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25 Jul, 5 tweets, 2 min read
There’s been an orchestrated campaign against the foreign media in #Zhengzhou, fuelled by the Communist Youth League. So the strategy to try to make it a patriotic duty to harass those doing real reporting to distract from criticism of bad infrastructure not coping with flooding?
The Communist Party is very good at manufacturing “outrage” in #China and social media is used because then it can all be chalked up to the supposedly spontaneous response of “netizens” whoever the hell they are.
Kind of amazing how the “netizens” who are blocked from seeing the BBC because their government doesn’t trust them suddenly have access to the BBC when it’s time for them to “express their anger”.
Then there are all the threats of physical violence as part of this campaign.
A thread from Mathias who was on the ground in #Henan being harassed, threatened and pushed around as part of this campaign...

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More from @StephenMcDonell

Stephen McDonell Profile picture
26 Jul
#China v #USA a great game of water polo on today at the Olympics. They’re going goal for goal. ImageImage
6-6 at half time. Great match!
Still 6 all in the third quarter!
Read 4 tweets
Stephen McDonell Profile picture
25 Jul
There have been threats of violence and personal family-targeted abuse send to the private phones of those working in the foreign media as part of this clearly-orchestrated campaign of harassment, especially focusing on the BBC. This followed reporting on the #Henan floods.
You have to ask why organs of the Communist Party are doing this given that the reporting I’ve seen would appear to engender sympathy for the people of #Henan. What it would it would seem to show is that there’s something to hide or something to distract from there? #China
Should read: There have been threats of violence + personal family-targeted abuse sent to the private phones of those working in the foreign media as part of a clearly-orchestrated campaign of harassment, especially focusing on the BBC. This followed reporting on #Henan’s floods.
Read 12 tweets
Stephen McDonell Profile picture
23 Jul
It seems remarkable that a leader of #China has not visited the Tibetan Autonomous Region since Jiang Zemin in 1990. As an indication of how sensitive Xi Jinping's visit has been, state media didn't even report his arrival on Wednesday until today!
In highly-orchestrated scenes, Xi Jinping has been welcomed by ethnic Tibetans in traditional dress. #China Image
Chinese and Indian soldiers have been involved in deadly clashes in the Tibetan border region in recent years. As an indication of the area’s strategic importance, Xi Jinping was accompanied by senior PLA General Zhang Youxia. #China #Tibet Image
Read 6 tweets
Stephen McDonell Profile picture
13 Jul
Heartbreaking story in #China today: the 26-year old teacher’s tearful re-union with the parents who’ve been looking for him since he was 2 years old. His father never gave up the search, famously riding a motorbike from town to town with banners carrying his son’s photo.
Twenty four years ago, the two year old was taken from the doorway directly in front of his family’s home. The police say they finally found him with a DNA match + that two suspects (a man and a woman) have been arrested for allegedly abducting the child and selling him in 1997.
Guo Gangtang’s relentless, decades-long search for his son on the back of a motorbike led to a film adaption of his story. He used the subsequent fame to help the parents of other missing children in #China but couldn’t find his own boy... until now.
Read 10 tweets
Stephen McDonell Profile picture
12 Jul
Rain clouds over #Beijing today. #China Image
And check out that forecast for the coming week... Image
#Beijing sky scrapers through the rain clouds. Now. #China Image
Read 4 tweets
Stephen McDonell Profile picture
23 May
A regular journalist experience in #China: I went to #Suzhou this weekend to play footy. After checking into a hotel my journalist visa obviously triggered the ‘warning journalist’ buzzer inside Big Brother’ HQ. The hotel staff then asked me: “Why are you here”? [cont]
“Err to play football”, I say. Later another call, this time the hotel manager. She says she’s checking again for the police why I’m in the city. “To play football,” I say again. What about the other foreigners staying in the hotel? Again I answer: “Football”. [cont]
Then another call. This time it’s the Exit-Entry police. “Why are you in #Suzhou”? A: “To play football”. Q: “Not to conduct interviews”? A: “No”. Police then say: “Because if you were here to conduct interviews you would have to first register with us”. [cont]
Read 11 tweets

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