News Analysis
Following a high-profile tour of state media headquarters by Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping in February, Party censors have been unusually aggressive. A property mogul’s popular microblog was erased from the Internet; a respected Chinese financial publication took the rare step of calling out the censors not once, but twice (incurring, of course, more censorship); and a Chinese journalist vanished on his way to Hong Kong. The journalist’s arrest is believed to be linked with an odd open letter calling for Xi to resign.
The fusillade of censorship has been taken as a widespread indication that Xi Jinping, who rose to his position in 2012 amid a power struggle that has never really concluded, is in full control of the Party’s propaganda apparatus and is now on a mission to thoroughly stamp out free speech.
A more complex picture emerges, however, when examining the persistence of elite power struggles over the last few years, the personal loyalties of those in charge of propaganda, and the history of attempts by incumbent communist leaders to truly gain control over the pen—which, along with the gun, has always been one of the key planks of Party control.
Censorship and Resistance
Ren Zhiqiang has for years been known as the Donald Trump of China for his blunt, sometimes acerbic remarks about the downsides of Party rule. With followers numbering 38 million, his account on Sina Weibo, the popular Chinese Twitter-like microblog, offered a powerful platform to express his views. The account was purged at the end of February.
Chinese censors said they deleted Ren’s account due to the “vile impact” it had; in response to Xi’s tour of state media, for instance, Ren wrote: “When did the people’s government change into the Party’s government?”
