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Chinese Stock Investors Vent Frustration in Comments on US Embassy Weibo Posts

The Chinese stock market has been continuously declining since mid-2023, reaching new lows as the Shanghai Composite Index fell below 2,700 points on February 2nd. Many investors who suffered heavy losses flooded the comments section on the official Weibo account of the U.S. Embassy in China, venting their frustration or imploring the United States to take over the Chinese stock market. (Weibo is a Chinese social media platform)

A large number of pleas from Chinese stock investors flooded a U.S. Embassy post titled “Science and Technology Help Researchers Protect Giraffes by Increasing Awareness”:

  • “Do you want to protect me? Giraffes are life forms, but so am I.”
  • “Anyway, (the Chinese officials) eventually will take our money (from the stock market) away and immigrate to your country. How about we give you the money directly? Otherwise they will charge us processing fee (in addition).”
  • “We know they are lying, and they know they are lying. They know we know they are lying, and we know they know we know they are lying. But they still keep lying. Can you tell me which ‘glorious era’ this description refers to?”

On the same day, a post by the U.S. embassy titled “Joint Statement on the Third Anniversary of the Military Coup in Myanmar” was flooded with messages from Chinese stock investors asking for help from the U.S.:

  • “America, please come and rescue the hundreds of millions of A-share investors in deep trouble.”
  • “Save the poor Chinese stock investors. I love America.”
  • “I beg the United States to save A-shares.”
  • “America, the Earth needs you! It desperately needs you! God bless America.”
  • “Whoever treats us well, we will love them.”
  • “I love the United States of America.”
  • “The official media doesn’t let us speak. I come here to request rescue.”
  • “Before trading stocks, I was very patriotic.”
  • “Trading stocks has brought hatred to our country. It’s also tragic.”
  • “Get rid of the China Securities Regulatory Commission!”

Source: Epoch Times, February 3, 2024
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/24/2/3/n14172430.htm

RFA: China Jailed More Journalists in 2023 Than Any Other Country

Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently reported on a study by The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international human rights organization, saying that 44 journalists were imprisoned in China in 2023, more than in any other country. Out of the 44 imprisoned Chinese journalists, 19 were of the Uyghur ethnic group. According to the CPJ report, “censorship makes the exact number of journalists jailed there notoriously difficult to determine, but Beijing’s media crackdown has widened in recent years.” When the CPJ report was released, Jimmy Lai, one of the representatives of press freedom in Hong Kong and the former founder of Apple Daily, was on trial in Hong Kong facing accusations of anti-state crimes. He had been subject to detention in prison for more than 1,140 consecutive days.

The report pointed out that the Chinese government has a tendency to charge journalists with “working against the state.” In 2023, three-fifths of new cases brought against journalists in China involved charges of espionage and incitement, separatism, or subversion of state power. This trend of bringing anti-state charges against journalists reflects the Chinese government’s attitude towards freedom of speech — it wantonly uses the party-state judicial apparatus to directly punish those who use speech in a manner that it deems unfavorable. Criminal charges are often brought on the basis of speech or reporting alone.

It is worth noting that China’s amended Counterespionage Law, which took effect on July 1, 2023, raised concern among members of the press at the time. Since Chinese law has always been vague about what constitutes threats “related to national security and interests,” it is difficult for Chinese and foreign journalists operating in China to gain clarity and feel secure in the reporting work they do.

Sources:

RFA, January 19, 2024
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/wy-01192024115907.html

CPJ, January 18, 2024

2023 prison census: Jailed journalist numbers near record high; Israel imprisonments spike

Crackdowns on Comic Conventions Highlight China’s Suppression of Japanese and Western Cultural Influence

Several comic conventions and video game events in China have recently been canceled, including the Qingdao Comic Con, the Zibo comic show, the Qingdao AS New Year’s Party, and miYoSummer 3. The cancellations appear to be due to government restrictions and censorship targeting Japanese and Western cultural influences.

The Qingdao Comic Con scheduled for mid-February was canceled just weeks before the convention’s scheduled start. The cancellation followed online backlash in China criticizing the event for promoting Japanese culture and anime. The organizer cited “safeguarding visitor safety” as the reason for cancellation. The Qingdao AS New Year’s Party, scheduled for early February, faced similar pressure after recent public fomentation over comic shows, leading authorities and organizers to indefinitely postpone the event. Staff from the Zibo comic show said authorities ordered a stop to Shandong province’s animation exhibitions during the Chinese Spring Festival. HoYoverse, scheduled for summer 2024, also abruptly canceled its popular miYoSummer video game show in January.

Interviewees attribute the cancellations to government crackdowns reinforcing nationalistic boycotts of Japanese culture in particular. Some pointed out an incident in 2022 involving a Nanjing temple honoring Japanese war criminals which sparked widespread anti-Japanese sentiment and comic show cancellations last summer. Rigid over-enforcement is also exacerbated by the CCP’s culture encouraging government orders cascading down to the grassroots level.

Source: Radio Free Asia, January 24, 2024
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/kejiaowen/gt2-01242024052706.html

Lianhe Zaobao: China’s Weibo Blocked “Taiwanese Election” Search Results on Election Day

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections took place on January 13, and Mainland Chinese netizens were paying close attention to the election results. After voting began at 8 a.m. that day, the relevant term “Taiwan Election” was on the “hot search ranking list” on Weibo, one of the largest social media platforms in Mainland China. The number of views on the topic quickly reached 163.2 million. However, the popular topic was soon blocked on Weibo.

Before the “Taiwan Elections” topic was blocked, many Mainland Chinese netizens posted comments and discussion on this topic. Some netizens called for improving relations between Mainland China and Taiwan after the Taiwanese election, and some netizens expressed their hopes for the DPP’s presidential candidate Lai Ching-te to win the election so that the Chinese military would “unify by force” sooner. (Taiwan’s DDP party, which won the presidency in the election, is the party that’s most opposed to cooperation with Beijing.)

Since Chinese official media, including Xinhua News Agency, CCTV News and People’s Daily, had very little coverage of the Taiwan election that day, some netizens asked on Weibo: “Is today the voting day for Taiwan? Why is there no news coverage?” Many related topics were blocked on Weibo as well. The Spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press conference two days earlier that “the United States must not interfere in Taiwan’s elections in any form” – this quote remained visible on Weibo.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, January 13, 2024
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/news/china/story20240113-1461930

CCP Pilots Ethnic Interpenetration Policy in Xinjiang

The Xinjiang Daily reported on December 14, 2023 that the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang has enacted “Regulations on Promoting Interaction, Communication, and Integration among Various Ethnic Groups.” Consisting of 19 articles, the legislation aims to commingle diverse ethnic groups together. This would serve as a pilot implementation of the “ethnic interpenetration” policy endorsed by the Chinese Communist Party in 2014.

Critics pointed out that forcing various ethnic groups to live and mix together plays to the CCP’s policy of eliminating minority ethnic cultures and implementing more complete control populations living in China. For example, when members of the Han ethnic group (the majority population in China) are imported to Xinjiang and mixed with the Uighur ethnic group, the Han people’s acceptance of CCP culture will naturally manifest itself in daily life and thereby reduce the religious and cultural cohesion of the Uighur people.

Per the CCP’s ideology, forcible mixing of different ethnicities and cultures is used to foment conflicts between those cultural and ethnic groups. This aids the CCP in “inciting struggle among the people,” e.g. provoking conflicts between the Han and Uighur ethnicities. The resulting instability and incohesion makes it easier for the CCP to implement control.

Such ethnic interpenetration policies also enable the CCP to more conveniently organize intelligence operations and strengthen surveillance over minority ethnic groups.

Source: Radio Free Asia, December 22, 2023
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/zhuanlan/yehuazhongnanhai/gx-12222023161033.html

China’s Marriage Rate Among Young Persons Remains Low

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that, according to the newly published “China Population and Employment Statistics Yearbook 2023” compiled by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, late marriage has become a common phenomenon in China. By the end of year 2022, the rates of unmarried persons among various age groups are:

  • Around 51.3 percent are unmarried in the 25-29 age group,
  • 18.4 percent unmarried the 30-34 age group, and
  • 8 percent unmarried in the 35-39 age group.

The unmarried rate among 29-year-olds is 34 percent. In other words, about one in three 29-year-olds is unmarried.

Judging from the age structure of the married population in China since 2010, the age of marriage (and especially the age of first marriage) is now significantly older. China’s average first marriage age in 2020 is 28.67 years old, an increase of 3.78 years from the average first marriage age in 2010 (24.89 years old).

Competitive pressure for employment and longer years of education have resulted in delayed marriage and childbirth. In big cities, young people have a relatively high degree of independence in social life, which has also greatly affected the rate of marriage and age of marriage.

Source: Sina, December 28, 2023
https://news.sina.cn/gn/2023-12-28/detail-imzzqrrs7044951.d.html?vt=4&pos=108&his=0

LTN: Air Pollution Has Worsened in China

Major Taiwanese news network Liberty Times Network (LTN) ran an article saying that China’s air pollution has worsened this year. The article cited a recent report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), an independent research organization based in Finland.

This is the first time since China began to combat air pollution in 2013 that China’s national average concentration of PM2.5 is higher than the previous year. Including Beijing, around 80 percent of China’s provincial capital cities have detected this year an increase in PM2.5 concentrations compared with last year. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “PM2.5 describes fine inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller.”

Fossil fuel energy use in China has increased in the last year. Moreover, increased anthropogenic emissions have been a major factor pushing up pollution levels in China. In areas where PM2.5 levels do not meet World Health Organization safety standards, coal production and thermal power generation increased by 4.4 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively.

In a separate study published earlier this month, an international coalition of climate scientists noted that China’s coal, oil and natural gas emissions increased as the Covid-19 pandemic slowed. Although China stepped up its pollution control efforts in 2015 after bidding to host the Winter Olympics, the country’s air quality is still below World Health Organization standards.

Source:

LTN, December 24, 2023
https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/4529554

EPA, November 1, 2023
https://www.epa.gov/air-trends/particulate-matter-pm25-trends

China: Negative Commentary on Economy is a National Security Risk

China’s Ministry of State Security recently published an article saying that economic security is the foundation of national security. It said that economic threats must be dealt with to promote China’s economic recovery and “high-quality development [of the economy]. The article accused foreign critics of fabricating false narratives about China’s economy to undermine market confidence and impede growth. It vowed to crack down on illegal activities that jeopardize economic security.

Meanwhile, social media platforms like Weibo are instructing bloggers to avoid pessimistic comments about China’s economy or face severe punishment. Some users were notified that downplaying the economy has become a “red line” that risks heavy penalties if crossed. This reflects the CCP’s heightened sensitivity to dissent and its effort to control public discourse about economic issues.

The article tied economic security to the national security concepts emphasized by Xi Jinping. It blamed foreign actors for creating “discourse traps,” manufacturing false narratives about China’s economic decline. The article did not address concerns about how China’s own policies have contributed to the trend of economic decoupling between China and global economy.

By framing economic commentary as a national security issue rather than just economic analysis, the CCP is severely restricting speech within China. Self-censorship by firms like the China International Capital Corporation (CICC) and social media platforms show the chilling effect of this new policy. Some Chinese netizens have noted that, ironically, the act of banning negative comments about the economy may itself be damaging to perceptions about the Chinese economy and business environment.

Source: Voice of America, December 15, 2023
https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-s-ministry-of-state-security-says-badmouthing-china-s-economy-endangers-national-security-20231215/7399543.html