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Tag: China

404: What Is It Good For?

Written by LS Staff on . Posted in News and Trends. No Comments on 404: What Is It Good For?

An exposé published last week by Guangzhou’s Southern Metropolis Daily (南方都市報) telling the shocking story of exorbitant morgue fees in Jinan, the capital of coastal Shandong province, quickly disappeared from China’s internet last week — suggesting authorities were uncomfortable with its implications of bureaucratic negligence. The report detailed how the body of murder victim Liu Yun (刘芸) had remained in storage at a local funeral home for more than five years, accumulating 380,000 yuan (52,800 dollars) in storage fees that the victim’s impoverished rural family could not afford to pay.

The bureaucratic deadlock occurred when police refused to issue a death certificate, claiming the court verdict was sufficient, while the funeral home insisted it needed this specific document to release the body. Despite regulations clearly assigning responsibility to police for issuing death certificates in criminal cases, the impasse continued until media exposure prompted authorities to waive all fees. This is apparently not an isolated case.

As the article vanished online, it left a string of “404” error messages in its wake. In an oddly colorful take on censorship, Tencent turned the page block into a creative error page encouraging users to “light a dream for children” (为孩子们点亮一个梦想) by supporting rural schools. The message poignantly notes: “The page you’re looking for has gone astray seeking dreams, but you can still make a difference together with Tencent’s volunteers.”

America Unhinged

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Talk about selective reporting. While protest activity in China remains largely invisible in domestic media, American demonstrations receive front-page treatment. This narrative, emphasizing the apparent disorder of democratic and populist politics in America, is the message that media consumers across China are presumably meant to take away from the wave of protests happening in cities across the country last week.

Chinese coverage of American demonstrations was extensive in its reach, though the official Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television served as the sole sources for most reports, with nearly identical phrasing across outlets. Guangzhou’s Southern Metropolis Daily (南方都市報) reported on April 7 that “more than 500,000 people participated in 1,300 protest events across America” against the Trump administration. The article noted that “even ‘red counties’” — those generally supportive of Republican Party candidates and policies — had seen sizable protest crowds waving banners with messages like “King of Corruption” and “Make Lying Wrong Again.” The Paper (澎湃), a Shanghai-based online outlet, published an extensive gallery of photos showing demonstrations across major US cities on April 5, describing the events as “the largest collective protest since Trump took office.”

While providing comprehensive coverage of American unrest, Chinese media outlets remain silent on domestic protests — even in the once relatively free environment of Hong Kong. The city’s police commissioner, Chow Yat-ming (周一鳴) stressed earlier this month when discussing national security that citizens should consider it their “personal duty” to report violations. The contrast could hardly be clearer. American protests merit detailed coverage, while Chinese ones warrant police scrutiny. If only the Trump administration hadn’t frozen funding for one of the only projects actually monitoring dissent in China.

Citizen Soldier, Citizen Journalist

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One week ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that his intelligence services had identified at least 155 Chinese citizens fighting for Russia in Ukraine. “We are collecting information and we believe there are more, many more,” he said, adding that the Chinese government appeared to be “turning a blind eye” to recruitment efforts on Chinese social networks. China’s Foreign Ministry quickly called Zelensky’s claims “groundless,” but even this official response was non-existent in media coverage inside China. Meanwhile, the story received strong Chinese-language coverage in overseas outlets including Deutsche Welle, Radio France Internationale, Radio Free Asia and Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao (聯合早報).

But some of the most illuminating coverage had already emerged more than a week earlier — even before Zelensky’s public remarks. On March 30, former CCTV celebrity anchor Chai Jing (柴静) released an hour-long video special to her YouTube channel for which she interviewed Chinese fighters on both sides of the conflict. She spoke with “Ma Kalong” (马卡龙), a Russian-allied Chinese soldier, as well as several volunteer combatants fighting for Ukraine, such as Gao Shan (高山) and Peng Chenliang (彭陈亮), who was killed in action.

Chai suggests in her investigation that these fighters are not officially sent by China. However, the video released by Ukraine last week alludes tantalizingly to intermediaries, which points to networks in China that are likely recruiting fighters — a highly sensitive story one Chinese media insider tells us is just waiting to unfold.

According to Chai’s interviews, Russian-allied recruits are primarily motivated by financial incentives, while Ukraine’s Chinese volunteers cite ideological commitments to democracy and freedom. This contrast in motivation matches the stark difference in their treatment. While Russian-allied fighters describe poor equipment and conditions, Ukraine’s Chinese volunteers (though facing high casualty rates) express a sense of purpose in their choice. Chai Jing’s YouTube channel is chock full of excellent interviews, a welcome comeback from the former state journalist who once roused ordinary Chinese to share images of wasteful government buildings in China by saying: “You are a citizen, and you are a journalist.”

Beijing Bristles

Written by Alex Colville on . Posted in News and Trends. No Comments on Beijing Bristles

Ever since April 2, when President Donald Trump announced the imposition of deep tariffs from White House Rose Garden as a “Liberation Day” for America, China has pushed back hard, framing the United States as bullying, inflexible, and ultimately harmful to the world and itself. The rallying cry from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) three days later set the tone of defiance: “The world needs justice, not hegemony!” (世界要公道，不要霸道).

Filtered out through an official notice, or tonggao (通稿), from Xinhua News Agency, the MFA’s language accused the US of “economic bullying” and “zero-sum game playing,” and warned that “pressure and threats are not the correct way to deal with China.” The message reverberated throughout the media inside China, from the leadership’s People’s Daily (人民日報), to provincial mouthpieces like Guangdong’s Nanfang Daily (南方日報), and on to more commercial outlets like Caixin Media (財新) and the 21st Century Business Herald (21世紀經濟報道). In perhaps the subtlest sign of pique, the professionally-minded Caixin labeled the notice “Authorized by Xinhua for Release” (新华社受权发布). Translation: We were ordered to run this.

For a more detailed look at China’s framing of the US tariffs, stay tuned for our full analysis next week. Until then, here is a breakdown of the key narrative frames driving official coverage over the past two weeks — all evident in the original MFA release.

A Terminal Crisis for Chinese Television

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Initium Media (端傳媒) published an extraordinary inside look earlier this month at the deep challenges facing official Party-run media in China, particularly television networks caught between political control and financial viability — with television audiences left out of the equation. The deeply reported piece reveals how corruption has become normalized as a survival mechanism. China’s nearly 2,500 television stations face deep financial pressures, with insiders describing them as “living like beggars” (大家都是过着要饭的日子). At China Central Television (CCTV), reporters’ salaries have plummeted while top executives often offer public relations services on the side, and news anchors hawk products via livestreams. Local station reporters earn as little as 800 yuan (110 dollars) monthly, which must be supplemented by commissions from commercial activity.

An ad from the China Media Group (CMG), the conglomerate directly under the CCP’s Central Propaganda Department, for a shopping show launched on January 1.

The core problem is political: increasingly stringent content restrictions have made meaningful programming impossible. As one CCTV producer candidly admitted, everyone knows the solution — allow creative freedom and programs that respond to people’s concerns — “but none of these things are possible.” The inevitable result, according to a propaganda official, is that “television will gradually die out.”

To learn more, read our full translation, or try the original must-read at Initium.

Otherworldly Fraud

Written by Alex Colville on . Posted in News and Trends. No Comments on Otherworldly Fraud

Last week, on the heels of Tomb Sweeping Day, or “Qingming” (清明), across the Chinese-speaking world, the technology media 36Kr reported on a racket that is out of this world. According to the outlet, authorities across the country must regularly crack down on unlicensed “fake ghost money” (假冥币) — the paper bills families burn for the departed.

Though China’s Regulations on Funeral and Interment Control focus primarily on cremation policies and facility management, some provincial and city-level regulations have added their own restrictions, including against “feudal superstition.” Liaoning Province, for example, explicitly prohibits the manufacture and sale of paper money and paper replicas — such as gold bars and sports cars — for funeral purposes. Enforcement varies widely by region, but police generally pursue three violations: operations without proper business licenses, products mimicking real Chinese currency, and use of toxic materials. Last year, police in Liaoning shut down an unlicensed workshop producing ghost money from recycled newspapers.

Ethereal levels of inflation are another problem outside the jurisdiction of authorities. These days, ghost bills feature astronomical denominations like 98 trillion yuan — more than two-thirds of China’s total GDP for 2024. In 2018, a lone developer created “Ethereum Ghost Money” (以太冥币) in an effort to “control inflation in the underworld.” This digital solution, however, has not yet supplanted traditional practices. For now, the deceased must make do with hyper-inflated spirit currency, proving that questionable monetary policy extends beyond our earthly realm.

Open Boxes

Written by Dalia Parete on . Posted in News and Trends. No Comments on Open Boxes

Late last month, Chinese search engine giant Baidu weathered a storm when the 13-year-old daughter of Vice President Xie Guangjun (谢广军) exposed critics’ private information online — raising suspicions the data came from inside Baidu. The practice, known in China as “open boxing” (开盒), refers to exposing someone’s private information online. At a March 20 press conference, security director Chen Yang (陈洋) presented evidence claiming “no employee at any level has access to user data.” Baidu attributed the leak to “overseas social engineering databases” rather than internal sources. Despite showcasing its security framework and announcing an “anti-doxxing alliance,” public skepticism remains intense, with many Chinese netizens declaring they “won’t dare use Baidu anymore.”

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Baidu headquarters in Beijing. SOURCE: Wikimedia Commons.

Paper Signals

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The controversy surrounding Li Ka-shing’s proposed 23 billion dollar Panama ports deal, which has angered China, reveals a fundamental shift in Hong Kong’s political media landscape, according to Chris Yeung, former Ming Pao editor and now head of Green Bean Media (綠豆). Yeung wrote that Ta Kung Pao (大公報) and Wen Wei Po (文匯報) — both papers controlled by the central government’s Liaison Office in the city — have replaced the South China Morning Post as the city’s most politically influential publications, becoming “first-to-read” newspapers for government officials and business leaders alike.

When Ta Kung Pao condemned CK Hutchison’s ports sale as “groveling” and “betrayal,” it demonstrated the direct line between these publications and official policy positions. “Pro-democracy activists read looking for signs of imminent trouble,” Yeung wrote, highlighting the papers’ role as Beijing’s political barometer. In an update on that story this week, China’s Caixin Media reports that Pacific Century Group, the Hong Kong conglomerate run by Li Ka-shing’s son, Richard Li, has openly distanced itself from CK Hutchison and the now politically toxic deal.

Changing media dynamics in Hong Kong were further illustrated late last month when Security Secretary Chris Tang (鄧炳強) publicly criticized Ming Pao for “misleading” reporting. After a Ming Pao journalist questioned why Tang hadn’t announced his Thailand trip, Tang accused the paper of trying to “undermine public trust.” When the paper’s deputy chief editor defended the question, Tang responded with a letter condemning the “biased” coverage (See “Short Stories” below for more on Tang).

For a rundown of the Li Ka-shing story in Chinese, see Fang Ming’s (方明) take at Initium Media (端傳媒), which notes “more and more discussions are focusing on the risks of U.S.-China competition.”

Sea-Drill Drama

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The People’s Liberation Army (解放軍) began joint military exercises around Taiwan on Tuesday this week, calling Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-Te a “parasite” in the latest escalation of Beijing’s months-long pressure campaign against Taiwan that is also a test for the United States. According to PLA Eastern Theater Command spokesman Shi Yi (施毅), the drills involve army, navy, air force and rocket forces conducting “multi-directional approaches to Taiwan island,” focusing on sea-air combat readiness, control of key areas, and land and sea strikes.

State-run Xinhua News Agency (新華社) said the exercises aim to test joint combat capabilities while serving as a serious warning to “Taiwan independence separatist forces” (台獨分裂勢力). This follows two previous military exercises conducted in the Taiwan Strait (台海) in March. The PLA described the action as “legitimate and necessary to safeguard national sovereignty and maintain national unification.”

The military maneuvers come amid heightened tensions following President Lai’s labeling of China as a “hostile foreign force” and recent shifts in U.S. diplomatic language regarding Taiwan. Beijing has consistently declared Taiwan a “red line” in China-U.S. relations and views Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party with particular hostility for what China insists on calling its “pro-independence agenda.”

Last week, Taiwan’s Commonwealth Magazine (天下) launched a free interactive data tool that maps PLA activities around Taiwan. The “Map Explorer” (地圖探索) function displays real-time trajectories of Chinese military aircraft and vessels, revealing PLA hotspots. Users can filter dates, play/pause movement tracking, and click on red dots to examine detailed maps.