Cadre: Where are you?
Guo: I’m in southern Xinjiang.
Cadre: How come you went away without reporting it?
Guo: I didn’t know travel had to be reported!
Guo: Check in when you get back!"

— Transcript of a telephone call between indie filmmaker Guo Zhenming and the local cadre assigned to monitor his movements in Urumqi, Xinjiang

 

CDT Highlights

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Translation: Filmmaker Describes Monitoring by Local Cadre in Urumqi

In March, despite questionable jurisdiction, Xinjiang authorities hit Yunnan-based independent filmmaker Guo Zhenming with a 75,000 yuan (US$10,300) fine and the confiscation of some of his equipment for alleged "unauthorized filmmaking." Guo had previously been barred from traveling overseas or renewing his passport. Recently, Guo posted about the intrusive monitoring he had been subjected to by local cadres after renting an apartment in Urumqi, and recounted the police visit that marked the start of the "unauthorized filmmaking" case. Further details, he suggested, will...

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Maskpark Cyber-abuse Scandal Censored, Women Say “Silence Will Only Make It Worse”

Recent revelations have ignited widespread outrage over a Telegram group in which tens of thousands of people shared nonconsensual images and videos of women. Southern Metropolis Daily reported that the group, named “MaskPark Treehole Forum,” had at least 20 sub-channels and over 100,000 active members, all of whom were Chinese men. The forum hosted intimate and explicit images and videos of women who were secretly filmed in various locations, such as private bedrooms, public toilets, subway cars, hotel rooms, mall fitting rooms, and university campuses. The victims included current or...

Translation: Filmmaker Describes Monitoring by Local Cadre in Urumqi

In March, despite questionable jurisdiction, Xinjiang authorities hit Yunnan-based independent filmmaker Guo Zhenming with a 75,000 yuan (US$10,300) fine and the confiscation of some of his equipment for alleged "unauthorized filmmaking." Guo had previously been barred from traveling overseas or renewing his passport. Recently, Guo posted about the intrusive monitoring he had been subjected to by local cadres after renting an apartment in Urumqi, and recounted the police visit that marked the start of the "unauthorized filmmaking" case. Further details, he suggested, will...

“Reverse Runology?” Some Émigrés Reconsider Their Escape from China

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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...

Interview: Badiucao and Melissa Chan on Their Graphic Novel, You Must Take Part in Revolution

You Must Take Part in Revolution is a graphic novel by Badiucao, political cartoonist and former CDT contributor, and Melissa Chan, a journalist who in 2012 became the first reporter to be expelled from China in more than a decade. The book was conceived in the wake of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, and follows the divergent paths of three friends in Hong Kong and Taiwan from their involvement in the protests through to 2035. CDT: I’m sure anyone reading CDT is familiar with each of you separately. How did the two of you come to join forces? Melissa Chan: I’d interviewed Badiucao for a...

“Reverse Runology?” Some Émigrés Reconsider Their Escape from China

The struggle for a better life has long pushed many Chinese citizens to escape difficult conditions at home. In the most recent waves of emigration, tens of thousands of Chinese migrants have made perilous journeys through Central America along the “walking route,” or zǒuxiàn (走线), in an attempt to reach the southern U.S. border. But the political climate at their destination has become increasingly hostile, particularly under the new U.S. administration, which has deterred Chinese tech talent and restricted Chinese student visas (building on restrictive measures under the previous...

“Reverse Runology?” Some Émigrés Reconsider Their Escape from China

The struggle for a better life has long pushed many Chinese citizens to escape difficult conditions at home. In the most recent waves of emigration, tens of thousands of Chinese migrants have made perilous journeys through Central America along the “walking route,” or zǒuxiàn (走线), in an attempt to reach the southern U.S. border. But the political climate at their destination has become increasingly hostile, particularly under the new U.S. administration, which has deterred Chinese tech talent and restricted Chinese student visas (building on restrictive measures under the previous...

Translation: Filmmaker Describes Monitoring by Local Cadre in Urumqi

In March, despite questionable jurisdiction, Xinjiang authorities hit Yunnan-based independent filmmaker Guo Zhenming with a 75,000 yuan (US$10,300) fine and the confiscation of some of his equipment for alleged "unauthorized filmmaking." Guo had previously been barred from traveling overseas or renewing his passport. Recently, Guo posted about the intrusive monitoring he had been subjected to by local cadres after renting an apartment in Urumqi, and recounted the police visit that marked the start of the "unauthorized filmmaking" case. Further details, he suggested, will...

“Reverse Runology?” Some Émigrés Reconsider Their Escape from China

The struggle for a better life has long pushed many Chinese citizens to escape difficult conditions at home. In the most recent waves of emigration, tens of thousands of Chinese migrants have made perilous journeys through Central America along the “walking route,” or zǒuxiàn (走线), in an attempt to reach the southern U.S. border. But the political climate at their destination has become increasingly hostile, particularly under the new U.S. administration, which has deterred Chinese tech talent and restricted Chinese student visas (building on restrictive measures under the previous...

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

Maskpark Cyber-abuse Scandal Censored, Women Say “Silence Will Only Make It Worse”

Recent revelations have ignited widespread outrage over a Telegram group in which tens of thousands of people shared nonconsensual images and videos of women. Southern Metropolis Daily reported that the group, named “MaskPark Treehole Forum,” had at least 20 sub-channels and over 100,000 active members, all of whom were Chinese men. The forum hosted intimate and explicit images and videos of women who were secretly filmed in various locations, such as private bedrooms, public toilets, subway cars, hotel rooms, mall fitting rooms, and university campuses. The victims included current or...

Politics

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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...

Society

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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...

China & the World

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Law

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“Reverse Runology?” Some Émigrés Reconsider Their Escape from China

The struggle for a better life has long pushed many Chinese citizens to escape difficult conditions at home. In the most recent waves of emigration, tens of thousands of Chinese migrants have made perilous journeys through Central America along the “walking route,” or zǒuxiàn (走线), in an attempt to reach the southern U.S. border. But the political climate at their destination has become increasingly hostile, particularly under the new U.S. administration, which has deterred Chinese tech talent and restricted Chinese student visas (building on restrictive measures under the previous...

Information Revolution

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

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Culture & the Arts

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Censorship Scandals Engulf Thai, French Art Museums

A prominent Thai art gallery became embroiled in a scandal last week when it removed parts of an exhibition following pressure from the Chinese embassy. Ironically, the title of the exhibition, hosted at the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre (BACC), is “Constellation of Complicity: Visualising the Global Machinery of Authoritarian Solidarity.” An introduction on its website stated, “Here, aesthetics operate not as metaphor, but as method [….] To map complicity is to name the actors who sustain oppression [….] To exhibit it is to disrupt its invisibility.” Since portions of the...

The Great Divide

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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

Translation: Filmmaker Describes Monitoring by Local Cadre in Urumqi

In March, despite questionable jurisdiction, Xinjiang authorities hit Yunnan-based independent filmmaker Guo Zhenming with a 75,000 yuan (US$10,300) fine and the confiscation of some of his equipment for alleged "unauthorized filmmaking." Guo had previously been barred from traveling overseas or renewing his passport. Recently, Guo posted about the intrusive monitoring he had been subjected to by local cadres after renting an apartment in Urumqi, and recounted the police visit that marked the start of the "unauthorized filmmaking" case. Further details, he suggested, will...

Environment

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Construction on Tibetan Megadam Fuels Ecological and Social Concerns

After Beijing granted authorization in December, construction on what would be the world’s largest hydropower dam has now begun. The site is located along the Yarlung Tsangpo River in southeastern Tibet, and it has drawn criticism from Tibetan rights groups concerned about social and ecological impacts, and downstream countries concerned about the potential weaponization of water flows. Helen Davidson at The Guardian summarized the massive scale of the proposed project: Construction of the world’s biggest hydropower megadam has begun, China’s premier has said, calling it the “project of the...

Hong Kong

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Interview: Badiucao and Melissa Chan on Their Graphic Novel, You Must Take Part in Revolution

You Must Take Part in Revolution is a graphic novel by Badiucao, political cartoonist and former CDT contributor, and Melissa Chan, a journalist who in 2012 became the first reporter to be expelled from China in more than a decade. The book was conceived in the wake of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, and follows the divergent paths of three friends in Hong Kong and Taiwan from their involvement in the protests through to 2035. CDT: I’m sure anyone reading CDT is familiar with each of you separately. How did the two of you come to join forces? Melissa Chan: I’d interviewed Badiucao for a...

Taiwan

Latest

Interview: Badiucao and Melissa Chan on Their Graphic Novel, You Must Take Part in Revolution

You Must Take Part in Revolution is a graphic novel by Badiucao, political cartoonist and former CDT contributor, and Melissa Chan, a journalist who in 2012 became the first reporter to be expelled from China in more than a decade. The book was conceived in the wake of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, and follows the divergent paths of three friends in Hong Kong and Taiwan from their involvement in the protests through to 2035. CDT: I’m sure anyone reading CDT is familiar with each of you separately. How did the two of you come to join forces? Melissa Chan: I’d interviewed Badiucao for a...

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