Taiwan’s Ziyu Times reported on the 26th that China is thoroughly investigating the social media accounts of several dissidents living overseas, as well as the general public who subscribe to these accounts. There is analysis that public opinion control is being significantly strengthened ahead of the two largest annual political events, the National People’s Congress and the National People’s Political Consultative Conference, which begin early next month.
Li Ying (李颖, 32), a famous female dissident who was born in China but has been living in Milan, Italy since 2015, posted on social media “I am calling the people who commented on the post one by one and saying, ‘Let’s have a cup of tea.’” The phrase ‘a cup of tea’ is Chinese online slang meaning to be called in by the authorities for investigation.
Li Ying also said that one of her followers who was recently called to the police lost her job. Coincidentally, on the 26th, Li Ying’s number of followers decreased by 200,000 in just one day to about 1.4 million. He became famous for consistently uploading photos and videos of the ‘White Paper Protest’ in November 2022, when young people, including college students, took to the streets holding white paper to oppose the authorities’ ‘Zero Corona’ policy.
Li Ying also revealed that a woman from Zhengzhou, Henan Province, held a white sign saying “I have nothing to say” around the city and broadcasted live on Chinese social media ‘Xiaohongshu’, but the broadcast was suddenly stopped. This also suggests the possibility that the authorities intervened and intentionally stopped the broadcast.
The U.S. Associated Press reported that a similar thing happened to Wang Zhian, a former state-run China Central Television (CCTV) reporter and dissident YouTube journalist living in Japan. For the same reason, the authorities are pressuring people who have subscribed to Wang Zhian’s account to “unsubscribe.”
Although foreign social media cannot be used in China, access is possible using a virtual private network (VPN) service. Recently, authorities have been significantly strengthening surveillance on overseas social media such as X, Facebook, and Telegram.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.