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Hu Xijin’s tens of millions of supporters have not heard from him since late July. Some believe that one of his posts praising Beijing would have possibly backfired.
By Chris Buckley
One of China’s most influential and loquacious nationalist voices on social media has gone silent, and the country’s network is wondering why.
Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a bellicose Communist Party newspaper, writes and posts videos on Sina Weibo, a social media platform, where he has about 25 million followers. But in late July, Hu stopped updating his page, confusing readers and satisfying some of his critics.
Mr. Hu did not explain his silence; neither do Chinese internet authorities. But many in China believe he was censored, pointing to signs that party officials would possibly have been disappointed, because Hu praised them poorly. In China, even a petty praise of the party can be enough to anger censors.
One imaginable source of M. Hu’s problems appears to be a Weibo post he wrote in July in which he called the final results of a meeting of party leaders on economic strategy “historic. ” According to M. Hu, the party used language in its plan to The economy suggests that China would diminish the prestige of state-owned companies, giving a big boost to private companies.
The plan paved the way for “true equality” for private and public companies, Mr. S. Hu wrote to his millions of readers. Not long ago, other people blatantly denigrated the personal sector,” he writes. “How ridiculous those voices seem today. “
M. Hu’s post temporarily disappeared from Weibo, but before causing a stir.
Mr. Hu’s compliment would arguably have seemed useful to policymakers at a time when the Chinese government is desperate to regain confidence in personal enterprises, which generate jobs and significant tax revenues. But he attacked far-left critics who accused him of distorting the party’s rhetoric and undermining China’s commitment to state-owned enterprises. “This shows his fundamentally anti-party and anti-socialist thinking,” reads a comment reposted on Utopia, a far-left Chinese website.
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