As China targets Jack Ma’s Media Empire, President Rabbit thrives

Photographer: Qilai Shen / Bloomberg

Even as China moves to remove media from Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., authorities are allowing several patriotic newcomers to flourish in one of the world’s most restrictive media outlets.

One of the main voices is Chairman Rabbit – the social media name for the famous Ren Yi, educated at Harvard University, whose popularity comes partly from Chinese citizens tired of what they consider to be constant China based in Western media. Former assistant to the famous Sinologist Ezra Vogel, President Rabbit built a tracking over two million fans on the social platforms Weibo and WeChat.

The media must have “social responsibility” and think about public sentiment, Ren said in a telephone interview. He added that China is still trying to find a balance between allowing different points of view, while ensuring that the public does not lose confidence in political institutions.

Ren’s success shows us where the line of speech allowed under President Xi Jinping lies, which has further restricted space for dissident and critical voices since taking power in 2012. Beyond the start of foreign journalists even now pressuring Ma to sell properties such as the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, China also frequently moves to cancel new media platforms that are not under its control.

Authorities quickly blocked the clubhouse last month after it emerged as a place for Internet users, including those in China, to gather to discuss the treatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang and Taiwan’s independence – topics considered too sensitive for open discussion on the Chinese Internet. At the same time, social media users and bloggers were forced to obtain a license to post about current events, making it virtually impossible for anyone outside the Chinese censorship system to operate.

But some who accept the restrictions find large audiences among Chinese citizens who are skeptical of both Western narratives and state-run voices, such as People’s Daily or China Central Television. Ren’s writing took off during the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, when he won over well-educated readers who were not fully convinced by the reports presented by the Chinese mass media.

Ren said the protesters were driven by identity politics and would never support the mainland authorities, regardless of the economic incentives offered. He compared young people in Hong Kong who wore black T-shirts to the Ku Klux Klan, while saying that the leaders of the financial center were infiltrated by the “deep state” and should be examined for their political views – a notion that Xi has implemented. -a this year with rules that only “patriots ”can govern the city.

China’s need for a positive narrative beyond official sources – including aggressive diplomats called “Wolf Warriors ”in the West – was made all the more obvious by critics for the way it treated the Covid-19 pandemic. In the past year, Beijing has been increasingly defensive in the face of widespread criticism of the way it treats most of the ethnic Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang and the advocates of democracy in Hong Kong.

“They will demonize you”

Xi has long called on Chinese media workers and academics to do a better job of “telling China’s stories to the world.” Some were sent to study with Zhang Weiwei from the Chunqiu Institute at Fudan University, according to two people who attended the sessions. Zhang, a staunch advocate for how China’s governance model is superior to Western democracies, is considered to be among Xi’s favorite scholars, according to one man.

Chinese scientists are also trying to find ways to explain China in a way that is easily understood by the West. Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University and a former Chinese diplomat, said the decoupling is the result of the US not being able to cancel or assimilate China.

“The United States has a very religious way of thinking – they want to bring you into their sphere,” said Wang, who is working on a book he says is China’s counter-argument to Max Weber’s “Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism.” “And if they can’t, they’ll demonize you and try to destroy you.”

Wang Zichen was so dismayed by the way Western journalists covered China that he decided to publish his own newsletter. Almost a year later, “Pekingnology ”quickly garnered about 1,600 subscribers – including Beijing diplomats, journalists and investors – with deep dives into everything from who it really owns. Huawei Technologies Co. to the more obscure elements of Chinese politics, such as the “Spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session.”

“It shows the story of a Chinese story from a Chinese perspective, deeply rooted in Chinese practice, has great value and can be appreciated by the West,” said Wang Zichen.

Like President Rabbit, Wang Zichen presents himself as an independent voice, even though he works every day as a reporter for the state media. Xinhua News Agency. He said his bosses had given a tacit gesture of approval to continue their project, but insisted he was acting alone. “It’s a men’s store,” he said. “There is no outside help, intervention or guidance.”

Wang Zichen sees Bill Bishop as a prominent observer of China as a source of inspiration, especially to show that China’s expertise can be financially profitable. Pekingnology is published on the Substack platform, in which Bishop is an investor. Wang Zichen also admires Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Communist Party-backed Global Times, for being one of the first to defend China on Twitter.

“I love my country deeply,” said Wang Zichen. “I think having people understand more about China in its original, intentional sense – that’s the goal of people in my profession.”

– With the assistance of Colum Murphy, Jing Li and Lucille Liu