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Analysis: 

In the News:

• Censorship
• Harassment and detentions
• Hong Kong
• Beyond China

Many users see little to celebrate amid growing social, economic, and political constraints at home. ​​​​​

By Yaqiu Wang

Last week, Paris kicked off the 2024 Summer Olympics with a rain-soaked but dazzling opening ceremony. Since their inception more than a century ago, the modern Olympic Games have become one of the world’s most popular sports and entertainment events. They are especially important in China, where the accumulation of Olympic medals by Chinese athletes is closely tied to a sense of national strength.

This year, however, many Chinese internet users are expressing lukewarm feelings about the Paris Games.

One netizen wrote: “Southern and northern China are experiencing floods. The disasters are serious. Even living is a problem, who has the energy to pay excessive attention to the Olympics?” Another asked sarcastically, “If China wins 100 gold medals, can [the authorities] return my confiscated moped?” 

A major news development in China last month concerned a report that a large state-owned food company, in order to cut costs, was using the same tankers to carry cooking oil and fuel. The allegation sparked national outrage, intensifying a long-standing grievance among the Chinese populace regarding food safety. “[I]’ve heard the Olympics have started, but I have no interest in turning on the TV…. [I] now only care about whether there is toxic coal in cooking oil,” a netizen declared.

Some users questioned whether the government should be spending its money on the Olympics. For this year’s games, the Chinese government sent a massive delegation of 716 people to Paris. “Excuse me, but how does footing the bill for their airfare, hotels, and travel benefit us taxpayers?” one asked.

The public skepticism likely has little to do with any diminishing interest in the sports programs themselves. It speaks more to the fact that many in China are facing hardship in their daily lives and therefore resent the government for spending lavishly on vanity projects such as the Olympics, rather than responding to citizens’ urgent needs, such as food safety, health care, and employment. Discontent resulting from a faltering economy is certainly growing. Freedom House’s China Dissent Monitor shows that protests increased over the course of 2023, with economic issues—especially the housing-market collapse—accounting for some 80 percent of all recorded dissent events.

There are also calls for netizens not to let the Olympics distract them from social problems. Xianzi, the women’s rights activist who rose to prominence after suing a celebrity anchor at the state broadcaster for sexual harassment, urged users to keep focusing their attention on an ongoing campus sexual harassment scandal. A few days earlier, a student at a top university had posted a video online in which she accused her dissertation adviser of sexual harassment. The video went viral, compelling the university to fire the professor immediately. This was an unusually swift victory in a country where perpetrators of sexual harassment, especially those in positions of power, are rarely held accountable at all. 

Online attention has become a precious resource for social justice causes in China. President Xi Jinping’s increasingly repressive regime has steadily closed off the avenues through which citizens could air their grievances and seek redress, prompting more and more individuals to appeal directly to the online public in the hope that a viral post might generate pressure on the authorities. 

There has been some genuinely positive online chatter about the Olympics this year, but official censorship has curbed its spread. For example, Chinese feminists praised the opening ceremony for celebrating 10 French female icons, such as philosopher Simone de Beauvoir and political activist Louise Michel. A number of netizens then complained that videos and photos about the women were being removed from their social media. 

Patriotism is woven into the fabric of the Olympic Games, and the ruling Chinese Communist Party has long utilized it deftly to drum up support for the regime. Sixteen years ago, the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, now often referred to as China’s “coming-out party,” showcased China to the world as a political, economic, and cultural superpower on the rise. Known for their extravagance, the 2008 games have continued to serve as a source of immense national pride.

But the Communist Party’s sports-nationalism playbook might be losing its potency along with the economy, as citizens’ immediate needs go unaddressed. And however much the Chinese people may love their country, no amount of gold medals can convince them to love a government that denies their basic desire for freedom and dignity.

Yaqiu Wang is the research director for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan at Freedom House. This article was also published by the Diplomat on July 31, 2024.

• Prodemocracy activist detained over memorial activities: Human rights group Weiquanwang reported that prodemocracy activist Cheng Xiaofeng was criminally detained by Hunan police on July 6 on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." Cheng's detention was likely related to his visit to the city of Loudi to honor the late human rights defender Ouyang Jinghua, and his online memorial for Hu Youping, who was killed while attempting to protect two Japanese nationals during a knife attack in Jiangsu Province. Previously, Cheng publicly questioned the authorities' handling of COVID-19 testing and vaccine issues online, leading to repeated harassment and intimidation of him and his family by the authorities. 
• Jailed human rights lawyer subject to mistreatment: In a July 8 statement, the China Human Rights Lawyers Group reported that prominent human rights activist Xu Zhiyong, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison for "subverting state power," has faced various forms of mistreatment since his transfer to Shandong Lunan Prison in January. According to the statement, the prison temporarily stopped using his name, referring to him as "003" instead. Xu has also been relocated to a cell with four inmates instead of twelve. According to the statement, the other three inmates are closely monitoring him at all hours, a method used by Chinese prison authorities to deter potential opposition among jailed dissidents. Xu was also restricted from making phone calls to his family, and Xu's family faced frequent interruptions in their conversations during visitations, according to the group.
• Arrests over Liu Xiaobo commemoration: As per a July 21 Radio Free Asia (RFA) report, Zhejiang police arrested several individuals following a memorial in Haining, Zhejiang Province, on July 13, the seventh anniversary of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo's death. Those arrested included members of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, an organization defending persecuted Chinese writers and promoting literary freedom. Most of those arrested were released after being reprimanded and having statements recorded by the police. Human rights advocates Zan Aizong and Zou Wei remain under criminal detention, with Zan Aizong facing charges of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," according to his family.

• Beijing extends control over party members abroad: Chinese authorities ordered junior party members living overseas to study political materials and promote Beijing’s propaganda in their host countries, according to a July 3 Financial Times report. The directive leaves some members of the diaspora in a dilemma: facing potential legal consequences as foreign agents in the host country if they comply, or facing repercussions from their home government if they refuse. Those seeking to end their party membership found it difficult, said the report: the only way to quit the party is to discontinue dues payment for six months, but those who decline to pay face harassment from local party authorities. 

• Access uncensored content: Find an overview comparing popular circumvention tools and information on how to access them via GreatFire.org, here or here. Learn more about how to reach uncensored content and enhance digital security here. 
• Support a prisoner: Learn how to take action to help journalists and free expression activists, including those featured in past issues of the China Media Bulletin here.
• Visit the China Media Bulletin Resources section: Learn more about how policymakers, media outlets, educators, and donors can help advance free expression in China and beyond via a new resource section on the Freedom House website.