Day: June 2, 2023

In brief

In the face of criticism that China’s government was overreacting by launching a criminal investigation into comedian Li Haoshi for telling a joke about the Chinese military, a pro-government Chinese blogger has defended Beijing’s actions. The blogger, who calls herself Guyan Muchan, compared the case to that of an American stand-up comedian who joked about a U.S. military veteran.

Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) found Guyan Muchan’s comparison misleading. The U.S. comedian she mentioned aroused controversy, criticism and public discussion by joking about U.S. military personnel. But unlike Li and the production company that employs him, that U.S. comedian was not fined and did not face criminal investigation.

In depth

After receiving a public complaint, the Beijing municipal culture and tourism authority announced on May 17  that jokes told at performances by Li Haoshi on the afternoon and evening of May 13 had caused “negative social influence” by “seriously insulting the PLA,” or People’s Liberation Army. A separate investigation into Li’s employer, the Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media Company, cited violations of Regulations on the Administration of Commercial Performances. The bureau confiscated from the company 1.32 million yuan ($187,000) of “illegal” income made from the performances, and fined it 13.35 million yuan ($1.89 million). 

On May 17, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau also announced that it had launched a case against Li to determine if his actions constituted a criminally liable offense. 

What did Li actually say? 

The following excerpt of Li’s joke is based on a recording circulated on the Internet. 

“We picked up two wild dogs from a mountain near our home. I wouldn’t say rescue, because on that mountain those two were really at the top of the food chain and didn’t need our help at all. The first time I saw them it didn’t even really feel like watching two dogs, but was more like a scene from some animal film set, with two cannonball-like dogs chasing a squirrel. Now normally when you see dogs, you think ‘cute’, ‘cuddly’ and all that; but when I saw these two, the only eight characters that came to my mind were ‘Zuo feng guo ying, neng da sheng zhang’ (‘Maintain exemplary conduct, fight to win.’) Classic. People are in awe when I walk those two dogs through Shanghai.”

The phrase, ‘maintain exemplary conduct, fight to win’, is a quote from a speech given by Chinese President Xi Jinping to deputies of the PLA in March 2013, in which he told the army to “listen to the Party’s command.” 

The authorities who took up Li’s case didn’t specify the legal justification. But Article 32 of China’s Law on the Status and Protection of Rights and Interests of Military Personnel explicitly states that no organization or individual shall defame, insult or slander the honor of military personnel. Article 65 further decrees that if military personnel are intentionally defamed, insulted or slandered through mass media, relevant government departments can order the offensive content to be corrected.  

Xiaoguo Culture Media rushed out an apology admitting that the joke was an “inappropriate comparison” and terminated Li’s work agreement. Comedy performances by the company were also suspended across many parts of China.

What did Guyan Muchan claim about such cases in the U.S.? 

Even as voices in China and abroad criticized China’s government for overreacting to Li’s joke, influential public supporters defended the government’s handling of the situation. 

Guyan Muchan, a pro-Beijing Weibo blogger with nearly 7 million followers, stated in posts on Twitter and the popular Chinese social media site Weibo on May 17 that even in the U.S. there exists a red line that military personnel cannot be insulted. 

Guyan Muchan cited a controversy resulting from a 2018 Saturday Night Live (SNL) episode in which cast member Pete Davidson mocked Republican congressman Dan Crenshaw – a former U.S. Navy SEAL who lost his right eye while serving in Afghanistan – as resembling “a hitman in a porno movie.” 

Guyan Muchan’s post sparked discussion amongst Chinese netizens, with one user commenting that “people who praise American freedom never mention America’s red line.” 

AFCL identified another case in which a U.S. stand-up comedian stoked controversy with a joke about the U.S military. The comedian, Bill Burr, was performing in Reno, in the western U.S. state of Nevada, when he said that calling catapult officers on aircraft carriers heroes was a bit of a stretch, given that they often are doing nothing more than “warrior one” yoga poses.

Are the situations faced by Davidson or Burr comparable to that of Li? 

AFCL found that although both Davidson or Burr faced criticism and stirred controversy for joking about the U.S. military, neither encountered the kind of punishment faced by Li. 

Davidson’s joke prompted some netizens to boycott SNL. Democrat and Republican officials condemned the remarks as inappropriate and the then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer publicly called for SNL producer Lorne Michaels to be fired. 

But Davidson was not fired and did not face any legal consequences, and in fact the controversy had an uplifting ending. Rep. Crenshaw himself appeared in an SNL skit one week later. In the skit, Crenshaw was given an opportunity to mock pictures of Davidson before delivering a short monologue about the importance of forgiveness and the need for solidarity amongst American civilians and veterans. In that monologue, Crenshaw called Davidson’s father – a New York firefighter who died in the first wave of responders to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks – a hero. The two men ended the skit by shaking hands in mutual respect. 

In the case of Burr, an audience member did express anger at his comments and asked him to show more respect toward the military. Other audience members who were veterans supported letting Burr finish his skit. 

Burr didn’t apologize. In fact, he publicly berated his critics several times for trying to use the banner of patriotism to accuse him of hating America. Despite his unapologetic stance and controversial statements on other sensitive topics, Burr continues to host a podcast and perform stand-up gigs. 

 

The fundamental reason why neither of the comedians faced legal consequences is that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution defends the right of free speech. That makes it highly unlikely that a U.S. government agency would attempt to press charges against a comic or satirist for comments made during a performance. Any ‘red lines’ that exist in humor are shaped by public opinion, not determined by law.  

In conclusion

Guyan Muchan’s reference to U.S public opposition to stand-up comedians joking about the military appears to be based on an invalid comparison between the U.S. and China, where there is far less tolerance of criticism of state institutions. It fails to mention the key difference between the two systems: The U.S. government lacks the authority to punish comedians for the content of their performances, let alone launch a judicial investigation against them.

Cambodia’s main opposition Candlelight Party has canceled plans for a demonstration following a public threat from Prime Minister Hun Sen to jail the party’s vice president and other members.

Organizers had hoped that 10,000 people would march through the streets of Phnom Penh to protest against the National Election Committee’s decision to keep the party off the ballot for the July 23 parliamentary elections.

But top party officials decided on Friday to delay submitting a permit request to municipal authorities, according to Candlelight Party Vice President Rong Chhun, who disagreed with the decision.

“We need to respect the majority,” he said. “But if we do nothing, we will have zero result. If we protest we will have another option. If we stay still, no one will hand over a champion.”

On Wednesday, Hun Sen accused Rong Chhun of being the mastermind behind many protests over the last few decades. 

“When Hun Sen speaks, he acts,” the prime minister said at a bridge inauguration ceremony in Phnom Penh. “Please try me if you dare, you can come out now. I will handcuff you immediately and I won’t keep you in Phnom Penh. I will send you to be detained in a remote province.” 

The prime minister also sarcastically urged Rong Chhun to get married so that his children will lead protests in the future.

The right to peacefully assemble

In response, Rong Chhun told Radio Free Asia that everyone should respect the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, which is guaranteed by Cambodia’s Constitution. 

He said the protest will be peaceful and he urged Hun Sen to be an open minded leader who respects the opinions of others when they don’t agree with government decisions. 

The NEC last month blocked the Candlelight Party from appearing on the ballot, citing inadequate paperwork. Party members cried foul, pointing out that the party was allowed to compete in last year’s local commune elections with the same documentation. 

The Constitutional Council upheld the committee’s decision on May 25, a ruling that means the ruling Cambodian People’s Party won’t have any major challengers on the ballot.

“The election consists of 18 parties and will proceed smoothly,” CPP spokesman Sok Ey San told RFA. “The Candlelight Party is walking backward. It is its own fault but it blames others.”

United Nations spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said at Wednesday’s noon briefing in New York that Cambodia should hold an inclusive election “in which a plurality of views and voter choices is represented so that there is “confidence in the electoral process.” 

The executive director of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Coalition, Ros Sotha, urged the government to intervene with the NEC to resolve the Candlelight Party’s status. The government should listen to the international community and Cambodians who want the opposition party to take part in the election, he said.

“There should be a solution. This is a collective Khmer issue,” he said. “We’ve been having political issues for many years, what we need is long term peace and development.”

Translated by Samean Yun. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

A bill introduced into the U.S. Senate on Wednesday would force businesses to disclose links to forced Uyghur labor to the Securities and Exchange Commission and provide funds for those who have escaped the Xinjiang region to counter Chinese propaganda.

It follows the passage on Thursday of a bill in France’s Senate that urges the European Union to copy the U.S. ban on the import of goods linked to forced Uyghur labor, which French lawmakers say has rerouted many such goods into the European single market.

Besides requiring the SEC filing, the new U.S. Senate bill would expand existing travel restrictions on Chinese officials linked to the genocide and provide further funding for “broadcast initiatives to counter Chinese propaganda,” according to a press release.

Introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, and Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, the Uyghur Genocide Accountability and Sanctions Act would also provide funding for ongoing Uyghur cultural and linguistic preservation projects.

“By building upon current legislation, this bicameral bill aims to enhance the enforcement of secondary sanctions on businesses that offer assistance to the Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing atrocities against the Uyghurs,” Rubio said in the press release.

If passed, the draft bill would help plug holes in the 2021 Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and further impose penalties against those profiting from Uyghur slave labor, Rubio and Merkley said.

But to become law it still has to pass through committee in the Senate before being introduced to a vote on the floor of the chamber, and then pass the House, too, where it is being sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey.

French bill

Across the Atlantic, French senators on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution calling for Europe’s own version of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act to ban imports tied to slave labor.

Sen. Mélanie Vogel, who represents Europe Ecology – The Greens for the constituency of French citizens living abroad, told Radio Free Asia her party introduced the legislation to pressure E.U. officials.

Under Europe’s single market, the 27 individual E.U. member states do not have the power to unilaterally change trade policy, with laws over imports and exports unified across the European Union.

“This resolution is basically asking for the introduction of a very efficient mechanism at the E.U. level that would ban goods made using forced labor,” Vogel said. “Basically, it’s asking the French government to push for this position at the E.U. level.”

She said an existing E.U. proposal on the issue only seeks to ban imports of goods after they are proven to be linked to slave labor in an extensive legal process. But the French Senate preferred a ban “based on the mechanism that was introduced in the U.S,” she said, which assumes Xinjiang-made goods involved slave labor.

“So, putting the burden of proof on the companies who want to export goods into the E.U. market, and not on human rights activists to prove there are actually violations of human rights,” she said. “They have to prove they did not use forced labor.”

E.U. coordination

Such a bill is needed after the 2021 U.S. law diverted many Xinjiang-made goods to Europe, said Dilnur Reyhan, head of the European Uyghur Institute and a Uyghur studies lecturer at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations in Paris. 

“The goods made with Uyghur forced labor that couldn’t enter the U.S. are making their way into the European market. That’s why it’s extremely critical that such legislation needs to pass in Europe as well,” Reyhan told RFA, noting it was only the initial step.

“A resolution like this from each E.U. member state is important to pressure their governments. In order to have real impact, all 27 E.U. member states would need to pass a unified piece of legislation.”

Edited by Alex Willemyns and Malcolm Foster.

For some, it began by overhearing an offhand comment. Others found out from someone with firsthand knowledge. Some even had personal connections to those involved.

However they first learned about the June 4, 1989, massacre of students in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, the young people were motivated to learn more, driven by a sense that the truth had been hidden from them, a Twitter inquiry of Chinese young people collected by Radio Free Asia shows.

Their instincts were not wrong.

China’s Communist Party has done its utmost to stymie any form of public discussion of the incident 34 years ago.

Authorities have worked tirelessly to scrub the affair from history books, online discussions and the media. Every June, police descend on the homes of dissidents, placing them under house arrest and banning them from posting on the topic or speaking to the media.

And with the student protesters now well into their 50s, and children born since the massacre being raised with virtually no knowledge of the event, the passage of time is helping the Communist Party erase memories.

But China’s youth are technologically savvy and have figured out ways to get around the country’s Great Firewall of internet censorship. Many use VPNs, or virtual private networks, to mask their IP addresses, which are illegal in China, but still used widely. 

How did you find out?

Ahead of this year’s anniversary, RFA sent out a query on Twitter, asking Chinese netizens born after the year 2000 – essentially those age 22 and younger – to share how they first learned about the Tiananmen massacre.

RFA received nearly 1,400 responses. Twitter is banned in China, but can be accessed via VPNs.

Most respondents declined to give their full names, citing a fear of reprisal. Many openly expressed shock at what they discovered, some saying it had changed them forever.

Tanzhang first heard about the crackdown in 2020, when he was in junior high school, while watching a video describing cameras on Bilibili, the popular content sharing platform.

“When they mentioned [the brand] Leica, the video creator added a comment saying, ‘Leica recently filmed an ad that insulted China,’” he said, referring to a commercial in which a photographer appears to be taking photos of the People’s Liberation Army advance on students on the square, only to be confronted by authorities in his hotel. 

“The comments were all cryptic, which piqued my curiosity, so I searched for more information. Later, when I revisited the video on Bilibili, I found that the comment had been deleted,” he said.

‘Deeply shocked’

A high school student who gave his name as Liang said he learned about Twitter and Facebook in October 2021 while browsing Douyin, a Chinese TikTok-style video platform. He got a VPN account and started following a few accounts of nationalistic Chinese officials known as “wolf warriors.”

“I saw someone mentioning the Tiananmen Square massacre in the comments under a tweet by [Foreign Ministry spokesperson] Hua Chunying, so I searched for it on Google and was deeply shocked,” he said.

Several students said instructors put themselves at risk by teaching about the crackdown in class or that they managed to access censored educational materials during their studies.

“In a university elective course many years ago, the teacher secretly played a video [about the massacre] for us with the door closed, without saying a word,” said a student who gave their name as “Y.” “Nowadays it’s impossible that such a thing could happen.”

Another respondent who gave his name as Guan Fu said that while in eighth grade, his modern Chinese history teacher “dedicated a whole class to explain everything about the Tiananmen Square incident.”

“That day, the beliefs that had been instilled in me since childhood collapsed,” he said. “I went back home and asked my elders about it. It turns out they all knew, but in the face of that bloody purge at the time, they chose silence.”

A respondent who identified themselves as “Student A” said a teacher had mentioned that university students in the square had been “suppressed by the government,” and that the reference was enough to make them want to dig further.

‘Tank Man’ image

At an international school in China, teachers sealed off sections of history textbooks deemed politically sensitive before handing them back to the class for studies, said a respondent who gave their name as “Classmate S.”

“Driven by curiosity, my classmates and I cautiously tore open the seals and saw a picture in the content about China – a man blocking a tank,” he said, referring to the iconic image of an unarmed protester standing in the way of a tank on a major boulevard.

The student said that he and his classmates were taken to the principal’s office and made to write self-criticisms.

“I don’t understand why I am being punished for seeking the truth about history,” he said. “Why does our government conceal the facts? I am truly disappointed in my government and deeply disgusted by their hypocrisy.”

Some described personal connections to the crackdown that they said had prompted them to investigate.

Another respondent told RFA that a classmate “told me that his father and grandfather were soldiers and had shot Beijing students.”

“He spoke with great pride,” the student said. “I went home on the weekend and searched the internet by bypassing the Great Firewall.”

A student named Lin said he was watching a film called “The Curse of the Golden Flower” about a failed rebellion against the Chinese empire with his parents in 2006 when he first heard of the incident. 

“During the ending, after Prince Jie’s rebellion fails and the eunuchs and maids in the palace are cleaning the bloodstains from the rebels while arranging chrysanthemums,” he said. “My mom then said, ‘Isn’t this just like 64?’” – a common, cryptic way to refer to June 4. 

“My dad nervously signaled my mom to stop,” he said. “I had never seen such expressions on my parents’ faces, so I went online to find answers.”

Edited by Josh Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

Disgruntled North Koreans are lashing out against police corruption by openly protesting against them and in some cases beating officers, according to a local government official who saw a secret document detailing the cases.

“Not long ago, I came across a secret document containing surprising information. Between July and December of last year, dozens of incidents of people protesting against the tyranny of police, or even extracting revenge by beating them up have occurred here in Ryanggang province,” an administrative official in the northern province told Radio Free Asia on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The document had details on several violent attacks on police officers, he said.

“A resident from Paegam county and his son cornered a police officer on the roadside and he inflicted severe bruises on the officer’s head,” the official said. 

“It was said to be revenge for the officer insulting his wife by treating her like a criminal in her workplace by forcing her to confess that she was responsible for a loss that occurred at her workplace,” he said.

People have come to view the police as bullies, another resident of Ryanggang province told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely. 

“The anger of the residents against the police, who use all kinds of tyranny under the pretext of law enforcement, is increasing,” he said. “When you go to the marketplace, you can often see women protesting or arguing loudly, and pointing fingers at the police who are in charge.”

Sometimes fights will break out at the marketplace between police and merchants, the resident said.

“Nearby people, like women who have come to shop, will take the side of the merchant and they’ll protest against the police together,” he said. “To see a weak woman directly confronting a police officer while he was on duty would have been unimaginable in the past”

Economic collapse

North Korea’s centrally planned economy collapsed in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union, and since then, salaries for government-assigned jobs have become essentially worthless. 

To survive, people have had to take on side jobs, start businesses, or – in the case of police officers – collect bribes.

The already struggling economy took a turn for the worse during the COVID-19 pandemic, and citizens who once tolerated the police making bribery rounds are now fed up, sources tell RFA.

In another incident, in the city of Hyesan, an officer stopped a driver and demanded gasoline and cash when the driver did not have the sufficient documents for driving on hand.

“In anger at the tyranny of the … officer, who detained him and his car for over two hours, the driver ran over the officer’s motorcycle with his car and beat him up until he was knocked out,” the official said. 

In another incident, a woman from Kimjongsuk county visited the house of the police officer who had sentenced her husband to 6 months at a labor training camp. She said her husband had not shown up for work for family reasons but the officer had treated him like an unemployed gangster.

“She protested by ripping off the officer’s sleeves and tearing the epaulet off of [his uniform],” the official said, adding that the frequency of incidents similar to those detailed in the internal document caused the police to submit a report, with relevant data, to the central government, asking for help and guidance.

“Even the social security agents I know are very perplexed,” he said. “They say that unless those who fight against law enforcement officers are punished severely, they won’t know what else could happen to them down the line.” 

Tipping Point

The government has however been taking measures to prevent these types of violent outbursts against police.

Since June 2022, citizens have been required to attend educational sessions on following the law in the workplace and at home, and the country’s leader Kim Jong Un has enacted policies that treat violence against law enforcement as acts against the state that must be punished severely.

But the cases reported in the document show that some citizens are so far past their breaking points that they are willing to disregard the risk they take when they go after the police.  

The sources said that it was likely that people in other parts of the country also feel animosity towards the police and that it is approaching a tipping point.

“Some of my friends insist that if a war breaks out, they will go out and kill the police first,” he said. “The people’s patience seems to be reaching its limit.

Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.

K-pop megagroup BLACKPINK has faced a torrent of online criticism this week after referring to their Macau fans as “Macanese” rather than “Chinese” following its concerts there, spawning a disapproving hashtag from nationalistic social media users.

The South Korean girl band posted a thank-you note to its fans following its gigs in the former Portuguese-administered city on May 20 and 21, which they visited as part of their “Born Pink” global tour.

“We were deeply touched by our Macanese BLINKs this week,” the band posted via its official account on the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo, in a reference to fans of BLACKPINK. “Thank you for all the heartfelt support. We are truly blessed to have you guys.”

“520 forever BLINKs,” the May 23 post said, using a homophonic reference to the words “I Love You” in Chinese.

After going unnoticed for about a week, the post eventually drew the ire of China’s “Little Pinks” – named for their support for the “red” Communist Party – who took issue with the use of the word “Macanese.”

“Macanese? ? ? Can’t you spell ‘Chinese’? We’ll teach you,” commented @Taro_paste_needs_added_sugar_, while @naphthalene_tea added: “If you lack education, get someone more educated to write your Weibo posts.”

“It would be more appropriate and accurate just to say ‘Chinese’,” wrote @Linus’_furball. 

“Quit messing around – Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau all belong to China! The residents in these three places are called Chinese!,” wrote @-Nakakatoka, in a reference to Beijing’s territorial claim on democratic Taiwan.

“This time they’ve gone too far – suspected secession!” complained @bean_paste_bun_bp, with an angry emoji.

One comment told the band: “If you don’t respect China, please get out of China and don’t come here to make money.”

“We support restrictions on Korean [cultural imports],” said another, while another appeared to call for a boycott: “We can live without Korean entertainment, but can Korean entertainment live without its fans?” the user wrote.

Tightening restrictions

By May 29, the band had edited the post to read “Macau fans,” prompting the commenters to reference a nationalistic song released to mark the 1999 handover of Macau to Chinese rule.

Comments on Weibo quoted a lyric from singer Winnie Rong in honor of the 1999 handover of Macau to Chinese rule: “You should know that Macau isn’t my true name,” the song says, adding that the city’s mother is China.

Users shared the lyrics and music for the song under the hashtag #BLACKPINK_official_Weibo_edits_post on Monday and Tuesday.

The furor over Macau’s status came as a major pro-democracy party in the city disbanded in the wake of tighter restrictions on public dissent in the city under Chinese rule.

The New Democratic Macau Association dissolved in the wake of changes to the city’s national security law that make it far more risky to continue with open political opposition in Macau, former opposition lawmaker Au Kam-san told Radio Free Asia. 

“In the current political climate, there could be further suppression of some former members, even those who are no longer active,” Au said. “Certain former leaders who once commanded public support could have been targeted if it had continued in existence.”

He said the changes to the national security law means that just being a pro-democracy figure is now a risky business.

“Even striving for democracy could be regarded as trying to overthrow the current political system,” Au said.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.