1 month ago
8
The news of the recent suspension indicated that the Chinese administration wants to keep whatever is discussed at the meeting ‘a secret’ read more
 "Report")
Representational image. Pixabay
The former editor-in-chief of China’s state-backed Global Times, Hu Xijin was banned from posting on any social media platform after he wrote a controversial comment about the country’s economy. A person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the journalist’s social media accounts including the microblogging site Weibo where he has nearly 25 million followers — have been suspended.
However, the source did not clarify the length of the ban. The last post-Hu made on Weibo was on Saturday. The blackout was triggered by Hu’s assessment of the twice-a-decade conclave President Xi Jinping presided over last month. Hu signalled that the meeting marked a “historic” shift in putting public and private enterprises on an equal footing.
The news of the recent suspension indicated that the Chinese administration wants to keep whatever is discussed at the meeting “a secret”.
China’s age-old tactic limiting public debate
It is pertinent to note that China’s ruling Communist Party has shrunk the space for economic debate in the public sphere as policymakers continue to grapple with lacklustre economic growth.
Last month, it was reported that Beijing officials have also pressed analysts to avoid writing about sensitive terms such as “deflation,” while official data deemed unflattering to the outlook has increasingly been withheld.
“Silencing someone with a three-decade career in state media and who is still an insider to China’s propaganda priorities sends a stark message,” Wen-Ti Sung, a political scientist with the Australian National University’s Taiwan Studies Program told Bloomberg.
“That even Hu can run afoul of the red lines goes to show how hard it is to know where the red line is for anyone engaging in public political discourse in China today,” he added.
When approached by Sing Tao newspaper, Hu did not reject the reports that he was suspended from posting anything online. “I personally don’t want to say anything. You can just read what’s online. Please understand,” he told the Hong Kong-based outlet this week.
What was the controversial post about?
Days after China’s top leaders wrapped the Third Plenum on long-term reforms, Hu pointed out that the meeting’s resolution had skipped an important slogan pledging to keep “public ownership as the mainstay” of the economy.
The phrase was featured in the meeting readout of 2013 and has reverberated through important Communist Party documents since. “The changes are undoubtedly historic,” Hu wrote in the now-deleted post on Weibo on July 22. “Non-public ownership and public ownership have become truly equal in their status.”
The comments, however, sparked an immediate backlash as some users accused him of misleading the public. The erstwhile journalist retired from Global Times in late 2021 but has remained active on social media platforms as an opinion influencer.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
English (US) ·