This text by Dan Chen and Gengsong Gao is republished right here with permission from The Dialog. This content material is shared right here as a result of the subject might curiosity Snopes readers; it doesn’t, nonetheless, characterize the work of Snopes fact-checkers or editors.
The Chinese language authorities has a brand new ally relating to pushing its official line on Taiwan: celebrities.
Rigidity over the standing of the island, which is claimed by Beijing as a part of its “One China” principle, have been exacerbated by a sequence of latest incidents, together with a high-profile go to to the island by U.S. Home speaker Nancy Pelosi and comments by President Joe Biden suggesting the U.S. could be ready to defend Taiwan “militarily.”
It has led to an angry response from officials in Beijing, who’ve accused the U.S. of violating its long-standing dedication to abide by its One China coverage. However it has additionally seen a renewed propaganda push geared toward getting the message of unification to the Chinese language and Taiwanese public.
As experts in Chinese cultural politics, we have now famous how the extremely contentious sequence of occasions not solely reshaped the regional dynamics round Taiwan but additionally permeated into standard tradition in China – with celebrities being utilized to flow into One China messaging to followers and social media followers.
It types a part of a wider pattern that we have now researched and types the idea of a forthcoming article revealed in China Quarterly on Chinese language celebrities’ political signaling. By our evaluation, 85% of the highest 218 celebrities in China reposted official authorities messages on their social media account not less than as soon as over a six-month interval we noticed within the second half of 2021.
The Energy of Weibo
This phenomena has continued into 2022 and was seen throughout and after the Pelosi go to. On Aug. 2, the day that the House speaker landed in Taiwan, the state media outlet China Central Tv, or CCTV, sent out a post on Weibo, a Chinese language-owned Twitter-like social media platform, with the message “there is just one China within the World.”
Inside hours, Chinese language celebrities began to repost this message to their in depth networks of followers. These doing so included Xie Na, a 41-year-old standard TV host and actress with 128 million followers on Weibo, and Jackson Yee, a 22-year-old singer, dancer and actor ranked the No.1 superstar in Forbes’ 2021 Chinese Celebrity List. Likewise, Taiwan celebrities comparable to Chen Qiaoen and Wu Qilong additionally retweeted this message, although a few day later.
Taiwan celebrities who reposted the message have been lauded by Chinese language media and followers for taking a transparent political stance. An article in the Chinese tabloid Global Times quoted an internet fan’s reward for Taiwan celebrities who reposted the One China message: “Effectively executed! Daring to point out help at this second should be honest.”
One superstar information outlet went as far to submit an article that listed more than 20 Taiwan celebrities who reposted “One China” and praised them for “fulfilling the duty to voice political help.”
The article additionally listed 11 Taiwan celebrities who didn’t retweet the One China message, suggesting that followers will choose them accordingly.
Certainly, celebrities who didn’t repost the message have been referred to as out for his or her silence, with followers demanding that they present help for the federal government. Hebe Tien, a widely known Taiwan singer with 13 million followers on Weibo, was amongst these focused by indignant Chinese language followers and media for not reposting the One China message.
Posts Get Political
Chinese language celebrities haven’t all the time been so politically energetic on social media relating to points like Taiwan.
Actors, singers and TV personalities use Weibo, which got here into existence in 2009 and has close to 600 million active monthly users, to share snippets about their private lives, promote work, endorse industrial merchandise and join with followers. However till the mid-2010s, they not often engaged in politics.
However for the reason that start of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s second term in 2017, increasingly more celebrities have used their accounts to repost official state messages.
That is very true on necessary political anniversaries, such because the founding of the Chinese language Communist Occasion and the Folks’s Republic of China. As an example, on July 1, 2021, Yang Mi, an actress with 112 million followers on Weibo, reposted CCTV’s citation from Xi marking the centennial of the founding of the Chinese language Communist Occasion: “When a individuals have beliefs, their nation can have power, and their nation can have a brilliant future.”
These superstar reposts usually obtain a whole lot of 1000’s of person engagements, together with reposts, feedback and likes.
This successfully promotes official messages to an exponentially bigger social media community. CCTV’s Weibo account, which despatched out the One China message to coincide with Pelosi’s go to, has 130 million followers. Xie Na, a number one pro-Beijing superstar, alone has 128 million followers – and she or he is one in every of many who reposted the message.
As we argue in our forthcoming article “Chinese language Celebrities’ Political Signaling on Weibo,” Chinese language celebrities began to repost official messages when it turned necessary for his or her profession prospects to take action.
Because the leisure business rapidly grew in the 2000s, the Chinese language authorities started to develop explicit policies to manage and management celebrities, their cultural merchandise, media platforms, fan teams {and professional} associations.
Calling Out ‘Tainted Artists’
In 2014, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television issued a notice to require all broadcasting platforms to dam “tainted artists” – celebrities who have interaction in unlawful conduct or actions deemed by the federal government to be problematic, comparable to drug use, prostitution, tax evasion, extramarital affairs and political incorrectness. This final class consists of supporting Hong Kong or Taiwan independence.
Since then, the phrase “tainted artists” has entered public discourse and is utilized by individuals on-line to criticize celebrities.
Below tightening political management, Chinese language celebrities have fostered what students Jian Xu and Ling Yang have described as “a neoliberal subjectivity with Chinese characteristics.” In different phrases, Chinese language celebrities see pleasing the state as an efficient option to attain a market.
Celebrities endorsed by the state are provided uncommon alternatives to carry out on state tv, star in state-sponsored films and TV dramas, serve ambassadorial roles for government agencies and attend important national conferences.
As such, celebrities have robust incentives to fulfill state calls for in pursuit of profession, fame and wealth. You will need to acknowledge additionally that some celebrities might sincerely help the federal government and need to promote its insurance policies.
Both manner, nearly all of celebrities on Weibo are echoing authorities positions such because the One China message. Our evaluation discovered that simply 15% of the highest 218 celebrities – a listing we compiled by reviewing each the Forbes China Celebrities Annual Checklist from 2004 to 2020 and the dimensions of on-line following – didn’t repost any official authorities message within the six months we analyzed from June to November 2021.
Amongst those that reposted, the frequency of reposts diverse from only one to 33 instances in the course of the six months.
Our evaluation discovered that youthful celebrities with extra followers are likely to repost official messages extra. This discovering challenges the standard knowledge that younger individuals are typically extra politically important and rebellious. It additionally chimes with a recent study of Chinese language public opinion that discovered that the Xi technology – those that got here of age up to now decade – are extra oriented towards authoritarianism than previous generations.
Legitimizing State Positions
The reposting of official state messages by celebrities might have far-reaching ramifications.
When politically delicate occasions happen, Chinese language residents usually go to celebrities’ Weibo accounts to discern their stance. On the problem of Taiwan, the heightened nationalist sentiments seemingly prompted customers to watch celebrities and anticipate them to precise help for the Chinese language authorities.
Furthermore, the reposting of official messages by celebrities serves to rework standard tradition right into a key instrument by which the Chinese language authorities can legitimize its place on delicate points.
Dan Chen is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at University of Richmond and Gengsong Gao is an Affiliate Professor of Chinese language Research at University of Richmond.
This text is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, impartial information group devoted to unlocking the data of specialists for the general public good.
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