The CCP’s Chilling 100% Media Ban & The Possible Reason Behind It
Hello, everyone, welcome to “Inconvenient Truths”. I am your host Jennifer Zeng.
Today I will talk about a very important issue that is happening in China right now: A comprehensive ban of any non state-owned companies from getting involved in many news reporting and media related activities, and why does the CCP need to implement such a comprehensive ban. I will talk about the possible reason at the end of the show, which is also very important to know. So please make sure you stick around till the end.
Comprehensive Media Ban
On Oct 8, the CCP’s Development and Reform Commission issued a so-called “draft version of negative entry list” for public comment, which has caused a lot of attention and concerns. Before I explain what is in that negative entry list, let me explain a little bit of what the CCP’s Development and Reform Commission is.
So this is the English version of the CCP’s Development and Reform Commission. It says the commission is a ministerial-level department of the State Council. And its mission is to implement the CCP’s policies and decisions on development and reform, and it adheres to and strengthens the party’s centralized and unified leadership over development and reform, etc.
So the negative entry list says that non state-owned capital shall not do the following:
No. 1: Engage in news gathering, editing, broadcasting and distribution business.
No. 2: Invest in or operate news organizations, including but not limited to news agencies, newspaper publishing units, radio and television broadcasters, radio and television stations, as well as Internet news and information gathering and publishing services.
No. 3: Become a subcontractor of pages, frequencies, channels, columns, public accounts, etc. of news organizations.
No. 4: Engage in live broadcast business involving political, economic, military, diplomatic, major social, cultural, scientific and technological, health, education, sports and other activities and events related to political direction, public opinion guidance and value orientation.
No. 5: Introduce news released by foreign organizations.
No. 6: Hold forums and summits in the field of news and public opinion, and award and selection activities.
Well, quite tough, right?
Let’s talk about these items one by one.
So, the first item just bans any non state-owned companies from doing news gathering, editing, broadcasting and distribution outright.
The second item bans any non state-owned companies from even investing in any media companies.
The third item bans non state-owned companies from operating other media entities’ pages, channels, public accounts, etc.
You know, in China, sometimes an official media company owns a newspaper, but sub-contract several pages of the newspaper to another company and charges money for that. So this kind of thing will not be allowed in the future.
Also let me explain a little bit of the so-called “public account”. It refers to the account at social media platforms.
For example, I have an account on Facebook. This is my personal account. You can see I already have 5000 friends, which mean I have reached my limit and cannot have more.
But if I set up a Facebook Page, I can have an unlimited number of followers.
So in China, they have similar social media platforms, and so this kind of account is called a “public account”. Many media companies and online influencers have this kind of account and large numbers of followers.
So, this means that in the future, non state-owned companies cannot even run media related social media accounts.
The 4th item bans non state-owned companies from doing live broadcasts virtually about anything. Maybe the only thing you can do is live streaming your family cooking or gardening skills. Just a joke.
The 5th item bans you from introducing news released by foreign companies. This one means that in the future, only state-owned media can translate and re-post news reports of foreign media. Maybe you’ll even violate this item by just posting or sharing a link to any news report of foreign media on your social media platforms as an individual.
This 6th item bans non state-owned companies from hosting forums, summits, award and selections activities in the news and public opinion sectors. This means you cannot even organize a meeting to discuss any news or media related issues, or give awards to a reporter or a media company that you think is good.
Well, pretty comprehensive, right? It seems to me that there is virtually nothing you can do in China in the news and public opinion sectors as a non-state owned company or an individual.
A while ago I did two programs about the flooding in Zhengzhou City. A lot of videos, photos, and information I used in those two programs came from Chinese social media platforms.
But imagine, after this ban is officially implemented, posting similar videos, pictures or information about a natural disaster in China on your own social media account will become illegal too, as you are not state-owned capital.
Nowadays we rely on four channels to learn what is happening in China: the CCP’s official mouthpieces, non stated owned Chinese media, reports from foreign media, and individuals.
So after this ban is in place, I guess we can only get things from the CCP’s official mouthpieces, as foreign reporters are already having huge problems doing their jobs in China, and Chinese netizens will be silenced too.
The CCP didn’t say when this new policy will take effect, but people are already feeling the chilling effect, as it can happen anytime now.
Alibaba’s Jack Ma Sells off Media Asset
Right after this “negative list” was released, on Oct 12, Chinese media reported that Alibaba’s Jack Ma has sold all its shares in Chinese media Caixin.
This is the English website of Caixin.
And this is the Chinese site.
Public information shows that Jack Ma’s Ant Group invested tens of millions of yuan in Caixin in 2016.
Talking about Caixin, we must give a little bit of introduction of it. It is one of the most influential non-state owned media in China. It has a relatively good reputation, and often conducts in-depth investigations on hot issues.
For example, just a while ago, it published an in-depth report about China’ biggest real estate developer Evergrande, which we also reported about.
Several years ago, at the peak of Xi Jinping and China’ vice Chairman Wang Qishan(王岐山)- This is a picture of Wang Qishan, who is also the former Party Secretary of CCP’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, which is in charge of inspecting and disciplining party members, and is a very powerful organization, the CCP’s internal anti-corruption body.
So several years ago, at the peak of Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan’s anti-corruption campaign against a lot of high ranking CCP officials, because of the good relationship between Wang Qishan and Caixin’s founder and publisher Hu Shuli(胡舒立), Caixin was often chosen as the media outlet to release information regarding the anti-corruption campaign: Who had been targeted for what, who would be the next target; and what kind of punishment the targeted ones would get, etc.
So it had more inside information even more than the CCP’s official mouthpieces.
So at one stage, Hu Shuli was called “the most dangerous woman in China”, as she often exposed bad things about the officials, so whoever was exposed by her would be in danger of being targeted.
So now let’s go back to Jack Ma.
We all know that the IPO of Jack Ma’s Ant Group was stopped by the CCP last November. It would have been the world's largest ever IPO.
Since then Jack Ma disappeared from the public eye for a long time.
Several days ago, it was reported that he appeared in Hong Kong and met several business partners. But nobody knew what they had talked about.
So the news of Jack Ma selling off his shares in Caixin media came out on the same day when he visited Hong Kong. So people naturally think that:
One, Jack Ma’s sales of Caixin shares is related to the media ban we talked about.
Two, Jack Ma’s Alibaba still owns South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. It obviously is not a state-owned media company.
Why was Jack Ma’s Ant Group and Alibaba punished by the CCP? It was said that Xi Jinping was not happy about such big capitals, as well as influential media such as Caixin, are not in his hands,
So Jack Ma’s sales of Caixin’s share could be a sign that he wants to make peace with Xi Jinping, so that he can be allowed to continue to do business in China at a shrunken scale.
The Shocking “Pig’s Head” Story
When talking about Caixin, Hu Shuli and media control in China, we must mention another incident that has been very, very hot on Chinese media.
On Oct. 2, Hu Shuli shared a picture of several pig heads on her Chinese social media platform WeiBo account, with the following sentences:
On Oct. 2, Hu Shuli shared a picture of several pig heads on her Chinese social media platform WeiBo account, with the following sentences: “If the pig's heads are cooked well, they are quite delicious. The pig’s head is not well received nowadays because of people’s notions. With such a bad reputation, who would want to establish a strategic partnership with pig’s heads at the dinner table? ”
“If the pig's heads are cooked well, they are quite delicious. The pig’s head is not well received nowadays because of people’s notions. With such a bad reputation, who would want to establish a strategic partnership with pig’s heads at the dinner table? ”
You know, pig's heads are also edible food in China, so that article is actually from the food and life section of Caixin media, and Hu Shuli was just sharing that article.
However, in China, many people know that one of Xi Jinping’s nicknames is Pig Head Xi. If you search with Pig Head Xi in Chinese, you will get these kinds of pictures.
I think people call him Pig Head to express the idea that he is very stupid, and looks a lot like a pig.
In China, because there is no freedom of speech, when people want to express something, they always try to use code language, or use very indirect ways to express themselves.
So when Hu Shuli, as a veteran media professional, and the “most dangerous woman in China” actually shared pictures of pig heads, and said that because of the pig head’s bad reputation, nobody wants to establish a strategic partnership with it, everybody couldn’t help thinking that she was talking about Xi Jinping, and criticizing him for being incompetent and making a mess with China’s diplomatic relations with other countries.
And, because of Hu Shuli’s special relationship with Wang Qishan, people also started to speculate: Is it Wang Qishan who actually asked Hu Shuli to do such an outrageous thing? Is Wang Qishan openly challenging Xi Jinping?
Some people say yes, some people say no. But almost everybody agrees that a person like Hu Shuli wouldn’t just casually post anything without a reason, or some kind of hidden message.
Some even said that Hu Shuli was arrested because of this.
Well, after the proposed media ban was announced on Oct 8, that is, 6 days after Hu Shuli shared that shocking Pig’s Head post, people started to say that Hu must have learned that such a media ban would be announced soon, and, Caixin media of hers, as a non state owned media company, would have no future in China. So she posted the Pig’s Head Picture to express her anger and despair. Whether she posted it or not, Caixin won’t have a future anyway.
Famous Media Personnel Arrested for a Social Media Post
On the same day of the release of the media ban, that is, Oct 8, the CCP’s police announced that another very famous media personnel Luo Changping was arrested for “insulting” the CCP soldiers who sacrificed their lives during the Korean War against the US.
So this is a picture of Luo Changping. He is the former deputy editor-in-chief of Caijing magazine, which was also founded by Hu Shuli in 1998. Hu later left Caiing and founded Caixin in 2009.
So from this sense, Luo Changping must have very close ties with Hu Shuli, as Luo Changping once worked as the deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine that was founded by Hu Shuli.
Remember in our last show we talked about the CCP’s brainwashing movie “The Battle of Lake Changjin” to glorify the CCP’s victory in the Korean War?
Well, while the mainstream voices are praising this movie, Luo Changping posted on his Weibo account on Oct 6 to criticize the movie. He said, “Half a century later, people in this country seldom reflect on the justice, or justification of this war, just as the sand statue company back then would not question the decisions of their superiors. As for this war, there is no need to make too many comments, just look at North Korea and South Korea now, and the answer is crystal clear.”
Luo Changping posted on his Weibo account on Oct 6 to criticize the movie. He said, “Half a century later, people in this country seldom reflect on the justice, or justification of this war, just as the sand statue company back then would not question the decisions of their superiors. As for this war, there is no need to make too many comments, just look at North Korea and South Korea now, and the answer is crystal clear.”
So he is indicating by comparing the current situation of North Korea and South Korea, it is needless to say that the CCP had fought a foolish war. The soldiers sacrificed their lives to defend North Korea, and North Korea is far, far worse than South Korea. So he was questioning why we should fight that war?
Thousands of CCP soldiers were frozen to death during the Korean War.
He used the word “sand statue company” to refer to those soldiers who were frozen to death. By the way, this photo you are seeing is not from the movie. It is a real photo of those CCP soldiers who were frozen to death.
Actually those soldiers are officially referred to as “ice statue company” . So people would think that Luo Changping made a typo when he used the word “sand statue” instead of “ice statue”.
However, in Chinese language, the pronunciation of “sand statue (沙雕）” is Sha Diao; and Sha Diao can also means stupid losers（傻屌）. The pronunciation is the same, but stupid losers are written differently.
So you can say that Luo Changping tried hard to not to sound too rude by typing in “sand statue” instead of “stupid losers”. However, he was still arrested for “insulting national heroes.”
His arrest has sent a lot of shock waves to Chinese netizens, as he has millions of followers in different Chinese social media platforms and is a very famous influencer.
People are also speculating whether his arrest means Hu Shuli will be in trouble soon, or whether this means that Xi Jinping once again had an upper hand in the power struggle with his political enemies.
Anyway, just yesterday, it was reported that Microsoft’s LinkedIn is also leaving China due to “challenging operating environment”. This marks the biggest departure from China by a major tech company in years.
So, you see, even foreign companies are feeling the pressure, let alone Chinese companies.
Why the U-Turn Now?
The last question is, why is Xi Jinping doing this?
You know, entirely shutting down non-state owned media is not a small thing. This means the CCP is going to take 100% control of the information flow. What Chinese people can read and watch, what kind of information about China the outside world can get, all will be under absolute control of the CCP.
Only 11 years ago, in 2010, the CCP’s General Administration of Press and Publication issued a policy that encouraged non-state owned media to develop. That was why media companies such as Caixin could develop to what they are today.
Now, 11 years later, the CCP did another U turn on this issue.
Why? The only explanation is:
11 years ago, the CCP still wanted to “tell the China story well” to the international world, and it knew that its official mouth pieces didn’t have a good reputation in the world, so it encouraged non state owned media to develop so that those media could tell the China story well on behalf of the CCP.
However, 11 years afterwards, the CCP is preparing to cut ties with the world, to close its doors again, and to go back to Mao’s time. And if it is really preparing for a war against Taiwan, it needs to have absolute control of the media too.
In any sense, whether this conclusion is true or not, this is not a small thing, and all decision makers, business owners and China watchers should all pay close attention to what is happening in China and why these things are happening.
Well, that’s all for today. Thank you very much for watching. Please do recommend my channel to your friends, colleagues and families so that more people get to know the inconvenient truths.
Thank you. See you soon!
10/15/2021*
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