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More from @rachel_cheung1

Rachel Cheung

@rachel_cheung1

Feb 26

In my latest for @thewirechina:
For years, Sixth Tone succeeded in carving out a precarious, but unique space in China’s media ecosystem. But conversations with 15 former and current employees reveal how the publication has been neutered over the past year.

Founded in 2016, Sixth Tone had long fought a battle on two fronts: foreign readers greeted it with skepticism due to its state affiliation, while nationalists in the country attacked its content for liberal leanings.

But for many, both inside and outside of China, it offered something invaluable amid growing constraints: a rare space for on-the-ground perspectives in China.

Read 13 tweets

Rachel Cheung

@rachel_cheung1

Apr 3, 2023

For years, Program Think #編程隨想, an anonymous blogger pushed back against CCP's rule one post at a time. Some compared him to the mysterious vigilante in V for Vendetta. Others called him “the tank man of the digital age,” a lone figure facing down China’s security apparatus.

He achieved legendary status among Chinese bloggers for his persistence. Most remarkably, unlike most critics, he wrote from within China, where he took care to hide his digital footprint and eluded authorities for over a decade.

Among his ~700 posts was a guide on how to bypass China's firewall. But when readers, concerned for his safety, urged him to 人肉翻牆/leave the country. He cited a line from V for Vendetta: “If all those who dare to resist run away, they would win.”

Read 8 tweets

Rachel Cheung

@rachel_cheung1

Nov 28, 2022

I spoke to four young Chinese residents, who joined various protests in #Shanghai, Zhuhai and Chengdu over the weekend. Few are under the illusion the protests would lead to meaningful changes, but here's their experience and what they have to say: vice.com/en/article/qjk…

One said most just want to resume a normal life, but she yearns for much more: freedom of speech, an end to the crackdown on Xinjiang, release of activists, feminists, lawyers who have been arrested in recent years. “But just having a normal life feels like a distant hope.”

“I want to stand with those who are courageous and do what I can to help them,” said another protester in Shanghai, who narrowly avoided escape on the first night and returned to the same site the next day to find even more people gathered.

Read 6 tweets

Rachel Cheung

@rachel_cheung1

Aug 18, 2022

The Chinese city of Xiamen is conducting COVID tests on fresh fish. After photos and videos of health workers swabbing fish sparked ridicule online, the local outlet that covered its enforcement blurred the report on its ePaper.

It now looks like this online, LOL.

The official notice announcing the measure blamed the import of coronavirus on “illegal trade” with foreign boats, which caused “great danger to society.” It encouraged people to report violations to authorities and offered up to half a million yuan.
vice.com/en/article/wxn…

Read 5 tweets

Rachel Cheung

@rachel_cheung1

Jun 8, 2022

@mbachelet

In a public letter published tdy, 37 leading scholars of China’s policies in Xinjiang said they're “deeply disturbed” by @mbachelet's statement, which “ignored and even contradicted” academic findings provided to her office. See our story and full letter:
vice.com/en/article/pkg…

“High Commissioner Bachelet’s words echo the Chinese state’s claim that their atrocities in Xinjiang are all are part of a ‘counter-terrorism’ effort, a claim that our research and the Chinese state’s own documents show to be false,” they wrote.

The signatories include two scholars who were consulted by Bachelet’s office prior to her trip. But their findings were not reflected in Bachelet’s remarks in a press conference in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou when she concluded her official visit on May 28.

Read 6 tweets

Rachel Cheung

@rachel_cheung1

Jun 4, 2022

Heavy police presence in Causeway Bay on #June4, the anniversary of #TiananmenSquareMassacre. A man near Victoria Park has been surrounded by police officers for 25 mins. They have meticulously gone through everything in his bag, including every card pocket of his wallet.

Chan in his sixties was told by police that he could be deemed as part of unauthorised assembly because of a plastic candlelight, which he has used for years. In return, he advised them to quit their jobs.