Kuang Biao (邝飚): Ren Zhiqiang’s Struggle

Kuang Biao (邝飚): Ren Zhiqiang’s Struggle

Retired real estate mogul and outspoken microblogger Ren Zhiqiang was officially silenced on the Sina and Tencent Weibo platforms yesterday. In Kuang Biao’s cartoon, Ren is the victim of a Mao-era “struggle session.”

Dou Zhiqiang, by Kuang Biao:

任志强

In Kuang Biao’s cartoon, Ren wears a dunce cap with his name crossed out, and a sign around his neck that labels him “anti-Party” and “the shame of over 80 million Party members!” In the title of the cartoon, Kuang Biao has given Ren a new surname, Struggle (Dou 斗).

Ren’s recent objection to state media serving the Party rather than the taxpaying public apparently catalyzed the deletion of his accounts. A Baidu search for “Ren Zhiqiang” pulls up pages of criticisms. Wang Dehua wrote at China Youth Daily, for example, that “as a party member, Ren Zhiqiang ought to have a deep understanding of the unity between party spirit and the people’s spirit.”

Not long after Kuang Biao posted this cartoon to WeChat, his own account was deleted. Kuang Biao is well-versed in digital “reincarnation,” having reopened Weibo accounts dozens of times. But according to Xinhua, authorities have pledged that under intensified online management, they “would not allow the users of the closed accounts to register again under another name.”

CDT EBOOKS

Subscribe to CDT

SUPPORT CDT

Browsers Unbounded by Lantern

Now, you can combat internet censorship in a new way: by toggling the switch below while browsing China Digital Times, you can provide a secure "bridge" for people who want to freely access information. This open-source project is powered by Lantern, know more about this project.

Google Ads 1

Giving Assistant

Google Ads 2

Anti-censorship Tools

Life Without Walls

Click on the image to download Firefly for circumvention

Open popup
X

Welcome back!

CDT is a non-profit media site, and we need your support. Your contribution will help us provide more translations, breaking news, and other content you love.