Discontent in Digital China Gloria Davies China Story Yearbook is available online: www.TheChinaStory.org

Excerpt from Ch i n a Sto ry Ye a r b oo k 2012

Edited by Geremie R. Barmé

with Jeremy Goldkorn Carolyn Cartier and Gloria Davies

Australian Centre on China in the World

ANU College of Asia & the Pacific Canberra, Australia 5

© The Australian National University (as represented by the Australian Centre on China in the World)

This publication is made available as an Open Educational Resource through licensing under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 3.0 Australia Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/au/deed.en

Note on Visual Material All images in this publication have been fully accredited. As this is a non-commercial publication, certain images have been used under a Creative Commons license. These images have been sourced from flickr, and the owner of each original picture is acknowledged and indicated in the source information.

ISBN 978-0-9873655-0-7

First published in August 2012 THIS PUBLICATION IS NOT FOR SALE

Published by: Australian Centre on China in the World The Australian National University

Edited, typeset and illustrated by Markuz Wernli Design Works Printed by Blue Star Print Canberra, Australia

The Australian Centre on China in the World is an initiative of the Commonwealth Government of Australia and The Australian National University Discontent in Digital China The digital age has brought new comple- xity and new conundrums to China’s one-party Gloria Davies rule. While dissidents continue to be summarily arrested and charged with serious crimes, official rhetoric and vox populi now jostle for attention 5 on the Internet. 127 126 CHINA STORY YEARBOOK Discontent in Digital China 2012 Gloria Davies They weren’t called rallies but ‘collective strolls’ (jitisanbu of weekly rallies protesting againstthe state and Party’s abuseof power. series a of first the be to was This February. 20 on 2:00pm at cities nese outside China urging peopleto assembleat selectvenues in thirteen Chi netizens posted websites noticesonTwitter and Chinese-language hosted very own ‘Jasmine Movement’. ‘Arab Chinese rights activists saw Spring’, an opportunity to initiate their revolt spreadacross theMiddle Eastduring what became known asthe lution’, placedanationwide banonthemuch-loved jasmine.Aspopular ment, panicked over the potential ripple effects of Tunisia’s ‘Jasmine Revo govern- the as flowers jasmine not least at – flowers’ with it ‘saytolowed In China, 2011 turned out to be the year that people were simply not al- and concerted action against corruption and misrule. The letter-writers in- tional People’s Congress the letter demanded government accountability movement posted anopenletter ontheInternet. Addressed to China’s Na- vices before they were censoredby the Internet police. notices circulated briefly on QQ and other mainland-based microblog ser- Source: WikimediaCommons police officersandshopperscuriousastowhythereweresomanycameras atafastfoodoutlet. to meeton20February2011.Mostofthepeoplewhogatheredthatdaywereforeignjournalists, protesters The McDonald’sstoreonWangfujing, Beijing,whereonlinepostingscalledfor‘JasmineMovement’ In February 2011, a loose worldwide coalition of anonymous Chinese On theday of ‘Jasmine protest’, theanonymous organizersof the 集体散步 ). The - - before a singleslogan was ut police dispersed thecrowd mall in China’s capital. The fujing, the premier shopping side theMcDonaldsinWang- hundred people gathered out a modest crowd of around a sen protest venues. InBeijing, turning out in force at the cho immediately suppressed. Not surprisingly, theletter was The organizers claimed: to theexisting political system. not anovertlic concern, threat were a demonstration of pub sisted that the planned rallies demand. This isourfundamental an independent judiciary. Furthermore, we call for Chinese people. ordinary cials acceptoversight by offi- its and government in ourrequestthat the tem, butwe areresolute sysor even athree-party system,tem, a two-party sysplements a one-party We don’t care if China im- Police, meanwhile, were ------form strolls. of collective the take protests that suggestion the included Some China. in Revolution’ a‘Jasmine organize to citizens Chinese for calls were 2011, there early In – protests. Backyard My In – Not NIMBY pression ex American an use to be, to tend They Party. the of rule the of legitimacy the or rights human response to issues of governance, fundamental in rarely are protests Such projects. industrial or about of the impact infrastructure environmental concerns to reaction in cities coastal wealthy in can organize online. that participants censorship of like so keywords ‘demonstration’ Internet avoid to easier it makes also It protests. ( cal and leisurely connotations of the word ‘stroll’ apoliti The slogans. chant or banners up hold not do strolls such in Participants fashion. overt yet it a non-explic in dissatisfaction express to citizens allow strolls’ hasstration developed.‘Collective demon of form amilder years few last the over China, in banned largely is protest public Though C from collective strolling. strolling. collective from toughs local by prevented easily and networked less and poorer are people where places in built be presumably will they factories; these for plans new about media the in follow-up no been has There halted. was Dalian and Xiamen in factories PX the on Construction aims. their in successful 12,000 people. over drew reports, media to according that, tory fac PX another over protest in stroll collective a organized Dalian of city the of 2011, residents train put on In stroll. another August collective famous Maglevtension high-speed of the city’s ex an of building the for acquisitions land with in homeowners Shanghai2008, who disagreed would pollute their In neighborhood. January feared they that and construction under was that factory (PX) aparaxylene against protest to streets the to took province, Fujian Xiamen, of city the in people when 2007, June in online peared sanbu ollective S ollective h epeso ‘olcie tol frt ap first stroll’ ‘collective expression The launched been have usually Group walks All of the above-mentioned protests were All ofprotests the above-mentioned ) help soften the confrontational aspect of ) the help aspect confrontational soften trolls ( jiti sanbu jiti

集体散步 ) ------129 128 CHINA STORY YEARBOOK Discontent in Digital China 2012 Gloria Davies molihua ing thewell-known Chinesefolk song‘Lovely Jasmine Flower’ (Haoyiduo the Party and President General Secretary of the People’s Republic, sing- nese net.Onecasualty of the censorship was a video featuring Hu Jintao, to placeablanket ban on theword ‘jasmine’ (molihua count caused acute anxietyamongtheParty’sThey leaders. swiftly moved Nonetheless, this brazen if toothless attempt to hold the party-state to ac- let alonetraction.China’s ‘Jasmine Movement’ was over before itbegan. and other citiesensured that themovement would not gain any visibility, tered. In the weeks that followed, an increased policepresencein Beijing F.I.R., theTaiwanese singer-producer Jonathan Lee(LiZongsheng) and ing well-knownlike celebrities theTaiwan groups Shinand Mando-pop activity oncemore. The belated festivities includedfeatura galaconcert - jasmine-related of hive a become finally county Heng did August in only all; after festival jasmine its hold to Guangxi allow to confident ficiently the ban on jasmine. Three months passed before the authorities felt suf served that theplant hadplunged to athirdof itsprevious market value. mound of unsold bushes whose blossoms were beginning to fade’ as he ob grower was described ‘glancing forlornly at a sign pledges notto stock jasmine.Onejasmine them to flower force vendors to in called Beijing plant were alsohalted. Meanwhile, local policein the and flower the of sales growers, on of jasmine’.Regardless of theeconomic impact plantation; itislocally known as‘thehometown Heng county boasts of China’s largest jasmine al International Jasmine Festival in Heng county. province in south-west China cancelled its annu- mine spreadthrough the MiddleEast.Guangxi activists widely gloated over. The mainstream media in China was characteristically silent about jas of scent the as mounted panic Official

好一朵茉莉花 ). Itwas somethingthat beleagueredChinese netizen - Source: Molihuajie.com the word‘jasmine’. official sensitivitiessurrounding province, cancelledin2011 due to Festival inHengxian,Guangxi The logooftheJasmineCultural 茉莉花 ) ontheChi - - - be prosperous, secure,andrespected.’ that: China wants ‘What is pretty straightforward and unexceptionable: to Christian Monitor in late 2011,mostinformed observersof China agree is apoliticalcrackdowntime there inChina.ButasPeter Ford noted inThe state bearingdown onitsabjectpeople. Such cartoonsloom large each world’s mostpopulousnation to ablack-and-white image of anoppressor ‘the China threat’ reducesthecomplex realitiesof life and society in the ‘unfree’ Chinaposingathreat to the‘free’world. jasmine, itscultivators andvendors, contributed to thetabloidviewof an the crackdown, sopoignantly illustrated inthemisfortunesof thelowly allegedwith connectionthe‘jasmine’threat. Themorerisibleaspectsof an indefinitely, for some detained, many silence, intothreatened and ing while hundredsof activists andsocial criticswerecalled infor question- dissent and protest in recent years. Singers crooned and dancers pranced distracting public attention away fromsuppression themostegregious of internationally. In2011,suchand shows galaconcerts had the effect of al ‘openness’,both locally and projecting an image of cultur- revenue while conveniently of entertainment. Itgenerates port and encourage this type government hascometo sup in theearly 1980s,theChinese initial hostility to pop music based onthe‘Idol’format. popular national talent show highly a – contest Superboy of Hunan Satellite 2007 TV’s as AllenSu (Su Xing),winner China’s ownsuch popstars Yet by simply equating China with autocratic rule,thenotionof Over theyears, after an - lution really might materialize. materialize. might really lution Revo a Jasmine that fear government’s the from stem to seemed Weiwei Ai artist the like vocates ad civil-society and lawyers, activists, to dealt The harsh especially harsh treatment in 2011 and thearrests harassment of the foreign media. thirty-five least at nationwide, forces security of clothes police. and plain and of hundreds uniformed journalists wereThese outnumbered by scores of foreign protest. to ready appeared who people a few and observers February curious of 20 ahandful on 2011 attracted rally first The ‘strolls’. term the online called for rallies, sometimes using weekly forprotest democracy. The circulating messages zens to have their and Movement’, own ‘Jasmine anonymous Internet urged users their fellow citi 2011, March and February in Spring Arab the and Inspired by the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia ( Jasmine Revolution molihua geming molihua The online calls led to a deployment massive

茉莉花革命

) - - - - 131 130 CHINA STORY YEARBOOK Discontent in Digital China 2012 Gloria Davies Kai-shek then,afterunder Mao Zedong),post-Maoist 1949, Chinahasseen Chiang under (first 1978 and 1928 between rule one-party of years fifty up with the slogan: ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’. Unlike the first ideology withthenotionof economicliberalization thetheoreticianscame the life – and the mental world – of China. By combining elements of Party to approach flexible more a required 1978 late from introduced Xiaoping beliefs. and localcommunity inducted young peopleinto thissetof values and propaganda campaigns and other forms of instruction in the workplace to– fosterkeptalive and them unity at large.society in Formal education, generallyhas resortedto ofset nationala values ideologyan – beliefs and 1949, removed theRepublic of China to Taiwan. ruleinChina One-party Communistnese Party which, following aviciouscivil war anddefeat in government theenemy-predecessor underChiang Kai-shek, of theChi rule. Itbegan in 1928 with the Nationalistonly orKuomintang one-party For mostof the twentieth century and since, mainland China has known Voices inContention responses every timeitexercises coercive power. the digitalage, thestate must braceitselffor myriad, unpredictable public successfulin deterring the public airingof complaints andgrievances.In censorship into a blunt tool of limited use, one that is far from uniformly lic. The Internet hasto anextent turnedtheonceformidable force of state haveimmediate adirect, impact onpublicRepubopinion inthePeople’s the flowof information inandoutof thecountry, international andlocalevents control now to theauthorities of efforts best the Despite flux. of same time,relations between thestate and society areinadramatic state exact a heavy toll on the country’s rights movement and activists. At the The party-state’s draconian(andfrequently counter-productive) actions The economic reforms that theChinese Communist Party under Deng - - enrolment of oneinfour Chinesebetween eighteen andtwenty-two incol- ments, such as theexpansion of thetertiaryeducational sector and the existing inequalities.Thearticle listssomeof the government’s achieve cal reforms and that politics’ ‘street corner only hindered and exacerbated posed athreat to theorderly and timely achievement of socialand politi- system anddemocratic system.’ Itwarned that thosewho ‘incite unrest’ fully participate inanddiscussaffairsof state, undertheexistinglegal readership. the editorial was clearly intended bothfor alocalandaninternational the nation’s behalf. Published on 3 March 2011 in Chinese and English, People’s Daily, reminded its readers of the government’s ceaseless toil on Communist Party mouthpiece, official the East’, Middle the an editorial titled‘ChinaisNot nomic andsocialreforms. In ment’s achievements ineco media trumpeted thegovern- in Chapter 3, the state-run whom have beenmentioned Jitian andTeng Biao, some of Tianyong, RanYunfei, Tang Weiwei, Chen Yunfei, Jiang known rightsactivists like Ai about thedetention of well- pressing information in China fends itsauthority. Whilesup shows how the Party now de with marketability. combining Party propaganda of ideology, use fluid more a It described the situation in China as onewhich: ‘the Chinesecan The 2011crackdown - - - 8. pop star who debuted as a Hollywood actor in in actor aHollywood as debuted who star pop Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Hidden Tiger, Crouching Bladesman Last The Hornet Green The 1. T 6. to injury. 2011 in due retired who Rockets Houston the for 2. Kong singer, producer and philanthropist. 4. star. pop Kong-based Hong and 9. has who films. star forty over in appeared international and producer film 3. 5. celebrity. eternal and star kungfu director, actor, cessful comic performer; has a wise-guy persona. awise-guy has performer; comic cessful a Geisha a Gong, the God of War, in the Chinese blockbuster blockbuster Chinese the War, in of God the Gong, Guan played star; action popular most Kong’s 7. lywood’, best known outside China as the star of of star the as China outside known best lywood’, scribed by 10. Belluci’. Monica ‘China’s called times he T he

Yao Ming Ming Yao Jet Li (Li Lianjie Lianjie (Li Li Jet Andy Lau (Liu Dehua Dehua (Liu Lau Andy Donnie Yen (Zhen Zidan Zidan Yen (Zhen Donnie Jay Chou Jielun (Zhou Jackie Chan (Cheng Long Long (Cheng Chan Jackie Fan Bingbing Bingbing Fan Faye Wong (Wang Fei Fei (Wang Wong Faye Zhang Ziyi Ziyi Zhang Zhao Benshan Benshan Zhao op T op . en C en Time 姚明 elebrities of 2011 of elebrities magazine as ‘China’s gift to Hol to gift ‘China’s as magazine 章子怡 范冰冰 (2011). – superstar basketball player player basketball – superstar (2011). 赵本山 李连杰 – an actress once de once actress –an – popular actress some actress –popular 刘德华 周杰伦 – China’s most suc most –China’s ) – martial arts actor, actor, arts ) –martial 王菲 成龙 and and 甄子丹 ) – popular Hong ) – Beijing-born ) – Beijing-born ) – Taiwan-born ) –Taiwan-born ) – Hong Kong Memoirs of of Memoirs ) – Hong - - - - -

133 132 CHINA STORY YEARBOOK Discontent in Digital China 2012 Gloria Davies and protests viasocialmedia. rallies mass organise to controls official bypass to people for was it easy how evident became it as increased only unease Official party-state. the in confidence public of undermining the for reports media Western and and rising living costs. They typically blamed misinformation, rumours on socialinjusticessuch as corruption, threats to public health and safety out the2000seven aspopular anger mounted due to government inaction overthrown by andfed-up theirangry citizenry. China evil:as alesser amorebenignautocracy, notlike thoseothersbeing not the Middle East’. It’sa negative comparison that, without irony, casts immediate short-term goals and offers itslameconclusionthat: ‘China is beyond of vision alack reflects voice, official China’s of typical is which have emerged intheprocessof development andreform.’ This tautology, pursue developmental and reform strategies to solve theproblems that have always accorded with the public will’, the writers declared.‘They rule as a form of conscientious and caring governance: ‘Chinese leaders tion’, ortheprotests they’ve engendered. Instead, it presented one-party and fraud that have bedevilled thehaste of China’s own ‘education revolu - lege education. No mention was made of themajor cases of corruption cannot be displayed.’ cannot bedisplayed.’ from March2011:‘According torelevantregulationsandpolicies,resultsforasearch“jasmineflowers” Source: SinaWeibo A screenshotofthemessagethatSinaWeibo hasshownuserssearchingforjasmineflowers The authorities invoked ‘social justice’ as aguiding principle through- 茉莉花

30,000 ‘net cops’. The mainland media offers far more modest figures; He figures; modest more far offers media mainland The cops’. ‘net 30,000 September 2002,theBBC made an educated guess that therewere already In force. police Internet China’s of estimates varying wildly in reflected ing information on their own initiative. This lack of transparencyis also filter- in caution of side the on err owners website most that ensure tem state operates and the severity of punishments meted out by the legal sys ways to stymie them. Within China, the lack of transparency in which the Great Firewall, the state developcensors newer and more sophisticated or too lazyto circumvent thesystem. cal insofar asitdeters themany who areeitherindifferent to censorship a fortressthan a speed bump.’ Itsrealeffect is predominantly psychologi - about the highly permeable nature of the Great Firewall: ‘it resembles less na. Jonathon Keats, acolumnistfor the US-based wall’ soastoto gainaccess information posted ontheInternet outsideChi are becomingmoreadept atnet users what they call‘climbing over the Firewall’. ‘Great Still, China’s as known colloquially is what of name ficial Source: DanweiMedia ‘Green Dam’( An Internet-usercartoonmocking and harmfulpoliticalideas. China’s youthfrompornography which wasintendedtoprotect ship softwareintroducedin2009 As Chapter 7goes into inmoredetail,aspeoplelearnhow to scalethe Lüba

绿坝 ) censor- users, eachregistering multiple microblogs to dra-headed assault: large numbers of Internet outside China,oneproven methodwas aHy- censored but widely circulated on websites on 19 March 2010 in a post that was promptly prominent blogger-activist Ran Yunfei wrote to publicize their causes andprotests.As the were just as fast in getting around the blocks sirable information from theInternet,netizens While state censors were quick to blockunde what it calls the Golden Shield Project, the of ed untold (andunreported) sums inimproving which couldeasily beassembledlike ajigsaw. publicize agiven pieceof blocked information, In responsetheauthorities have invest Wired magazine, wrote - - - - - 135 134 CHINA STORY YEARBOOK Discontent in Digital China 2012 Gloria Davies that they arepaidfiftyChinesecents percomment orpost. anepithet basedonawidely held belief Gang’, derided asthe‘Fifty-cent names of Chineseactivists anddissidents. TheseInternet dissemblersare ers. Itwas reported that several of themicrobloggers even adopted the this was atorrent of abuseandprofanities launched againsttheprotest as seekingto destroy China, its rival, by promoting democracy. Added to Movement’ for through beingtreasonous, to thecondemnation of theUS government posts. The contents ranged from attacks onChina’s ‘Jasmine pro- of flurry a noticed China in Twitter access to able were who people government crackdown on activists and social criticsmentioned above, mentators at around 280,000. Inlate February 2011,coincidingwith the mid 2008, theFar Eastern EconomicReview estimated thenumber of com- In disinformation. provide to or issue, given any on position official the equally unknown number) hired to post online comments in support of that theprovince employed fewer than1,000Internet policeofficers. ince with a population of over onehundred million, stated inJanuary 2011 Guangping, the head of thePublic Security Bureau of Guangdong, aprov- Source: DanweiMedia Horse’ Internet slangterm‘Grass Mud the anti-establishmentChinese the animalwasassociatedwith alpacas spiked.Thiswasbecause stuffed toysthatlookedlike In 2010-2011,onlinesalesof (see theChronologyfordetails). had firstappearedin early2009 Coupled with the Internet policeis an army of commentators (of ( caonima

草泥马 ) , which , which straining to pre-empt andplacate public anger.straining to pre-empt things quickly go viral,the Chinese party-state is light. Inanage of instant messaginginwhich rule in a benign aimed at presenting one-party strategy rhetorical official new relatively a of This is part ganda drive Gang. andtheFifty-cent sponse to criticismsof theparty-state’s propa- keen to make a show of magnanimity in re real life. suppression oftinuing its knee-jerk dissent in cies and displaying atolerant facewhile con- poli- unpopular for flak cop them letting ence, exist their confirms nor defends neither it So Government officials have at other times been times other at have officials Government - - -

curtailing itonly when itstarted to attract widerattention. Mao, theruling leadership allowed some latitude for this type of criticism, disgruntled Party elders and revolutionary veterans who served under advanceand make theircareers money. Asthecommentators included about thelarge numbersof peoplewho were usingParty membershipto expansion throughout the1990s,therewas plenty of socialcommentary part of public discourse. With the further acceleration of market state-led the Party’s retreat fromsocialist-communist values core haslongbeen sense oflacks aclear direction,principleandbackbone.Discontent with the Maoist era believe this sort of thing shows that the Communist Party masses need.’ not allow such actions to become a as it regular occurrenceis not what the open society andnation’.‘a moreand Headdedacaveat: ‘we must calm response to a calculated insult was evidence that China had become it would spurhim on to servethepeoplebetter. Wu contended that his memento, a that as claiming bills fifty-cent the of one keptinstructive. He experience the found even he official, government a as that, and normal’ about theincident, Wu said:‘theprotest of aChinesenetizenwas perfectly Zhongxia, agraduate of theuniversity. Whensubsequently interviewed Wang as himself identified later man The bills. fifty-cent with him ered before Wu ascended thepodium, a young man approached andshow- speech about the new era of transparency in official communications. Just a giving was figure, media a popular and province Yunnan from official Hao, a leading propaganda win thepeople’strust.Wu to was officialdom keen how on 22April 2010illustrates People’s University in Beijing An incident that occurredat Other Party memberswho yearn for theideological certainties of Chinese cents or or cents Chinese fifty for opinion public sway and shape to tempt at an in policies party-state to favourable ments com post to authorities Chinese the by hired Gang refers to Internet commentators Fifty-cent Gang( Fifty-cent do so). so). do to paid be to have you’d that being assumption (the Party Communist the and policies its ment, who out speaks in of support the Chinese govern anyone to refer to sense a derogatory in used wumao wumao dang wumao a pop. The term is also also is term The apop.

五毛党 ) - - - 137 136 CHINA STORY YEARBOOK Discontent in Digital China 2012 Gloria Davies critical scrutiny intheglobalmediabetween 2010and2011. in mind as we consider anevent system that kept China’s one-party under We need to keep this complicated ideological (and rhetorical) landscape remains unknown butisafavourite topic of speculation ontheInternet.) not poor. (The net worth of individuals belonging to China’s political elite lawyer-businesswoman wife, GuKailai, in2012.Itwas obvious they were which may well have alsocontributed to the downfall of bothhim and his discussed in several visibly enjoyed placesin this book, the limelight, Chongqing of Secretary Party flamboyant erstwhile the Xilai, Bo as such number, their of Some transformation. capitalist China’s of beneficiaries also were They ‘reds’. century twenty-first excitedChina’s that capitalism geois thinkingandcapitalism.Itwasnor the endofstruggle neitherclass bour- fighting for zeal a by matched be to had educational) scientific, cal, country to beledby peoplewho were ‘redandexpert’.Expertise(techni - ty ruleunderMao. Aleadingslogan of theday spoke of theneedfor the mation of party-state rule. affir- an and retro-rejuvenationrevivalists Redideological the on focused context of therightsof citizensand the needfor anindependent judiciary, of egalitarianjustice.But whereas the‘Jasmine Movement’ did so inthe ganizers of China’s ‘Jasmine Movement’. Both documents invoked the idea of this document roughly coincided with the openletter issued by the or- political reform through a return to core Maoist values. The appearance They published this advice ontheirwebsite and encouraged substantive eenth Party Congress’ (theonescheduled for late 2012;seeChapter 10). Eight the for Suggestions ‘Our – document a produced members group’s the leaders, party Mao-era of progeny the befitting self-worth and ment mounted an articulate challenge from the left. With the sense of entitle to thisvolume, agroup calling itselftheChildren of Yan’an Fellowship In February 2011,asGeremieBarménotes intheconcludingchapter In the1950s,‘red’symbolized classstruggle,theguiding logic of Par- - - complying with China’s censorship system, the statement sought to assure mention was made of thecriticismGoogle.cn had attracted previously for mainland- and overseas-based rightsactivists and advocates. Although no notingin particular the hacking ofand services, gmail accounts held by barrageoriginating of inChina cyber-attacks on Google’sinfrastructure tounrestrictedits Kong-basedHong companyThe portal. identifiedalso a tions as other mainland-based portals). Users would instead be re-directed Google.cn (established inJanuary 2006and subject to thesamerestric that itwould nolongersearch results censor onitsmainland-basedportal was contemplating theclosure of its China operations. Google announced The event was Google’s statement of 12January 2010that thecompany Google andDissent Source: Flickr.com/JoshChin as asignofmourning. some InternetuserslaidflowersattheGoogleofficesinBeijing When Googleshutdowntheirmainland-basedsearchengine,

- 139 138 CHINA STORY YEARBOOK Discontent in Digital China 2012 Gloria Davies plenty ofberating articles Google foraccusations’. making ‘false One ti- stricted to publicizing the official Chinese position. The Chinese media ran international media coverage outside China, the mainland media were re of a focus became views official of clash this While Google. as hacking of alleging that China and Chinese Internet companies were as much victims dress, thearticleaccused‘certain Western politicians for smearingChina’, ment was involved Alluding to in the cyber-attacks. Clinton’s Newseum ad- Xiaoyang condemningGoogle for insinuating that theChinese govern- peared in the Chinese media) deeply offended theChinese government. Anarticle ap society.’ said, ‘you don’tneedto beatycoon orarock starto have ahuge impact on communicate and to share information. ‘Once you’re on the Internet,’ she tronic would barriers’ ultimately prove no match forthe human needto to a virtual Berlin Wall. She said that just as that wall eventually fell, ‘elec- riated China’spro-government commentators by likening state censorship cyber intrusions that led Google to make its announcement’, Clinton infu- ington. Urging ‘theChineseauthorities to conductathorough review of the of State Clinton Hillary addressedanaudience at theNewseum inWash - portal’s demise. ethical motto ‘Don’tbeevil’, mainlandusersof Google.cn mournedthe welcomedGoogle’sChina statementoutside belateda as affirmation its of landscape. Ifcriticsof Chinese government censorshipand rights abuses internationally about Internet freedomsand the future of China’s media ments andwas thesubject of vast amounts of commentaryinChina and stance led to hostile exchanges between the US and Chinese govern- [in China].’ ent with our commitment not to and, we self-censor believe, with local law Googlethat users a‘newapproach’ was underway, onethat was: ‘consist These remarks by of ‘Secretary State Xilali’ (as sheis known in the On 21January, ninedays after Google’s announcement, USSecretary The media inChina and abroad closely covered theissue. Google’s People’s Daily three days later under the byline Wang - - - surrounding Google had died down, though it was briefly revived in June revived in wasbriefly it though down, died had Googlesurrounding 14,119 respondents wanted Google.cn to stay inChina. By April, thefurore pany operating China’s highly popular 163.com portal,77.68percent of Flowers didnothave much luckontheChinese Internet in2010-2011. against state censorship. Naturally, thephrasewas quickly blacklisted. protest symbolic a as Internet the on viral went soon tributes’ floral phrase‘ille gal The wereillegal. tributes floral permit, official an without removed these daily offerings. When challenged, one guard replied that Science Park inBeijing that featured thecompany logo. Securityguards on a slab outside the company’s ten-storeyed headquarters at Tsinghua and other symbolic objects candles, cards, floral bouquets, Google fanslaid tributes of Google’s statement, Chinese China. ever, circulate freely outside immediately. They did, how- appeared only to becensored pathetic to Google’s position independent views more sym - China in Beijing. Alternative, Communication University of Xinxin, was a professor at the becausetary’ theauthor, Deng article as‘expertcommen- Some websites presented this wide circulation onthenet. to China!’ enjoyed particularly its Own Actions and Apologize tled ‘Google Oughtto Examine In a poll conducted from 13-20 January 2010 by NetEase, the com- Also, in the days following information from Chinese government servers. information from Chinese government servers. sensitive particularly any released yet has mous government no organizations; one from Anony websites all belonged toaffected small, provincial the out, turned it As reports. media ternational government prompting websites, a spate of in Chinese of hundreds into hacked or defaced to the group that Anonymous they boasted had elsewhere. and States United the in experts security as well as commentators na remains a topic favorite of Internet hawkish Chi from ‘cyberthreat’ the and victims, potential of such allegations have done nothing to reassure routinetions. Thedenials Chinese government’s have made similar allega establishment military US the of members and experts Security China. in originating attacks hacking of target the been had companies foreign other twenty and Google explained that one reason for this move was that company the blog, official Google’s On server. Kong Hong its to users China-based directing re China, from engine search its of servers the In 2010, January servers. Google pulled famously hundreds of foreign commercial and government into hacked had that China in based apparently spyingence a organization Net’, of cyber ‘Ghost exist the revealed that astudy published tor Moni War Info called funding private and public with organization aCanadian 2009, March In H acker acker In April 2012, hackers claiming allegiance allegiance claiming hackers 2012, April In ( heike

黑客 ) ------141 140 CHINA STORY YEARBOOK Discontent in Digital China 2012 Gloria Davies Person of the Year. In April 2010, he came second in Han named – – Weekly inHongKongWeekly andGuangzhou’sSouthern magazines Chinese-language influential two 2010, January and commentator (forChapter moreonHan,see 7).Between2009 December sayist Han Han, China’s leading online literary celebrity and independent ing money they didn’tcareabout censorship. uncharitably that mostmainlandChinesewereso preoccupiedwithmak interest of China’s netizensin accessing uncensoredcontent. Heclaimed Google’s departurebutobservedthat thecompany had overestimated the able toand access read itviaproxy servers.Hanexpressed regretabout na (after appearing briefly on his blog), and savvy mainland netizens were theless, the transcript of the interview circulated on the Web outside Chi pointless, as it would be immediately censored (asthis remark was). None imminent departurefrom China. Herepliedthat anywas candidresponse million. hundred five exceeded number that 2011, July By hits. million hundred 2009, hewas China’smostpopular blogger, hisblog attracting somethree Mir-Hossein Mousavi was number one with 1,492,879 votes.) By the end of tial persons); he garnered 873,230votes. (The Iranian oppositionpolitician Poll (in which readers cast votes for the world’s one hundred most influen- cally redirected to Google.com.hk. operation but any attempt to accesstheportaloutside China is automati- terruptions to Google At services. the time of writing, Google.cn remains in petitors) and frequent complaints from Internet usersin China about in- com- successful its of one being market (Baidu Internettraffic mainland’s Google did not withdraw from China, despite its decliningshareof the stooping to slanderandbetraying ‘thespiritof theInternet’.In theend, The 2010 when thecompany reported from morerecent China. cyber-attacks promptly published another op-ed deriding Google forPeople’s Daily promptly published another op-ed In March2010,aninterviewer asked Hanfor hisviews onGoogle’s Google’s fate inspired pensive remarks from theShanghai-based es Time magazine’s 100 Asia - - - - and recipient of the2010NobelLiu wasPrize. Peace mostrecently arrest harsh treatment meted out to Liu Xiaobo, China’s best known dissident pare thegovernment’s relatively benign attitude toward Han with the censored, hehasnotbeenharassed orarrested for them. frequentlyare blogposts Han’s although – Indeed crucial.’ differenceis the openness with the demand for democracy but in domestic Chinese politics rizing Han’s position, Osnos wrote: ‘Outsiders often confuse the demand for was simply too powerful: ‘they arerichandthey canbribepeople.’Summa- New Yorker that heopposed‘hastening multiparty elections’astheParty aging greater awareness inChina.Inmid-2011,hetold Evan Osnosof The sorship, hemadeitclearthat hewas lettingoff steam inthehopeof encour- ernment corruptionandpublicapathy. Han Han’s remarks were notsurprising: his blog posts often criticizedgov- in its June 2010 survey put China’s onlinecommunity at 420 million. But time by China Internet the state-run Network Information Center (CNNIC) Official figures produced at the mainland online population. underestimated the size of the point, however: hehad greatly accept. Hanwas wrong onone million netizens would gladly more than half of China’s 200 he was willing to wager that greaterrestrictions, search block Google but impose even a browser that would not only ple RMB10 (US$1.57) to install company) were to offer peo Baidu (China’s largest Web Han alsoremarked that if The limits of politicaltolerance in China become clearwhen we com- When Han accused his fellow-netizens of docile compliance with cen- - reates). reates). lau Nobel of selection the in role no plays (which government its and itself Norway of even – and and condemnation of the Nobel Prize committee vitriol of afrenzy with reacted authorities nese Chi The China’. in rights human fundamental for Peace Prize for ‘his long struggle and non-violent Nobel 2010 the awarded was Liu rights. political of deprivation years two and imprisonment years eleven to sentenced was he 2009, Day Christmas On power’. state of subversion ‘inciting of charges on activism 08 Charter his for detained was Liu ’77.Czechoslovak Charter In December that year, the on modelled and China in rights human and democracy for calling document arambling 08, Charter of propagation and drafting the in figure akey was Liu 2008, In rights. human and reform he became an of advocate political outspoken 1991, in prison from release his Following ment. move protest 1989 the in firebrand, activist an as then and provocateur cultural critic, liter a ary as first figure, high-profile a been 1980s, mid- the since has, who a writer is Xiaobo Liu L iu Xiaobo Xiaobo iu 刘晓波 - - - - - 143 142 CHINA STORY YEARBOOK Discontent in Digital China 2012 Gloria Davies of ‘Xiaobo’. One group of feisty human rights activists in Guizhou – one – Guizhou in activists rights human feisty of group One ‘Xiaobo’. of appeared such as the English-language ‘Dawn Wave’, a literal translation ‘Liu Xiaobo’ was banned on the mainland Internet, coded substitutes soon began forwarding the contraband news within China. Because the name Xiaobo’, mainland viaproxynetizens whothe service accessed servers ‘#Liu hash-tag Twitter the on award.Nobel soared Liu’s ofnewstraffic As tal technologies. ‘Microblog fever’ played a critical role in spreading the and microblogs. But the Chinese public enjoyed access to these same digi- media but across digital media platforms: websites, onlineforums, blogs lized the full array of information technologies notonly in print and TV Nobel PeacePrize’calledthe‘Confucius PeacePrize’inprotest. following chapter, therewere even attempts inChinato organize a‘counter- international support for China’s position. As Benjamin Penny notes in the ing eithermisinformed, actively orboth;and,publicizingany anti-China tacking Liu Xiaobo’s character; criticizingLiu’sWestern supporters asbe this consisted of condemningtheNobel PeacePrize;denigrating andat ing a unified calibre’ (tongyi koujing calibre’ unified a ing phraseofficial Chinese The staying‘criminal’. for message’ ‘on ‘maintain is - mediarepeatedlyThe state-controlled anduniformly referred to Liuasa condemn theNobel Committee for allegedly pervertingtheaward’s aims. blocked this surge of news but when censorship proved futile, it moved to tions demanding Liu’s release from gaol. The Chinese government initially tensions between Norway and China aswell as the many international peti- the countrytherewas intensive mediacoverage of theensuing diplomatic October 2010to LiuXiaoboasaseriouspolitically motivated affront. Outside years ingaolonthecharge of attempting to subvert state power. a multi-party democracy. Twelve months later, he was sentenced to eleven ruleand an immediatesence, demanded an endto transitionto one-party es in that, petition a – 08 Charter organizing and co-authoring for year, ed in December 2008,at the end of China’s successful if troubled Olympic To achieve aconvergenceof opinion,thegovernment powerfully uti- China’s party-state interpreted theaward of theNobel PeacePrizeon8 统一口径 ). In the case of Liu Xiaobo, - - - iig te o o te oa dpt plc cif I rcn yas road years, recent In casualties caused by China’s ‘second-generation rich’ (fu erdai chief. police deputy local the of son the Qiming, the Hebei University campus when they were hit by a car driven by Li Xiaofeng andZhang Jingjing were roller-skating along anarrow laneon which a female university student was killed and another injured. Chen than adrunk-driving incident inthecityof BaodinginHebeiprovince, in touch anerve amongChinesecitizens. take a far morecautious approach when dealing with local incidents that national news inwhich China has astake, such as Liu’sNobel Prize,they inter- to regard with opinion public mould and guide can they confident poor will swell China’s online population. Whereas the authorities are still ital technology becoming more affordable, rural dwellers and the working Over comingyears, with dig- informa - tion acrossdigital platforms. of flow easy the that isbeingopened up by is the product of a society award. oblique defencesof Liu’s comments countered by governmentand articles tit-for-tat ensued with pro- A time.’ first the for Nobel land Chinese has won the sage: ‘Good news! A main- the Internet with the mes flood to netizens on called – of China’s poorestprovinces raged citizens because ordinary of the leniency normally shown to the progeny of the wealthy, often withpowerful Partyhave connections) out In October 2010, Liu’s Nobel inflamed mass public sentiment far less activity defiant Such - erdai twenty-two-year-old Li Qiming twenty-two-year-old 2010, the name gained when national notoriety 16 On October Gang. Li name the carry ments docu ID whose China in people 149,594 are there Statistics, of Bureau National the to According ( L is Dad My officials and rich business people, known as known people, business rich and officials automobiles, ofexpensive the spoiled children of social problem: the misbehaviour, involving often prison. in years six to sentenced and tried was Qiming Li dent to of the the attention central government. Baoding. in Bureau curity Se Public a district of director deputy was father Qiming’s Li was who Gang Li the that discovered died in Outraged hospital. Chinese Internet users Chen Xiaofeng, of the women, twenty-year-old One Gang!’ Li is dad My dare. you if me ‘Charge ed: shout have to said is he Qiming Li detain to tried young women. When guards campus security two down knocking Baoding, in Hebei of versity Uni of campus the onto car his drove drunk, ly Wo ba shi Li Gang! Li shi ba Wo The Li Gang incident epitomized a ballooning on theThe outcry Internet brought the inci

官二代 and and i G ang! ang! fu erdai erdai fu

我爸是李刚!

富二代 李启铭 respectively. ) 富二代 , apparent guan guan , the ------145 144 CHINA STORY YEARBOOK Discontent in Digital China 2012 Gloria Davies Maoist ideasand ideals. among themselves and with each otherover thetruevalue and utility of digital present-day, netizensandtheParty ordinary elite alike cancontend the In ‘red’. was what defining on monopoly a enjoyed Party Communist with dreams of national prosperity.witch-hunts co-existed Back then the fare of amuch poorer China where political campaigns and ideological the continuation rule. Egalitarian rhetoric of was one-party the staple mi- tenor, ofegalitarianism, nus itsoriginalanti-capitalist haspopularappealwhile justifying rhetoric the Maoist corruption, official rampant lent particularly ambivalent impetus to therevival of ‘redculture’.Given new willingnessto heedthesimmeringdiscontent aboutthewealth gap. tive catchphrase. The fact that it was listed at all indicates something of a was ranked numberfourGang’ andstood outastheonly politically sensi- 2010 listof ‘Top Ten Buzzwords ontheInternet inChina’, ‘My dad is Li injured girl, withhalfthis sum beingpayment for herhospitaltreatment. as compensation to the dead girl’s family and 91,000 fore the case was heard in court, Li’s father paid 466,000 yuan(US$73,750) Be gaol. in years six to sentenced later was he Qiming; Li contrite and ing who apologized onhisson’sbehalf.Thenextday areportfeatured aweep October, thenational broadcaster airedaninterview withatearful LiGang, it proved too irresistible,even for CCTV (ChinaCentral Television). On 21 to contain thepublicreactionby blockingreportsabouttheincident but Source: Hudong.com ‘Friend: Driveslowly,yourdadisnotLiGang!’ road signPhotoshoppedtoread: the ‘MyDadisLiGang!’incidentshowinga An Internetjokethatcirculatedfollowing The inequality now affecting every aspect of Chinese society has its released Service News Xinhua official the when 2011, January In dad is Li Gang!’ (Wodad isLiGang!’ bashiLiGang! among China’s rich. State censors tried 是李刚 with parodies and permutations of ‘My zens promptly inundated theInternet me ifyou dare,my Neti- dadisLiGang!’ arrested Li,heshouted: ‘Goahead,charge When campus security guards culprits. !) lambasting the abuse of power yuan (US$14,400) to the 我爸 - - ‘ideological unity’. again, irrepressible coded debate continued to thwart any official hope for views onthisissue asthestatewere censors to suppress them.Andso yet Bo. Yet, thepolitically engaged were justasdetermined to publicize their highly restricted and monitored, not to mention biased against the purged the unfolding drama around Bo, his wife Gu Kailai and theircoterie was rumoursmeantand state-sponsored that Chinese Internet coverage of diose ifcontent-freedeclarations together with zealous state censorship by law’ in which ‘there is no privileged citizen before the law’. Such gran- was at pains to reassure itsreadersthat ‘China is a socialist country ruled the great bannerof socialism with Chinese characteristics’.The editorial level of ideological unity’withthe Politburo inBeijing andto ‘raisehigh Daily editorial of 11 April 2012 urged Chinese citizens to ‘maintain a high dentials while downplayingA highly itsMaoistorigins. publicized People’s on thePremier’sspeech. bidding mainland news outletsfrom publishing extended commentaries known as the Central Propaganda Department) soonissued a directive for- in theParty’sthe state’s upperechelons, Publicity Department (formerly less thangenuine socialists. To forestallspeculation about factional strife Bo,on tack whose flaunting tacitly critics ‘redness’ his of being accused of ofscale theCulturalRevolution’. Wen’s remarks were abarely veiled at reform to safeguardof againsttherecurrence a‘historical tragedy onthe introduction to this volume). Inithecalledfor renewed efforts at political known opponent of Bo, delivered awidely noted speech(discussedinthe Still, ontheeve of Bo’sdismissalon14March2012,PremierWen Jiabao, a pronouncing onthe‘red’ campaigns that wereBo’s trademark from 2009. positions on15March2012,theParty leadershipinBeijing held back from official his of all from Xilai Bo of removal the followed that weeks the In The Chineseparty-state generally prefersto its socialistcre stress - -