Beijing government’s decision to censor the praises showered on the deceased former premier Li Keqiang showcases the insecurity and intolerance being shown by the Xi Jinping-led government toward criticism. While some Chinese citizens did take an explicit dig at Xi implicitly while praising Li, the development restated the fact that censorship of all forms of media continued to remain at its peak during Xi’s rule.
It is almost impossible to criticise the China Communist Party (CCP) leaders, especially Xi, as such attempts generally lead to imprisonment or enforced disappearance. This has led Chinese citizens to devise ways to circumvent the censors and use innuendos and related cartoon characters on social media to express their opinions or displeasure.[1]
Li once was a contender for the top post in China after Hu Jintao resigned in 2013. However, he was passed over in favour of Xi. The reformist and consensus-minded Li was stripped of his powers as Xi continued to consolidate all powers in his hands. Now, praises and compliments have been pouring in for Li who died of a sudden heart attack.
Many in China, who sympathised with Li, took the opportunity to criticise Xi, albeit, with allusive references. Yaqui Wang, researcher at Washington DC-based Freedom House, said “It is not only to show sympathy for a leader who had tried but failed to make China better, but also to express discontent with Xi and a sense of despair about China’s future.”[2] Some users shared the song “Too Bad It Wasn’t You” implying their wish that Xi should have died and not Li.[3]
Chinese agencies perceived almost every post about Li as a criticism of Xi, leading them to expurgate messages glorifying Li and his achievements. Chinese agencies issued a warning about “overly effusive comments” to Li saying the “exaggerated praise on the surface in what is actually an act of criticism.”[4]
Research by the think tank Freedom House found that China is the world’s worst abuser of internet freedom for the seventh consecutive year. “Conditions for internet users in China remained profoundly oppressive,” it said. “Criticism or questioning the authority of Xi Jinping remains a particularly dangerous online activity.”
About 30,000 comments praising Li were posted on the social media app Weibo in just one day. However, just 13 of them were visible thanks to the scrubbed censorship.[5] Charlie Smith, co-founder of GreatFire, which monitors Chinese censorship online, said “Authorities are tightly controlling the messaging around the death of Li”.
Similar censors were used by the Xi government when former President Jiang Zemin died in 2022. Some of the praises called him “The man who changed China” or “the best era; an era full of hope.” One social media user had taken a veiled dig at Xi saying “There are good grandpas who open up to the outside world, and bad grandpas who close the country. Everyone misses him so much, will a certain ‘grandpa’ be jealous?”
China even banned ‘Winnie the Pooh’ film in 2018 as people used the fictional teddy bear character to mock Xi on social media.[6] The internet censorship peaked when the Xi government tried to scuttle criticism of the move to abolish presidential term limits. It had angered Chinese citizens. One Weibo user later complained “I’ve posted this before but it was censored within 13 minutes.”[7] Another said “Argh, we’re going to become North Korea.”[8]
In 2022, an unidentified person hanged two banners on a busy overpass in Beijing—one of which read “remove dictator and traitor Xi Jinping”.[9] Chinese agencies swung into action and the photos of the banners were withdrawn from the internet in no time. Words like ‘banner’, ‘warrior’ are blocked from searches on social media platforms.[10]
It is said Xi finds the criticism on the internet detrimental to the credibility and stability of the CCP. Amnesty International said the Xi government has intensified its efforts to prevent criticism or discussion of sensitive issues on social media. “Online censorship grew more pervasive and sophisticated as a tool to stifle criticism of the government, intensifying around high-profile events and anniversaries,” it said.[11]
[1] https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/media-censorship-china
[2] https://twitter.com/Yaqiu/status/1718596385241694667
[3] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/31/chinas-censors-warn-against-effusive-comments-while-mourning-li-keqiang
[4] https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2023/10/minitrue-beware-of-overly-effusive-comments-on-late-premier-li-keqiang/
[5] https://www.rfi.fr/en/international-news/20231102-flags-at-half-mast-as-china-mourns-late-premier
[6] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/07/china-bans-winnie-the-pooh-film-to-stop-comparisons-to-president-xi
[7] https://www.businessinsider.com/china-censors-social-media-about-xi-jinping-term-limits-2018-2?r=US&IR=T
[8] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-politics/china-launches-propaganda-push-for-xi-after-social-media-criticism-idUSKCN1GA040
[9] https://www.ft.com/content/caa6e91f-1289-443e-a47d-285aa8ab675f
[10] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/14/world/asia/china-internet-protest-xi-jinping.html
[11] https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/east-asia/china/report-china/
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