That’s like having your house burgled and the cops, unable to catch the culprit, padlock your door and accuse you of ruining the neighborhood's reputation because you were careless enough to get robbed."

— From a now-censored WeChat article by Li Yuchen, criticizing the double standards applied to a woman who Dalian Polytechnic University is attempting to expel for “improper contact with a foreigner” that supposedly “undermined the national dignity” of China

 

CDT Highlights

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Online Backlash Over “Sexual Nationalism” and Privacy Violations After Dalian Polytechnic University Tries to Expel Student

Dalian Polytechnic University recently announced it would expel a student for what it termed her “improper contact with a foreigner” that “undermined the national dignity” of China. The incident occurred after a Ukrainian e-sports celebrity posted, and later deleted, intimate videos with the student. In the intense online reaction that ensued, Chinese netizens criticized a host of problems with how the incident was handled, including the university and media outlets’ violation of student privacy, punishment based on outdated and paternalistic moral standards, misogynistic victim-shaming, and...

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Groups Mark Tenth Anniversary of China’s Pivotal 709 Crackdown on Rights Lawyers

Wednesday is the tenth anniversary of the 709 (July 9) or "Black Friday" crackdown, a coordinated detention of more than 300 rights lawyers and activists in 2015 that was a key moment in the authoritarian shift in the early Xi Jinping era. At The Guardian, Amy Hawkins marked the occasion by talking to some of the crackdown’s targets: The environment for human rights law has “steadily regressed, especially after the pandemic”, said Ren Quanniu, a disbarred human rights lawyer. “Right now, the rule of law in China – especially in terms of protecting human rights – has...

Bleak Assessments of Hong Kong’s National Security Law, Five Years On

June 30 marked the fifth anniversary of Beijing’s imposition of a heavy-handed national security law (NSL) on Hong Kong, which has altered the sociopolitical landscape of the city by undermining its democratic institutions, weakening civil society, and severely curtailing a wide range of freedoms. In the last five years, groups of opposition politicians have been jailed, labor unions and universities cowed, once prominent media outlets shuttered, public protests quashed, and June 4 commemorations banned. Many Hong Kong activists and organizations have been forced into exile, and some have...

Online Backlash Over “Sexual Nationalism” and Privacy Violations After Dalian Polytechnic University Tries to Expel Student

Dalian Polytechnic University recently announced it would expel a student for what it termed her “improper contact with a foreigner” that “undermined the national dignity” of China. The incident occurred after a Ukrainian e-sports celebrity posted, and later deleted, intimate videos with the student. In the intense online reaction that ensued, Chinese netizens criticized a host of problems with how the incident was handled, including the university and media outlets’ violation of student privacy, punishment based on outdated and paternalistic moral standards, misogynistic victim-shaming, and...

Nut Brother’s Latest Detention Highlights Performance Artists’ Precarity

On June 30, the performance artist and environmental activist known as Nut Brother (坚果兄弟), along with his collaborator and art curator Zheng Hongbin, disappeared after returning from a trip investigating industrial pollution in Xiaohaotu County, Shaanxi Province. It was later revealed that the pair were placed in a 20-day administrative detention by the Yulin Public Security Bureau for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." A successful legal intervention secured their early release late last week. The incident was a reminder of the repression faced by Chinese artists who use...

Bleak Assessments of Hong Kong’s National Security Law, Five Years On

June 30 marked the fifth anniversary of Beijing’s imposition of a heavy-handed national security law (NSL) on Hong Kong, which has altered the sociopolitical landscape of the city by undermining its democratic institutions, weakening civil society, and severely curtailing a wide range of freedoms. In the last five years, groups of opposition politicians have been jailed, labor unions and universities cowed, once prominent media outlets shuttered, public protests quashed, and June 4 commemorations banned. Many Hong Kong activists and organizations have been forced into exile, and some have...

Minitrue Plus Five: March 10, 2020 – Tibet Independence, COVID Rent Relief, Whistleblower, Epidemic Transmission and Treatments

In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central Party authorities to state media at the beginning of that year. These directives were issued on an almost daily basis in early 2020 through the early weeks of what would become the COVID-19 pandemic, and shed light on the propaganda machinery’s efforts to grapple with the outbreak. They were originally published between September and December, 2020 as the Minitrue Diary series, after the censorship and propaganda organs’ Orwellian online nickname 真理部 Zhēnlǐ bù, or "Ministry of...

New eBook: China Digital Times Lexicon, 20th Anniversary Edition

On September 12, 2003, John Battelle published the first post on chinadigitaltimes.net: Here’s what a Google Search on “china weblog” yields, I’m looking forward to seeing ours at the top soon! China’s online population at the start of that year was nearly 60 million. Ten years later, it was fast approaching 600 million, and now, after 20, it is well over a billion. This new completely revised and hugely expanded update to our ebook series, formerly known as “the Grass Mud Horse Lexicon,” aims to capture something of the enormous explosion of online speech that accompanied this growth, with...

Quashed MU5735 Progress Report, Workplace Stabbing by Pilot in Jilin Reignite Airline Safety Concerns

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 in the United States or find local resources in the International Suicide Prevention Wiki. Two recent incidents have reignited public concern about civil aviation safety in China, particularly as it pertains to the mental health of airline pilots. On July 1 in Jilin, Heilongjiang province, a 31-year-old China Southern Airlines pilot surnamed Li, reportedly upset after having failed a competency evaluation that disqualified him from flying, stabbed two of his colleagues (who were...

Nut Brother’s Latest Detention Highlights Performance Artists’ Precarity

On June 30, the performance artist and environmental activist known as Nut Brother (坚果兄弟), along with his collaborator and art curator Zheng Hongbin, disappeared after returning from a trip investigating industrial pollution in Xiaohaotu County, Shaanxi Province. It was later revealed that the pair were placed in a 20-day administrative detention by the Yulin Public Security Bureau for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." A successful legal intervention secured their early release late last week. The incident was a reminder of the repression faced by Chinese artists who use...

Quashed MU5735 Progress Report, Workplace Stabbing by Pilot in Jilin Reignite Airline Safety Concerns

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 in the United States or find local resources in the International Suicide Prevention Wiki. Two recent incidents have reignited public concern about civil aviation safety in China, particularly as it pertains to the mental health of airline pilots. On July 1 in Jilin, Heilongjiang province, a 31-year-old China Southern Airlines pilot surnamed Li, reportedly upset after having failed a competency evaluation that disqualified him from flying, stabbed two of his colleagues (who were...

Nut Brother’s Latest Detention Highlights Performance Artists’ Precarity

On June 30, the performance artist and environmental activist known as Nut Brother (坚果兄弟), along with his collaborator and art curator Zheng Hongbin, disappeared after returning from a trip investigating industrial pollution in Xiaohaotu County, Shaanxi Province. It was later revealed that the pair were placed in a 20-day administrative detention by the Yulin Public Security Bureau for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." A successful legal intervention secured their early release late last week. The incident was a reminder of the repression faced by Chinese artists who use...

Translation: Plunging Prices, Sprouting Weeds, and Broken Dreams

At The New York Times on Monday, columnist Li Yuan describes how, as "wages stagnate and jobs disappear, the promise of upward social mobility is eroding, especially for those from modest backgrounds. For many […], the Chinese Dream no longer feels achievable." Similar themes have featured prominently on CDT in recent months, from uproar over the "4+4" fast-track for medical qualifications to commentary on the decline of former "golden ticket" degrees like computer science and the resurgent appeal of official careers. Other examples include gallows humor...

Human Rights

Latest

Bleak Assessments of Hong Kong’s National Security Law, Five Years On

June 30 marked the fifth anniversary of Beijing’s imposition of a heavy-handed national security law (NSL) on Hong Kong, which has altered the sociopolitical landscape of the city by undermining its democratic institutions, weakening civil society, and severely curtailing a wide range of freedoms. In the last five years, groups of opposition politicians have been jailed, labor unions and universities cowed, once prominent media outlets shuttered, public protests quashed, and June 4 commemorations banned. Many Hong Kong activists and organizations have been forced into exile, and some have...

Politics

Latest

Words of the Week: “Being Traveled” (被旅游, bèi lǚyóu)

On June 4, Safeguard Defenders published a new report on the practice of "forced travel," by which politically targeted individuals are removed from their home regions during sensitive periods. The report, Holidays in Handcuffs, is presented satirically in the form of a glossy travel magazine. From its opening "Letter from the Editor": Every year, like clockwork, when major political events or sensitive anniversaries are about to occur, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sends activists and petitioners on “forced travel”. Often those targeted include the same list of...

Society

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Colonial Boarding Schools and Reincarnation Policies Help China Control Tibet’s Future

Tibet’s future remains imperiled by the Chinese government’s continued efforts to sever the generational links that sustain Tibetan culture. Recent reports have analyzed how this dynamic plays out in the realms of education and religion. Earlier this year, The New York Times published an investigation into Tibetan boarding schools, which “assimilate a generation of Tibetans into the national mainstream and mold them into citizens loyal to the Communist Party.” The Tibet Action Institute, whose groundbreaking 2021 report first brought widespread attention to the issue of the Chinese...

China & the World

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Symbolism, Pragmatism Inform China-Latin American Ties at CELAC Forum

Last week, Beijing hosted the fourth China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum. While this triennial gathering was described as a ministerial-level meeting, the presidents of Brazil, Colombia, and Chile attended, showing their commitment to deepen ties with China. In the backdrop were American tariffs and U.S.-China geopolitical competition, two factors that have ramped up pressure on CELAC members. At Dialogue Earth, Fermín Koop, Jack Lo Lau, and Juan Ortiz described the outcome of the forum and noted its emphasis on multilateralism, which was perhaps a subtle...

Law

Latest

Nut Brother’s Latest Detention Highlights Performance Artists’ Precarity

On June 30, the performance artist and environmental activist known as Nut Brother (坚果兄弟), along with his collaborator and art curator Zheng Hongbin, disappeared after returning from a trip investigating industrial pollution in Xiaohaotu County, Shaanxi Province. It was later revealed that the pair were placed in a 20-day administrative detention by the Yulin Public Security Bureau for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." A successful legal intervention secured their early release late last week. The incident was a reminder of the repression faced by Chinese artists who use...

Information Revolution

Latest

New U.S. Export Controls Aim to Curtail China’s Access to Advanced Semiconductor Technology

Over the past two weeks, the Biden administration has issued a series of regulations intended to halt China’s development of advanced technologies. The measures restrict the export of advanced chips, design software, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment that are crucial to China’s military, AI, and supercomputing initiatives. While the impact of these regulations remains to be seen, this “major watershed” demonstrates a significant U.S. policy shift towards a more aggressive approach to China, and risks accelerating technological and economic decoupling between the two countries across...

Culture & the Arts

Latest

Nut Brother’s Latest Detention Highlights Performance Artists’ Precarity

On June 30, the performance artist and environmental activist known as Nut Brother (坚果兄弟), along with his collaborator and art curator Zheng Hongbin, disappeared after returning from a trip investigating industrial pollution in Xiaohaotu County, Shaanxi Province. It was later revealed that the pair were placed in a 20-day administrative detention by the Yulin Public Security Bureau for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." A successful legal intervention secured their early release late last week. The incident was a reminder of the repression faced by Chinese artists who use...

The Great Divide

Latest

Translation: Plunging Prices, Sprouting Weeds, and Broken Dreams

At The New York Times on Monday, columnist Li Yuan describes how, as "wages stagnate and jobs disappear, the promise of upward social mobility is eroding, especially for those from modest backgrounds. For many […], the Chinese Dream no longer feels achievable." Similar themes have featured prominently on CDT in recent months, from uproar over the "4+4" fast-track for medical qualifications to commentary on the decline of former "golden ticket" degrees like computer science and the resurgent appeal of official careers. Other examples include gallows humor...

Sci-Tech

Latest

Quashed MU5735 Progress Report, Workplace Stabbing by Pilot in Jilin Reignite Airline Safety Concerns

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 in the United States or find local resources in the International Suicide Prevention Wiki. Two recent incidents have reignited public concern about civil aviation safety in China, particularly as it pertains to the mental health of airline pilots. On July 1 in Jilin, Heilongjiang province, a 31-year-old China Southern Airlines pilot surnamed Li, reportedly upset after having failed a competency evaluation that disqualified him from flying, stabbed two of his colleagues (who were...

Environment

Latest

Censored Statistics, Deleted Data Muddy the Waters

As China continues to tighten information flows in and out of the country, how reliable are statistics from official Chinese sources? Recent media pieces have highlighted the deepening lack of government transparency and accuracy when it comes to important data, and its implications for research related to China. The latest example is from Rebecca Feng and Jason Douglas at The Wall Street Journal, who wrote this week about how “Beijing has stopped publishing hundreds of statistics, making it harder to know what’s going on in the country”: Land sales measures, foreign investment data and...

Hong Kong

Latest

Bleak Assessments of Hong Kong’s National Security Law, Five Years On

June 30 marked the fifth anniversary of Beijing’s imposition of a heavy-handed national security law (NSL) on Hong Kong, which has altered the sociopolitical landscape of the city by undermining its democratic institutions, weakening civil society, and severely curtailing a wide range of freedoms. In the last five years, groups of opposition politicians have been jailed, labor unions and universities cowed, once prominent media outlets shuttered, public protests quashed, and June 4 commemorations banned. Many Hong Kong activists and organizations have been forced into exile, and some have...

Taiwan

Latest

Translation of Chai Jing Interview With Chinese Civil War Survivor Gao Binghan, Part 2: “War Is Always a Tragedy, Something I Cannot Endorse.”

Amid recurrent China-Taiwan tensions and rising geopolitical instability, investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker Chai Jing has revisited and updated her iconic 2012 interview with Gao Binghan, a survivor of the Chinese Civil War who escaped with the Nationalists to Taiwan at the age of 13. Now 90 years old, Gao saw his family torn apart by civil war between the Communists and the Nationalists, and says he fears that the two sides’ successors are once again inching toward war. “Politics is ruthless,” says Gao in his recent interview with Chai. “Those who forget that history of...

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