WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expects the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus to spread rapidly. However, the reality is, that omicron has probably already arrived in most countries, even if the variant has not yet been detected everywhere, the WHO director-general said on Tuesday.
While the rest of the world has been worried about the new Omicron variant for several weeks, China only reported its first case at the beginning of the week. Ning Wang takes a look at the current pandemic situation in the People’s Republic and Hong Kong. But a sublineage of the Delta variant is currently a bigger concern than Omicron. In Zhejiang, it resulted in a lockdown for half a million people. Hopes of re-opening the borders are thus dwindling once again – as current developments are further encouraging Beijing in its zero-corona policy.
Rénròu Sōusuo (人肉搜), the “human flesh search engine”, terrifies public figures in China. This is the Mandarin term for an online witch-hunt, which befalls individuals or even companies after an intentional or careless mishap.
In the People’s Republic, however, this happens on a whole different level. There, insulting Chinese culture or the Chinese people has become the greatest possible sin on the web. Our author Fabian Peltsch analyzed the nationalistic Cancel Culture: While such online smear campaigns do stem from patriotic feelings, they are also partly orchestrated by the government.
We hope you enjoy today’s issue!
While the rest of the world grows nervous about the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus with great concern for the past two weeks, China only confirmed the first case earlier this week. A traveler from abroad tested positive for the variant on Monday after arriving in Tianjin, about 150 kilometers north of Beijing. Another case was then reported in Guangzhou on Tuesday. There have also been cases of Omicron infection in Hong Kong. A traveler from South Africa is even said to have infected another traveler with the virus during quarantine.
However, outbreaks of the Delta variant continue to cause the greatest concern in the People’s Republic: In the province of Zhejiang, an increase in infections was reported on Tuesday and, as a result, around 540,000 people were sent into quarantine. Mass testing and lockdowns have been imposed. According to reports, most cases in the economically strong province have been registered in the cities of Ningbo, Shaoxing, and Hangzhou. Hundreds of flights were canceled at the airport in Hangzhou, the provincial capital. Numerous businesses had to close temporarily in the Zhenhai district in the city of Ningbo.
Most of the registered cases in Zhejiang were mainly of the so-called AY.4 sublineage of the Delta variant, according to reports by broadcaster CGTN. This sub-variant shows a higher viral load and therefore has a higher transmission rate, media reports said. Observers now expect the measures to be imposed more strictly again. The new Omicron variant could now become the reason for a further tightening of China’s zero-tolerance policy towards the virus.
Before the advent of the new sub-variant, Beijing had just begun to adapt its Covid management. Entire blocks were no longer cordoned off. Previously, citizens could only return to the streets after mass tests, some of which lasted for days. Some cities have started more selective testing procedures. They are now focusing on individuals who had close contact with the infected.
The combination of the spread of the Delta sub-variant and the emergence of Omicron now probably brings a return of close surveillance. “It must be brought under control and transmission not be allowed to cause so many serious illnesses and deaths,” said Liang Wannian, a former National Health Commission official and head of a panel of experts advising the government on Covid measures. Liang made his statement before the Omicron case became known.
Liang’s assessment is also related to China’s zero-covid strategy. While he does not explicitly mention it, he does imply that China’s health system could not cope with new, widespread outbreaks. Here, China is no different from other countries. At the same time, population immunity is far from sufficient to form an efficient defense against the virus.
The pandemic management is now getting serious: In two months’ time, the Winter Olympics will begin in Beijing. In light of the emergence of the new cases, it is even less likely than it already was that the entry regulations will be eased by then. With 120 million people, a part of the population has already received the third vaccination. However, just like with its Western counterparts, it is currently unknown just how effective the Chinese vaccines will turn out to be against the new variants.
The German business community has long assumed that the country will only open up after the Olympics, and possibly even then only slowly and gradually. After the Winter Olympics in February, the People’s Congress is set to meet in Beijing in March, and an important party congress is due in the autumn. “I have trouble imagining that China will introduce much relaxation in restrictions before then,” Jens Hildebrandt, chief of the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad for China, told China.Table. “On the other hand, China cannot shut itself off from the outside world indefinitely, especially since domestic consumption has not yet fully returned to pre-COVID levels,” Hildebrandt added.
Just like last year, local authorities are already trying to curb the traditional Chinese New Year travel wave. By mid-January 2022 at the latest, the traveling wave in the country would normally kick-off as people hurried to arrive back home in time for the festival.
There is now also concern that the rise of the Omicron variant could thwart the UN Conference on Biodiversity COP15 in Kunming. It is currently scheduled for late April to early May 2022. But the next round of negotiations on the draft agreement and ways to implement it – scheduled for January in Geneva – has been already postponed due to concerns over Omicron. “COP15 may also need to be postponed again,” said Lin Li, director of global policy and advocacy at green group WWF International.
With the new virus variant, the quarantine rules have been increased further for travelers to Hong Kong. Germany, for example, has now been upgraded from a so-called “medium-risk” to a “high-risk” country. This means that travelers from Germany must now spend three weeks in quarantine in specific hotels, instead of just 14 days. Since the beginning of December, this has applied to all travelers from Germany or individuals who have stayed there for the last 21 days – i.e. even if Germany was merely a transit country for the journey to Hong Kong.
Some current Hong Kong regulations:
Individuals who sat on a plane near a fellow passenger who had tested positive after arrival could be identified as “close contact” by the authorities. In this case, these individuals need to proceed to a quarantine center designated by Hong Kong authorities. The stay there is set by the authorities and can last up to three weeks, as the German Foreign Office states on its website.
However, many travelers take the hurdles to get to Hong Kong. German lawyer Bjoern Etgen endured a 14-day quarantine in Hong Kong in November. He reports that the demand for hotel rooms is high, despite all the travel restrictions and several PCR tests. For example, he says, while the SAR government has a list of 40 hotels where travelers must spend the mandatory quarantine period – getting a room requires long-term preparation. He recommends making preparations three months in advance.
The lawyer, who has been advising German companies in China for more than 25 years, recommends a room with a view, as this makes the quarantine period more bearable. Fitness equipment is also recommended: some hotels offer treadmills or fitness bikes. However, the cost of the stay should not be underestimated.
The Hong Kong government website was particularly helpful for his travel preparations. Etgen also recommends a Facebook group where Hong Kong travelers share their experiences and questions about the current regulations.
Travelers from Germany have only been allowed to enter Hong Kong again since the end of August. The infection figures in Hong Kong have remained at a very low level since the beginning of the Covid pandemic. The highest seven-day incidence had been reached in July 2020 and was 12.4. Since April this year, it has been constantly below 1. When entry rules were tightened on 2 December, the figure was 0.4. Hong Kong had only achieved this by keeping its borders closed for a prolonged period.
In everyday life, the mask mandate applies in public transport as well as in shopping malls and public buildings. For restaurant visits, an app with a QR code verifying that individuals are Covid-negative is still required. This largely applies to the mainland as well.
Chinese or foreigners with residence status in the People’s Republic who want to be out of quarantine in time for the Year of the Tiger must have entered the country by January 9 at the latest. Etgen said he would not have made the trip to Hong Kong if it had not been necessary to maintain his residence permit. However, Etgen jokingly says that he is not yet one of the “old-quarantine hands.” He talks about travelers who have already gone through quarantine in mainland China four or five times during the Covid pandemic. Contribution by Fabian Peltsch
Chen Man never thought that she would be branded a “traitor to China” over a photo. After the 41-year-old star photographer from Beijing photographed an Asian model for a Dior handbag advertisement, she was suddenly pilloried on the Internet in mid-November: Chen’s pictures were based on Western stereotypes of Chinese women, wrote outraged users on Chinese social media channels such as Weibo. Her eyes were too narrow, her cheekbones too high, her make-up and clothes reminiscent of a “creepy concubine” from the Qing dynasty. Chinese beauty looks different.
The state-run newspaper Beijing Daily also joined the chorus of public indignation: The photo would “distort Chinese culture.” In response, Chen apologized for her “naivety” and “ignorance“. However, the “Rénròu Sōusuo 人肉搜,” or “Human flesh search engine,” how the online hunt is known in China, was already in full swing by then. Users were systematically working their way through Chen’s portfolio, collecting evidence photos that could be used to prove her supposedly unpatriotic stance.
Images of a scantily clad model on the Three Gorges Dam, which Chen had published back in 2008, were suddenly deemed “anti-Chinese”. To avoid “hurting people’s feelings,” the fashion photographer, who is in demand around the globe, deleted all “problematic” images from her portfolio. “In the meanwhile, I will educate myself on Chinese history, attend more relevant events, and improve my ideologies,” Chen said in an open letter on Weibo. Self-criticism straight from a party guide.
The practice to brand the originators of inappropriate statements and, wherever possible, to silence them, has established itself in the US and Europe as well. Over recent years, this became known as “Cancel Culture”. Anyone who says something inappropriate is sharply criticized by the Internet community and their opinion is “erased” or “undone,” in other words: canceled. This tendency exists in all political camps, from left to right and from religious to liberal. In China, its manifestation as a patriotic movement is particularly pronounced.
China’s nationalistic cancel culture does not spare anyone these days. The business world also learned this painful lesson. The list of companies that have already been punished for hurting the “feelings of the Chinese people” grows longer with each passing month. VW, H&M, Nike, Zara, Burberry, Adidas, Puma, Dolce & Gabbana, and even the US basketball league NBA are just a few examples of international players that have been publicly criticized and boycotted in China.
Sometimes the bone of contention was the use of a Dalai Lama quote, sometimes the perceived malicious audacity to label Taiwan as a separate country on a company’s website. “Anyone who offends the Chinese people should prepare to pay the price,” Hua Chunying, the spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, commented earlier this year on the collective anger over H&M’s announcement that it would no longer use cotton harvested from forced labor in Xinjiang.
It is often hard to tell what actually is made by the Chinese people and what is orchestrated by the government in such online smear campaigns, explains Adam Ni, a member of the board at the China Policy Center, an independent Australian China think tank. In Ni’s column “Neican 内参,” published in his blog “The China Story,” the lawyer has extensively covered the phenomenon of Chinese cyber-nationalism. “I think government activities and Internet users’ outrage are mutually dependent and fuel each other.”
It is no secret that the Chinese government has been deliberately manipulating opinion in online forums and social networks with paid commentators since the mid-1990s. These keyboard warriors are often referred to as “Wumao 五毛,” a term that suggests they are paid 0.5 yuan, the equivalent of seven cents, for each of their comments. However, the image of the mindless cyber mercenary is outdated. The loudest and most aggressive voices in China’s online community are now typically middle-class digital natives who access Western media and networks through VPN channels. They are also known as “Little Pinks,” 小粉红 “xiǎo fěnhóng,” named after the color of an online forum where the young cyber-nationalists used to gather.
According to a survey by Asian Barometer Survey (ABS), the “Generation Z” of Chinese born between 1990 and 2000 places great value on individual self-expression. At the same time, they have grown up with Xi Jinping’s propaganda machine, which calls for the “rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” It accuses “foreign forces” of sabotaging China’s rise. Tensions with the West and the belief that China has managed the Covid pandemic better than the rest of the world fill the young Chinese with pride, but at the same time fuels defiance against the outside world. This has created an explosive combination that can quickly turn into open aggression.
One well-known representative of the patriotic online movement is the blogger Guyanmuchan, who has around 6.5 million followers on Weibo, but also uses Western portals such as Twitter to incite hostility against “China’s enemies”. The aesthetics of her channel is tailored to teenagers. Memes and cute cartoon characters are combined with headlines such as “Europe is just a dog on a US leash”.
The Chinese state is deliberately catering to this nationalist sentiment by visibly rejuvenating its own propaganda. Government channels have long been using Internet slang. State-produced cartoons make fun of the West. “Red” rap songs celebrate the CCP’s achievements. In some cases, the comments and essays from the Little Pinks universe are picked up and spread by official media. “Often a smear campaign begins with honest outrage. But when the state has its agenda on the topic at hand, it continues to pour fuel on the fire,” explains Adam Ni. This, he says, is also the big difference with the Western manifestation of the so-called Cancel Culture. “In China, the government is at the forefront.”
Because they create a mood of fear, critics like the writer Xia Shang, who lives in Shanghai and New York, have already compared the Internet agitators to the Red Guards. For Adam Ni, this comparison goes too far: “During the Cultural Revolution, the consequences were more terrible than today,” the blogger explains. Chaos had gripped the country, people had been murdered in reality. “Many officials experienced the suffering at that time first hand. This is something the party wants to avoid from happening again at all costs.” The situation today is more like a pressure cooker, with Beijing keeping a tight grip on the lid, Ni said. “The government knows exactly how to take the pressure off at any time.”
This can happen, for example, when a state-run newspaper itself suddenly becomes the victim of the online mob, for example, because it has taken a position that it feels is too soft on foreign countries. Critical comments and accounts are then deleted by the censors, and appeasing articles are launched as a counterweight. “It’s pretty obvious that the Little Pinks are not helping to improve China’s image in the world,” Ni explains. On the other hand, the government purposely uses mass outrage to justify foreign policy positions, for example, when it declares that calling for an independent investigation into the Covid pandemic hurts “the feelings of the Chinese people.”
A pop song is now even singing about just how fragile these feelings are. In October, the two Taiwan-based artists Namewee and Kimberly Chen released “Fragile,” a musical parody of the “glass hearts” of China’s online warriors, which could shatter at the slightest criticism. “I’m sorry for hurting your feelings,” the chorus goes. “I hear your fragile self-esteem shattering into a thousand pieces.” The music video is full of cross-references, from cotton referencing the H&M scandal to Winnie The Pooh, whose resemblance to Xi Jinping is still one of the many taboos in the Chinese Internet landscape. As expected, the song was quickly banned in China, along with the artists’ accounts. The two musicians take it lightly. Australian citizen Kimberly Chen explains that she still has Instagram and Facebook. And Singaporean rapper Namewee writes in a post on Instagram that it wasn’t him who was blocked: “Those who are really blocked are those who don’t have the right to listen to music in freedom.”
Sinolytics is a European consulting and analysis company that focuses entirely on China. It advises European companies on their strategic orientation and concrete business activities in China.
His last work-related trip before the start of the Covid pandemic took him to Berlin, Germany. He is no stranger to the city: In 2015, Li Shuo worked there as part of the Humboldt Foundation’s International Climate Protection Fellowship. When asked if he has learned the local language, he answered humbly but grammatically flawlessly in German: “I understand more or less, but my speaking is not enough.”
After finishing school, Li studied political science and international relations at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center in the capital of the Chinese province of Jiangsu. He then spent his senior year in Washington, D.C. Afterwards, he returned to his native China and enrolled in a graduate program focusing on China-US relations. It stands to reason that by choosing this political career, he set his sights on a job with “an international flavor,” as he puts it.
At Greenpeace, the 34-year-old now works with Chinese stakeholders and international actors alike. Working at Greenpeace was also particularly appealing to him because it is a “frontline job“. In China’s social science education system, there is a lot of emphasis on theories and less on practice, Li said. “But I really kind of want to put myself into the water and learn how to swim.”
Greenpeace is one of the largest international non-governmental organizations in China. The organization is also a well-known brand there, says Li Shuo. In terms of structure, however, it is very different from what is commonly associated with Greenpeace: In China, you won’t find Greenpeace activists recruiting new members on the streets with flyers and balloons. Greenpeace in China refrains from voluntary memberships and fundraising. The organization’s Beijing office currently employs about 90 people. After Li Shuo started here in 2011 as a campaigner with a focus on climate, his field of work has expanded significantly over the past ten years: Air pollution, energy policy, water, and biodiversity are issues that now fall within his remit.
While he works to optimize China’s climate and environmental policy in his job, he also strives to keep his own ecological footprint as small as possible, for example by reducing his consumption of meat. Regarding China’s power generation of the future, Li tends to focus on the expansion and advancement of pre-existing technologies. About projects such as China’s Artificial Sun nuclear fusion reactor, he says, “I am not too into science fiction to be honest.” Adding, “Decarbonisation, in a way it is not rocket science.” Juliane Scholübbers
Advent celestial spectacle: Tonight, one of the most prolific meteor showers of the year reached its peak – the Geminids. Over the mountain massif Yulong Xueshan not far from the city of Lijiang in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, the shooting stars lit up the night sky. Along with the summer Perseids, the Geminids are among the most beautiful meteor showers of the year. At 35 kilometers per second, the dust particles of the Geminids also fall rather slowly through the atmosphere, which is why they shine for a long time.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expects the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus to spread rapidly. However, the reality is, that omicron has probably already arrived in most countries, even if the variant has not yet been detected everywhere, the WHO director-general said on Tuesday.
While the rest of the world has been worried about the new Omicron variant for several weeks, China only reported its first case at the beginning of the week. Ning Wang takes a look at the current pandemic situation in the People’s Republic and Hong Kong. But a sublineage of the Delta variant is currently a bigger concern than Omicron. In Zhejiang, it resulted in a lockdown for half a million people. Hopes of re-opening the borders are thus dwindling once again – as current developments are further encouraging Beijing in its zero-corona policy.
Rénròu Sōusuo (人肉搜), the “human flesh search engine”, terrifies public figures in China. This is the Mandarin term for an online witch-hunt, which befalls individuals or even companies after an intentional or careless mishap.
In the People’s Republic, however, this happens on a whole different level. There, insulting Chinese culture or the Chinese people has become the greatest possible sin on the web. Our author Fabian Peltsch analyzed the nationalistic Cancel Culture: While such online smear campaigns do stem from patriotic feelings, they are also partly orchestrated by the government.
We hope you enjoy today’s issue!
While the rest of the world grows nervous about the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus with great concern for the past two weeks, China only confirmed the first case earlier this week. A traveler from abroad tested positive for the variant on Monday after arriving in Tianjin, about 150 kilometers north of Beijing. Another case was then reported in Guangzhou on Tuesday. There have also been cases of Omicron infection in Hong Kong. A traveler from South Africa is even said to have infected another traveler with the virus during quarantine.
However, outbreaks of the Delta variant continue to cause the greatest concern in the People’s Republic: In the province of Zhejiang, an increase in infections was reported on Tuesday and, as a result, around 540,000 people were sent into quarantine. Mass testing and lockdowns have been imposed. According to reports, most cases in the economically strong province have been registered in the cities of Ningbo, Shaoxing, and Hangzhou. Hundreds of flights were canceled at the airport in Hangzhou, the provincial capital. Numerous businesses had to close temporarily in the Zhenhai district in the city of Ningbo.
Most of the registered cases in Zhejiang were mainly of the so-called AY.4 sublineage of the Delta variant, according to reports by broadcaster CGTN. This sub-variant shows a higher viral load and therefore has a higher transmission rate, media reports said. Observers now expect the measures to be imposed more strictly again. The new Omicron variant could now become the reason for a further tightening of China’s zero-tolerance policy towards the virus.
Before the advent of the new sub-variant, Beijing had just begun to adapt its Covid management. Entire blocks were no longer cordoned off. Previously, citizens could only return to the streets after mass tests, some of which lasted for days. Some cities have started more selective testing procedures. They are now focusing on individuals who had close contact with the infected.
The combination of the spread of the Delta sub-variant and the emergence of Omicron now probably brings a return of close surveillance. “It must be brought under control and transmission not be allowed to cause so many serious illnesses and deaths,” said Liang Wannian, a former National Health Commission official and head of a panel of experts advising the government on Covid measures. Liang made his statement before the Omicron case became known.
Liang’s assessment is also related to China’s zero-covid strategy. While he does not explicitly mention it, he does imply that China’s health system could not cope with new, widespread outbreaks. Here, China is no different from other countries. At the same time, population immunity is far from sufficient to form an efficient defense against the virus.
The pandemic management is now getting serious: In two months’ time, the Winter Olympics will begin in Beijing. In light of the emergence of the new cases, it is even less likely than it already was that the entry regulations will be eased by then. With 120 million people, a part of the population has already received the third vaccination. However, just like with its Western counterparts, it is currently unknown just how effective the Chinese vaccines will turn out to be against the new variants.
The German business community has long assumed that the country will only open up after the Olympics, and possibly even then only slowly and gradually. After the Winter Olympics in February, the People’s Congress is set to meet in Beijing in March, and an important party congress is due in the autumn. “I have trouble imagining that China will introduce much relaxation in restrictions before then,” Jens Hildebrandt, chief of the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad for China, told China.Table. “On the other hand, China cannot shut itself off from the outside world indefinitely, especially since domestic consumption has not yet fully returned to pre-COVID levels,” Hildebrandt added.
Just like last year, local authorities are already trying to curb the traditional Chinese New Year travel wave. By mid-January 2022 at the latest, the traveling wave in the country would normally kick-off as people hurried to arrive back home in time for the festival.
There is now also concern that the rise of the Omicron variant could thwart the UN Conference on Biodiversity COP15 in Kunming. It is currently scheduled for late April to early May 2022. But the next round of negotiations on the draft agreement and ways to implement it – scheduled for January in Geneva – has been already postponed due to concerns over Omicron. “COP15 may also need to be postponed again,” said Lin Li, director of global policy and advocacy at green group WWF International.
With the new virus variant, the quarantine rules have been increased further for travelers to Hong Kong. Germany, for example, has now been upgraded from a so-called “medium-risk” to a “high-risk” country. This means that travelers from Germany must now spend three weeks in quarantine in specific hotels, instead of just 14 days. Since the beginning of December, this has applied to all travelers from Germany or individuals who have stayed there for the last 21 days – i.e. even if Germany was merely a transit country for the journey to Hong Kong.
Some current Hong Kong regulations:
Individuals who sat on a plane near a fellow passenger who had tested positive after arrival could be identified as “close contact” by the authorities. In this case, these individuals need to proceed to a quarantine center designated by Hong Kong authorities. The stay there is set by the authorities and can last up to three weeks, as the German Foreign Office states on its website.
However, many travelers take the hurdles to get to Hong Kong. German lawyer Bjoern Etgen endured a 14-day quarantine in Hong Kong in November. He reports that the demand for hotel rooms is high, despite all the travel restrictions and several PCR tests. For example, he says, while the SAR government has a list of 40 hotels where travelers must spend the mandatory quarantine period – getting a room requires long-term preparation. He recommends making preparations three months in advance.
The lawyer, who has been advising German companies in China for more than 25 years, recommends a room with a view, as this makes the quarantine period more bearable. Fitness equipment is also recommended: some hotels offer treadmills or fitness bikes. However, the cost of the stay should not be underestimated.
The Hong Kong government website was particularly helpful for his travel preparations. Etgen also recommends a Facebook group where Hong Kong travelers share their experiences and questions about the current regulations.
Travelers from Germany have only been allowed to enter Hong Kong again since the end of August. The infection figures in Hong Kong have remained at a very low level since the beginning of the Covid pandemic. The highest seven-day incidence had been reached in July 2020 and was 12.4. Since April this year, it has been constantly below 1. When entry rules were tightened on 2 December, the figure was 0.4. Hong Kong had only achieved this by keeping its borders closed for a prolonged period.
In everyday life, the mask mandate applies in public transport as well as in shopping malls and public buildings. For restaurant visits, an app with a QR code verifying that individuals are Covid-negative is still required. This largely applies to the mainland as well.
Chinese or foreigners with residence status in the People’s Republic who want to be out of quarantine in time for the Year of the Tiger must have entered the country by January 9 at the latest. Etgen said he would not have made the trip to Hong Kong if it had not been necessary to maintain his residence permit. However, Etgen jokingly says that he is not yet one of the “old-quarantine hands.” He talks about travelers who have already gone through quarantine in mainland China four or five times during the Covid pandemic. Contribution by Fabian Peltsch
Chen Man never thought that she would be branded a “traitor to China” over a photo. After the 41-year-old star photographer from Beijing photographed an Asian model for a Dior handbag advertisement, she was suddenly pilloried on the Internet in mid-November: Chen’s pictures were based on Western stereotypes of Chinese women, wrote outraged users on Chinese social media channels such as Weibo. Her eyes were too narrow, her cheekbones too high, her make-up and clothes reminiscent of a “creepy concubine” from the Qing dynasty. Chinese beauty looks different.
The state-run newspaper Beijing Daily also joined the chorus of public indignation: The photo would “distort Chinese culture.” In response, Chen apologized for her “naivety” and “ignorance“. However, the “Rénròu Sōusuo 人肉搜,” or “Human flesh search engine,” how the online hunt is known in China, was already in full swing by then. Users were systematically working their way through Chen’s portfolio, collecting evidence photos that could be used to prove her supposedly unpatriotic stance.
Images of a scantily clad model on the Three Gorges Dam, which Chen had published back in 2008, were suddenly deemed “anti-Chinese”. To avoid “hurting people’s feelings,” the fashion photographer, who is in demand around the globe, deleted all “problematic” images from her portfolio. “In the meanwhile, I will educate myself on Chinese history, attend more relevant events, and improve my ideologies,” Chen said in an open letter on Weibo. Self-criticism straight from a party guide.
The practice to brand the originators of inappropriate statements and, wherever possible, to silence them, has established itself in the US and Europe as well. Over recent years, this became known as “Cancel Culture”. Anyone who says something inappropriate is sharply criticized by the Internet community and their opinion is “erased” or “undone,” in other words: canceled. This tendency exists in all political camps, from left to right and from religious to liberal. In China, its manifestation as a patriotic movement is particularly pronounced.
China’s nationalistic cancel culture does not spare anyone these days. The business world also learned this painful lesson. The list of companies that have already been punished for hurting the “feelings of the Chinese people” grows longer with each passing month. VW, H&M, Nike, Zara, Burberry, Adidas, Puma, Dolce & Gabbana, and even the US basketball league NBA are just a few examples of international players that have been publicly criticized and boycotted in China.
Sometimes the bone of contention was the use of a Dalai Lama quote, sometimes the perceived malicious audacity to label Taiwan as a separate country on a company’s website. “Anyone who offends the Chinese people should prepare to pay the price,” Hua Chunying, the spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, commented earlier this year on the collective anger over H&M’s announcement that it would no longer use cotton harvested from forced labor in Xinjiang.
It is often hard to tell what actually is made by the Chinese people and what is orchestrated by the government in such online smear campaigns, explains Adam Ni, a member of the board at the China Policy Center, an independent Australian China think tank. In Ni’s column “Neican 内参,” published in his blog “The China Story,” the lawyer has extensively covered the phenomenon of Chinese cyber-nationalism. “I think government activities and Internet users’ outrage are mutually dependent and fuel each other.”
It is no secret that the Chinese government has been deliberately manipulating opinion in online forums and social networks with paid commentators since the mid-1990s. These keyboard warriors are often referred to as “Wumao 五毛,” a term that suggests they are paid 0.5 yuan, the equivalent of seven cents, for each of their comments. However, the image of the mindless cyber mercenary is outdated. The loudest and most aggressive voices in China’s online community are now typically middle-class digital natives who access Western media and networks through VPN channels. They are also known as “Little Pinks,” 小粉红 “xiǎo fěnhóng,” named after the color of an online forum where the young cyber-nationalists used to gather.
According to a survey by Asian Barometer Survey (ABS), the “Generation Z” of Chinese born between 1990 and 2000 places great value on individual self-expression. At the same time, they have grown up with Xi Jinping’s propaganda machine, which calls for the “rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” It accuses “foreign forces” of sabotaging China’s rise. Tensions with the West and the belief that China has managed the Covid pandemic better than the rest of the world fill the young Chinese with pride, but at the same time fuels defiance against the outside world. This has created an explosive combination that can quickly turn into open aggression.
One well-known representative of the patriotic online movement is the blogger Guyanmuchan, who has around 6.5 million followers on Weibo, but also uses Western portals such as Twitter to incite hostility against “China’s enemies”. The aesthetics of her channel is tailored to teenagers. Memes and cute cartoon characters are combined with headlines such as “Europe is just a dog on a US leash”.
The Chinese state is deliberately catering to this nationalist sentiment by visibly rejuvenating its own propaganda. Government channels have long been using Internet slang. State-produced cartoons make fun of the West. “Red” rap songs celebrate the CCP’s achievements. In some cases, the comments and essays from the Little Pinks universe are picked up and spread by official media. “Often a smear campaign begins with honest outrage. But when the state has its agenda on the topic at hand, it continues to pour fuel on the fire,” explains Adam Ni. This, he says, is also the big difference with the Western manifestation of the so-called Cancel Culture. “In China, the government is at the forefront.”
Because they create a mood of fear, critics like the writer Xia Shang, who lives in Shanghai and New York, have already compared the Internet agitators to the Red Guards. For Adam Ni, this comparison goes too far: “During the Cultural Revolution, the consequences were more terrible than today,” the blogger explains. Chaos had gripped the country, people had been murdered in reality. “Many officials experienced the suffering at that time first hand. This is something the party wants to avoid from happening again at all costs.” The situation today is more like a pressure cooker, with Beijing keeping a tight grip on the lid, Ni said. “The government knows exactly how to take the pressure off at any time.”
This can happen, for example, when a state-run newspaper itself suddenly becomes the victim of the online mob, for example, because it has taken a position that it feels is too soft on foreign countries. Critical comments and accounts are then deleted by the censors, and appeasing articles are launched as a counterweight. “It’s pretty obvious that the Little Pinks are not helping to improve China’s image in the world,” Ni explains. On the other hand, the government purposely uses mass outrage to justify foreign policy positions, for example, when it declares that calling for an independent investigation into the Covid pandemic hurts “the feelings of the Chinese people.”
A pop song is now even singing about just how fragile these feelings are. In October, the two Taiwan-based artists Namewee and Kimberly Chen released “Fragile,” a musical parody of the “glass hearts” of China’s online warriors, which could shatter at the slightest criticism. “I’m sorry for hurting your feelings,” the chorus goes. “I hear your fragile self-esteem shattering into a thousand pieces.” The music video is full of cross-references, from cotton referencing the H&M scandal to Winnie The Pooh, whose resemblance to Xi Jinping is still one of the many taboos in the Chinese Internet landscape. As expected, the song was quickly banned in China, along with the artists’ accounts. The two musicians take it lightly. Australian citizen Kimberly Chen explains that she still has Instagram and Facebook. And Singaporean rapper Namewee writes in a post on Instagram that it wasn’t him who was blocked: “Those who are really blocked are those who don’t have the right to listen to music in freedom.”
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His last work-related trip before the start of the Covid pandemic took him to Berlin, Germany. He is no stranger to the city: In 2015, Li Shuo worked there as part of the Humboldt Foundation’s International Climate Protection Fellowship. When asked if he has learned the local language, he answered humbly but grammatically flawlessly in German: “I understand more or less, but my speaking is not enough.”
After finishing school, Li studied political science and international relations at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center in the capital of the Chinese province of Jiangsu. He then spent his senior year in Washington, D.C. Afterwards, he returned to his native China and enrolled in a graduate program focusing on China-US relations. It stands to reason that by choosing this political career, he set his sights on a job with “an international flavor,” as he puts it.
At Greenpeace, the 34-year-old now works with Chinese stakeholders and international actors alike. Working at Greenpeace was also particularly appealing to him because it is a “frontline job“. In China’s social science education system, there is a lot of emphasis on theories and less on practice, Li said. “But I really kind of want to put myself into the water and learn how to swim.”
Greenpeace is one of the largest international non-governmental organizations in China. The organization is also a well-known brand there, says Li Shuo. In terms of structure, however, it is very different from what is commonly associated with Greenpeace: In China, you won’t find Greenpeace activists recruiting new members on the streets with flyers and balloons. Greenpeace in China refrains from voluntary memberships and fundraising. The organization’s Beijing office currently employs about 90 people. After Li Shuo started here in 2011 as a campaigner with a focus on climate, his field of work has expanded significantly over the past ten years: Air pollution, energy policy, water, and biodiversity are issues that now fall within his remit.
While he works to optimize China’s climate and environmental policy in his job, he also strives to keep his own ecological footprint as small as possible, for example by reducing his consumption of meat. Regarding China’s power generation of the future, Li tends to focus on the expansion and advancement of pre-existing technologies. About projects such as China’s Artificial Sun nuclear fusion reactor, he says, “I am not too into science fiction to be honest.” Adding, “Decarbonisation, in a way it is not rocket science.” Juliane Scholübbers
Advent celestial spectacle: Tonight, one of the most prolific meteor showers of the year reached its peak – the Geminids. Over the mountain massif Yulong Xueshan not far from the city of Lijiang in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, the shooting stars lit up the night sky. Along with the summer Perseids, the Geminids are among the most beautiful meteor showers of the year. At 35 kilometers per second, the dust particles of the Geminids also fall rather slowly through the atmosphere, which is why they shine for a long time.
