawing criticism from internet users.

An Olympic Censorship Slip

Aug 3, 2021 | Joyce Chan

A livestream mishap by Tencent Video during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Summer Olympics reveals just how difficult it can be for internet platforms to please audiences and content regulators.

Trapped

Jul 22, 2021 | CMP Staff

Among the many harrowing accounts emerging from the flood in Zhengzhou this week, one story that has gripped Chinese is that of Lu Siwei, an intern at the Freezing Point supplement of China Youth Daily who was trapped for hours with others in a flooded subway tunnel.

As Disaster Strikes, Xi Takes the Headlines

Jul 21, 2021 | David Bandurski

Raw and jarring social media accounts of flooding in the city of Zhengzhou contrasted with subdued coverage from official Party-state media. But there was another story between the lines — the completely sidelining of Premier Li Keqiang as Xi’s “important instructions” were proclaimed.

Aerospace Executive’s Tantrum Goes Viral

Jul 4, 2021 | CMP Staff

Almost one month after two aerospace experts were violently attacked by an aerospace company executive and hospitalized, the case has become an online sensation — raising questions about corruption and cover-up within the prestigious industry.

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