The City of Nanjing cancelled “An Enemy of the People,” an 1882 play that Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote, which was originally scheduled to play on September 13 and 14. Instead Nanjing decided to host “The Legend of the Red Lantern” on October 4 and 5. It is one of the eight revolutionary operas created during the Cultural Revolution. The Central News Agency reported that the public questioned why the revolutionary opera was allowed but not Ibsen’s famous work and whether it was an indication of what the authorities wanted and what they are afraid of.

“The Legend of the Red Lantern” was created in the early 1960s. It is based on the period when China was fighting the Japanese invaders during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It describes the plot of three generations of anti-Japanese workers who are underground Chinese Communist Party members and it showcases the status of the party during the war. Many of the lines in the play such as “All have a bright heart,” “It is hard for the world to beat the Communists,” and “Blood debts and blood to pay” are familiar to many Chinese in the middle-aged and senior generations.

The official cancellation statement of “An Enemy of the People” cited technical issues, but, according to the New York Times, when the show was playing in Beijing, in one part, the cast asked the live audience to shout out their dissatisfaction. The exchange between the cast and the live audience included the audience members expressing their strong desire for free speech and their dissatisfaction with the government, with corruption, and with the financial scandals. The director of “An Enemy of the People” told the New York Times that he believed that the theater in Nanjing cancelled the show because they were afraid of a similar response and of potential liability.

Sources:
1. Central News Agency, September 15, 2018
http://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201809150127-1.aspx
2. New York Times, September 14, 2018
https://cn.nytimes.com/china/20180914/china-ibsen-play/zh-hant/

On September 10, in Guangzhou, the Chinese Communist Party committee on the Internet industry held its launching ceremony and its inaugural meeting. Wang Shitong, a Standing Committee member of the CCP Guangzhou Municipal Committee and head of its Organization Department, proposed that, “It is necessary to shoulder political responsibilities effectively in order to strengthen the Party’s buildup in the Internet industry.”

According to Chinese media, as of the end of July, Guangzhou’s Internet companies had seen the development of 169 CCP organizations, covering 436 companies, of which 83 were newly established this year, an increase of 96.5 percent over the same period last year.

In addition, Guangzhou’s Internet sector has a total of 7,358 members of the Communist Party, including 3,267 members who are new to the party as of this year, a significant increase of 79.9 percent over the same period last year.

Party committees of the Chinese Communist Party have been installed in a few big name companies such as NetEase, iFlytek, UCWeb and Jingdong.

Source: Central News Agency, September 11, 2018
http://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201809110109-1.aspx

In the new edition of eighth grade Chinese history textbooks that the government owned People’s Education Press published, the word “erroneously” disappeared from the description of the 1966 – 1976 Great Cultural Revolution that Mao Zedong launched.

Chinese netizens were the first who exposed the particular revision in the new textbook. In the old edition, the relevant part read: “In the 1960s, Mao Zedong erroneously believed that there was Revisionism in the party’s Central Committee and that the party and the country were facing the danger of capitalist restoration. In order to prevent the restoration of capitalism, he decided to launch the ‘Cultural Revolution.’”

In the new textbook, the wording became: “In the mid-1960s, Mao Zedong believed that the party and the country were facing the danger of capitalist restoration. To this end, he emphasized ‘taking class struggle as the key’ and trying to prevent it by launching the ‘Cultural Revolution.’ In the summer of 1966, the ‘Cultural Revolution’ was in full play.”

Comparison of the two versions shows that the word “erroneously” was removed from the new version. Some Chinese netizens commented that “In the late 2010s, Mao Zedong became a great leader who made no mistakes.”

In August 1980, when Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci interviewed Deng Xiaoping, Deng said, “Unfortunately, in the last part of his life, he (Mao) committed mistakes, particularly the Cultural Revolution mistake. As a result many misfortunes were brought upon the party, the country, and the people.”

When Fallaci asked whether the portrait of Mao will remain at the entrance of the Forbidden City, Deng answered, “Yes, it will certainly be kept forever.”

Source: Central News Agency, September 10, 2018
http://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201809100256-1.aspx

The senior officials in the judicial circle of the Chinese Communist Party held a meeting on September 4th, mapping out a work plan related to the Internet and new media. Chen Yixin, Secretary-General of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, encouraged all personnel in the profession to open their online media accounts, in a sense to build an army of online commentators.

The meeting reportedly encouraged legal professionals and police officers to use new media to set the agenda for public discussion, create hot topics, and become effective online communicators. Chen talked about the transformation of the media and asked if he could be the first responder and agenda setter when a major event breaks out. Chen added that judicial personnel have the additional responsibility of using the pen and “are proactively sharing the burden for the Party.”

The “50 Cent Party” was also part of the discussion at the meeting. The 50 Cent Party, or 50 Cent Army (Chinese: 五毛党), is the colloquial term for Internet commentators who Chinese authorities have hired in an attempt to manipulate public opinion to the benefit of the Chinese Communist Party. Pointing out that the 50 Cent Party is low in quantity, poor in quality, and poorly organized, the meeting asked for a transition toward a “powerful red online army.” To this end, it is necessary to “discover and gather a group of talented original writers with positive energy.” The compensation for the 50 Cent Party was also put on the table. The meeting acknowledged that “not enough attention and support” has been provided to them in the past. Therefore, it was proposed to “explore the incentive mechanism and build a talented team.”

The meeting proposed to foster a group of WeChat public accounts of millions of followers, Weibo accounts of tens of millions of followers, and a web platform with millions of subscribers.

After the meeting, Chinese judicial and legal authorities may require all personnel to open online media accounts. If other professions follow suit, China will see a humongous size of government backed online red army commentators.

Source: Central News Agency, September 7, 2018
http://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201809070270-1.aspx