The Stories We Are Afraid to Tell

The Debater with a “Crooked Butt”(屁股歪)

On March 15th, Chinese celebrity Qiu Chen was executed by the guillotine of public opinion. Qiu was a regular guest on the widely popular talk show Qi Pa Shuo (奇葩说); she is also a national debate champion, a vocal LGBTQ rights supporter and a former journalist.

Qiu Chen debating on the show Qi Pa Shuo.

For those of you who don’t follow China’s internet entertainment that much, here’s a little background:

Co-produced by Iqiyi and Mewei Meida, Qi Pa Shuo debuted online in 2014. In the six subsequent years, it has aired six seasons, all along standing as one of the most popular online variety shows among young Chinese audiences, especially those aged under 25. The show’s positive reception could largely be attributed to two reasons: 1) Unlike most Chinese variety shows that popped up in recent years that copy or adapt foreign productions, Qi Pa Shuo is a completely original and local creation. Borrowing the format of college debate competition, the show features “odd souls” of all sorts of background and identities, many considered minority in the Chinese society, to compete for the title of Talk King (Qiu won this title in season two). 2) Again, unlike most Chinese variety shows, Qi Pa Shuo has always made an effort to foster meaningful conversations regarding social and culture issues that are highly relevant to China’s young generation yet are often considered “too sensitive” by today’s censorship standards. The show doesn’t just aim to make people laugh; it makes people think, and to think differently by listening to the other side of the argument.

Poster of Qi Pa Shuo. 

Not everything on Qi Pa Shuo is to our tastes, but personally we have always cherished the existence of such a show in today’s China. In a time that free thinking is no longer encouraged in public entertainment, Qi Pa Shuo and its featured guests, the group of “odd souls”, has done a tremendous job in opening up the public’s mind through critical debates. For that we think the production team deserves a thumbs-up.

Then it flipped. In the public’s mind, Qi Pa Shuo turned from a praise-worthy production to a trashy, evil, capitalistic (yes, “capitalistic” now has a negative connotation in the Chinese Internet’s language environment) scheme that is filled with “traitors”, all because of what Qiu said.

So what did she say?

From 2012 to 2014, during Qiu’s career as a reporter for a Hong Kong newspaper, she was relatively active on Facebook. When the Yellow Umbrella Movement broke, she spoke out a few times in support of the protestors and questioning the CCP’s policies regarding issues such as reforming Hong Kong primary schools’ textbooks. She was certainly vocal, and perhaps she sometimes even let her ego did the thinking; the many comments and conversations she posted on her own Facebook page was never deleted, and now, six years later, they all became evidence of crimes in the mind of Chinese netizens.

Since March 15th, Weibo has been dominated by posts railing against Qiu Chen. Fierce Little Pinkies, or more accurately, the Internet Red Guards, dug up every word, photo, and video on her social media profile, and used them as sources for endless Big Character Posters (大字报). “Hong Kong Independence Supporter” (港独分子), Sovereignty divider, foreigner’s minion, traitor, liar…, sinful titles for Qiu flooded the Chinese internet. With the most horrible words spewed, Qiu was trashed, piece by piece, straight onto the floor, as the lowest, most disgusting kind of human being in the Red Guards’ eyes: the kind that supports national division, the kind that is brainwashed by Western values, the kind that profits from mainland Chinese people while betraying her own country.

Some of the "evidences"of Qiu Chen's speech crime gathered by netizens.

On March 16th, the national newspaper People’s Daily posted a commentary titled “Chicanery Doesn’t Work on Matters of National Justice” (国家大义容不得巧舌如簧) to directly condemn Qiu. The same evening, Qiu wrote on Weibo to apologize and stated that she will permanently withdraw from all public activities. Since then, Qiu, the once hugely adored public figure, a popular debater and a social advocator, completely disappeared. As we checked today, her own Weibo page is no longer accessible due to “public report of illegal conducts”.

People's Daily official commentary to convict Qiu.

After Qiu's incident, people began to "dig the grave" (挖坟, collecting a person's social media information) of other famous contestants on Qi Pa Shuo, questioning their loyalty to the country. 

Qiu vanished like a snowflake in the summer from the public view, but in the eyes of Chinese netizens, her sins are tattooed deeply on her skins, flowing with the blood in her vessels. She doesn’t deserve forgiveness they say; she shall be punished to death, her crimes should be tied around her neck and sink her to hell.

She might never be able to come back.

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The Writer who “Betrayed her Country” （卖国贼）

On January 25, just two days after Wuhan’s lockdown, Chinese award-wining writer Fang Fang began to publish an online diary to chronicle the everyday quarantine life in her home city. Simply titled “Diary under Lockdown”, Fang Fang’s series became a vital reading for tens of millions of Chinese readers during the most difficult time of the pandemic. The diary kept going for two months, eventually ending on March 25^th.

Writer Fang Fang.

To be frank, we haven’t read through every single post of Fang Fang’s diary. Amid all the tragic stories happening at the epicenter, Fang’s personal recording seemed plain-spoken and ordinary, sometimes caught up too deeply in the trivial aspects of life. But her writing’s honest and spontaneous nature is certainly beyond valuable; her words provide a window into the suffering in Wuhan for the outsiders, and keep an important, raw record of the humanity and complexity of the 2-month lockdown from a local witness’s perspective.

By the beginning of March, public opinion on Fang Fang’s diary gradually shifted as COVID-19 escalated into a global crisis and the relationship between China and the world worsened. Chinese media’s one-sided report of situations around the world, such as that westerners did not wear protective masks and were hoarding groceries in panic became the kind of stories that stimulated domestic patriotism and pride. When the general atmosphere online was to call other countries to “copy China’s homework (抄作业, to learn from China)”, Fang Fang’s relentless voice on demanding the truth and accountability for the initial breakout becomes jarring. More and more netizens accused Fang of being ungrateful to the Chinese government’s effort, that her writing only reflects the misery of the people of Wuhan yet lacks the affirmation of the collaborative achievement of the nation, which is evidently the greatest nation in the world at this stage as her accusers believe.

Posters in crusade against Fang Fang. 

In early April, just a few days after Fang Fang published the last entry of her diary, some people discovered a preorder link for the English version of her diary on Amazon. According to public information, the book, titled Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from the epicenter (the title has now been changed to ‘Dispatches from a Quarantined City’ due to public pressure), was to be released in late June by Harper Collins in both English and German. The news soon drew bitter condemnation from zealous nationalist netizens who started to accuse her as a disgraceful traitor. In their eyes, the overseas publication is a calculated effort to undermine the image of Wuhan and, more importantly, to malign the Chinese government’s heroic effort in managing the pandemic.

Netizens questioned how the English publication process could be done so quickly, some even constructed conspiracy theory that the diary was a pre-paid request by foreign publisher in the first place as part of the scheme to overthrow the Chinese government. In the public’s view, Fang Fang, holding a position in the National Writers Association hence a member of the system (体制内), is “handing a knife to those foreign media who wish to stigmatize us.”

A typical comment of Fang, calling her a traitor and, well, many other ugly words of the same meaning.

To publish a book in China is a painfully complicated process. Not only do you need to collaborate with a state-owned publisher in order to be qualified to apply for an ISBN (which is issued with limited number every year), you also must go through the excruciating journey of censorship. Every single word of the work, from title to the flyleaf would be scrutinized. To successfully publish a book in China would normally take 6 months at least. Having worked with the publishing industry ourselves, we could somewhat relate to Fang’s decision; if there is an option to keep the original words that truly reflect your feelings and observations, wouldn’t you choose to?

But our views were in the minority. Many Chinese authors who have personally dealt with publishing restrictions in China criticized Fang for publishing her work in English first, “it is simply indecent.” In their collectivistic state of mind, when China is facing intense accusations from the whole world for causing the pandemic, the Chinese must unite together under one voice that’s filled with confidence and self-pride. Fang Fang as a local citizen of Wuhan might has the right to demand accountability from the authority, but she should never let these questioning be heard by foreigners. Like the Old Chinese saying, “Ugly affairs shall be kept only within the family(家丑不可外扬)”.

A young rapper's diss track against Fang went trending on Weibo for days.

The translator of the diary, a reputable academic of Chinese literature Michael Berry was also being attacked by furious patriots.

As for today, Fang Fang had openly discussed this issue several times both on her Weibo and in interviews, explaining that she meant no malignity and is going to donate all of her copyright royalty to charities. Unfortunately, there’s no sign of netizens’ verbal abuses to end just yet. “Grandma Fang is already a member in the hall of shame, we the Chinese must never forgive her”, they say.

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The Online Influencer Who “Licked Foreigner’s Ass” (慕洋)

On March 12^th, lifestyle vlogger Zhuzi (Weibo ID: 你好_竹子) wrote an emotional diary on Weibo recording her interaction with her in-laws in the UK and expressing her sympathy towards the pandemic’s situation in Europe. “Witnessing everything happening in Europe personally,” She wrote, “I can’t help but to say sorry from my heart for countless times.” The post received a massive rebuke by netizens, criticizing Zhuzi’s apologetic attitude toward foreigners, and for the fact that she did not correct her British nephew-in-law who believed the virus originated from China.

Vlogger Zhuzi.

Zhuzi's now-deleted post documenting her visit to her husband's family in London.

In the post’s comment section, Zhuzi replied to a netizen who argued that the virus did not originate from China by suggesting: “shall we talk about this where there is evidence?” Such expression quickly inflamed further condemnation as people began to use nasty words for personal attacks, calling her a “foreigner’s ass-licker” and a “Westerner’s watchdog”. A few hours later, Zhuzi quietly deleted her original post and disappeared from social media for a month.

Before this incident, Zhuzi was one of the most popular vloggers on Chinese social media with 4 million fans, famously known for her international background and cheerful personality. Last year, she married her British husband and moved back to Beijing from London. The couple stayed in China during the height of the pandemic and made the decision to fly back to London when her husband’s sister gave birth. As a digital influencer, Zhuzi shared all of these details of her personal lives with her fans, and no one was criticizing her until she spoke about the sensitive, untouchable topic: the origin of COIVD-19.

We all know more or less about this ridiculous, childish buck-passing between China and the U.S now: as early as January, the conspiracy theory that U.S Military Games delegates intentionally spread COVID-19 in Wuhan was already lurking on Chinese social media. In mid-March, Zhao Lijian, the now world-famous spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted a link alleging the US was responsible for the virus. Then there was President Trump’s “Chinese Virus” counterattack, then more war of words from Beijing, followed by more blame game from Washington…all while the world’s population struggled to contain a pandemic so disruptive and tragic to human lives.

While China’s Foreign Affair folks were busy firing attacks on Twitter, domestically, national media has been working hard to construct a public narrative to shift China’s responsibility in the global outbreak. The issue of the virus’s origin – a serious matter that should be determined by strict scientific research – has now turned into an aggressive propaganda campaign for nationalistic sentiments. Today, there is no longer space left for rational, science-based discussions; to argue that the virus did originate from China on Chinese social media is almost a verbal treason, a crime that Zhuzi unfortunately committed despite her simple personal intention at the first place.

Two days ago, we discovered that Zhuzi finally spoke on social media again with an apology letter: “I shouldn’t have deduced the origin of the virus under the circumstance where I lack the relevant knowledge, and I am willing to accept criticisms after a long time of profound self-reflection…but I wouldn’t accept the accusation of me as being unpatriotic; having lived overseas for years, I’ve always been a proud Chinese who love my country and my culture.”

Zhuzi's comeback note after a month of silence.

Under the post, her loyal followers welcomed her back and accepted her apology (as if she had truly made a mistake), but netizens’ angry assaults continued to spread on other social media platforms. In a Douban thread discussing Zhuzi’s comeback, some of the most-liked comments wrote: “I’m not going to forgive her. She’s just saying that for the sake of making money.” “Get out of China, you foreigners’ ass-licking bitch.”

Verbal attack on Zhuzi continues until this day.