American NGO, Freedom House, published the list, noting that human rights activists and religious minorities were most affected by China’s repression of the internet.

This year has seen a crackdown on live streaming, strict regulation of online gaming that hurts independent developers, the shuttering of Apple’s iTune store in China, as well as online content provider DisneyLife, a vaguely-worded law requiring foreign companies to register Chinese domains when doing online business in China, and banning gay relationships from online broadcast.

In 2015, the “Great Cannon” was used to mount cyber attacks on foreign websites, real name registration, strict WeChat guidelines, and a crackdown on netizens in the wake of the Tianjin explosions.

And let’s not forget that there has always been the “Great Firewall of China”, which censors any website deemed unsuitable by authorities.

The Freedom House report comes as China is set to host the 3rd World Internet Conference in Wuzhen. At last year’s conference, also held in Wuzhen, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for countries to maintain control over their own internet through “cyber-sovereignty”, as administered by “a multi-lateral democratic and transparent international Internet governance system”.

The post When It Comes To Internet Freedom, China Ranks Dead Last appeared first on The Nanfang.

[S]ome influential activists in public opinion abuse their freedom and propagate some subversive and destructive ideas, which have damaged the country’s unity and caused some instability within the society.

The story goes on to argue that it’s a priority for China to “maintain the balance between encouraging constructive criticism and maintaining social unity.”

Typically, criticism of waning free speech in China focuses on the vagueness of the country’s approach to what qualifies as acceptable free speech. But rather than being the responsibility of the Chinese authorities, the Global Times suggests that it’s the duty of Chinese citizens to police themselves:

Some argue that it is a test of the authorities’ openness but, actually, it needs all of society to draw lessons and experiences from the process… the authorities should be more tolerant, and the opinion-makers should be wise in using their freedom of expression.

In other words, the few who don’t know how to censor themselves are ruining it for everyone else. Accordingly, China cannot adhere to a Western model of free speech:

Freedom of speech is an old and controversial topic in China. It has become complicated under the provocations of some Western forces.

It should be noted that “the West” is not a uniform body in total agreement of all things. The countries making up “the West” often don’t agree about a great many things; but, they are largely governed by their respective constitutions founded on the concept of rule of law, so its citizens may be free to, among other things, speak their minds.

When it comes to China, the Global Times explains, things are different. One main difference involves the ever-changing Chinese constitution. Global Times tells us changes are happening, as witnessed by the way reporters interviewed delegates at this year’s National People’s Congress:

Unlike the past few years, when media attention was paid to the entertaining side of the two sessions, this year has seen most reports focusing on proposals and bills initiated by lawmakers and political advisors. This is a very positive sign for the evolution of China’s political life.

Despite progressive change in China, many things remain stubbornly the same. One need only look at the gender make-up of the 10th National People’s Congress, where female representatives made up only 23.4 percent of the total, representing a mere 2.4 percent increase in the last 20 years.

At this rate, it will take Chinese women over 200 years to achieve equal representation at the NPC. But hey, according to the Global Times, any change, no matter how insignificant, is positive.

The post Global Times: “Western-Style Freedom of Speech Not Fit For China” appeared first on The Nanfang.

The ban, which was confirmed by Derek Yee Tung-sing, Chairman of the Hong Kong Film Awards Association, is widely believed to be a result of the hugely successful feature, Ten Years, which has garnered a Best Picture nomination.

Made on a shoestring budget of HK$50,000, Ten Years depicts a dystopic Hong Kong where citizens face a loss of political rights and a degradation of their culture. The film, which took in a whopping HK$6 million, was so successful that it beat out Star Wars: The Force Awakens at some theaters.

The film features a number of shorts produced by local directors offering their take on what Hong Kong might look like should the mainland government continue to tighten its grip over the former British colony.

Global Times called the film “ridiculous”, alleging the film is spreading anxiety among Hong Kong residents. In an interview with Time Out Hong Kong, filmmaker Chow Kwun-wai addressed the controversy head-on: “Many people react to Ten Years and ask us ‘aren’t you guys afraid?’ I think this question, in itself, reflects what problem our society is facing.”

Director Ng Ka-leung, who’s short includes an act of self-immolation as a form of protest, explained that in many ways, the future is already here:

In the past few years, we’ve seen some pretty bad realities in Hong Kong. Realities that are extremely absurd and illogical. So, when you ask whether the future could be as bad as we imagine in the film, I think it’s possible. There is real precedent for the events that we portray in the film.

Here’s a trailer for the movie:

The post Mainland Chinese Won’t See HK Film Awards After Controversial Film Nominated appeared first on The Nanfang.

The BBC documentary Secrets of China is making waves in the UK for showing what it’s really like to live in China these days, but it’s also become controversial inside China after translations of the show circulated online.

One of the flashpoint surrounds an interview with 27 year-old Western-educated Wang Sicong, the owner of a large online gaming company in China. Wang was unusually frank in his replies to the BBC over the state of Chinese society. Wang admits that video games made by his company serve as a temporary escape from society, but that Chinese are stuck within this construct because “there is really no way of succeeding outside the system.” When asked about how Chinese adults become individuals, Wang answered:

The state chooses what’s mainstream, and you have to conform to that. If your ideals are not mainstream, then you’re wrong. But of course, everyone has their own ideas, so what they do is they put on a mask and they go forward in life with the mask. Why is online gaming becoming so popular in China? Because once you go online you can take off that mask and say whatever you really think instead of what is mainstream.

Then he was asked if the lack of freedom in China makes people unhappy:

I think at some point you just accept it. That’s why you don’t see many people protesting in China, I suppose… because they realize… some point in time, some point in (their social) class, that even by protesting they can’t change much. They could arrest you for that, so it’s… I mean, in China, where the line is really quite questionable. We don’t really know where the line is. The laws are not very explicit.

Chinese netizens got a taste of Wang’s brutal honesty through translated videos and screengrabs of the interview. But while Wang was discussing the core of what it means to be living in China today, it’s his status as the son of one of China’s most powerful men that has drawn the most attention.

Wang is the son of China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, the head of China’s largest property developer, the Dalian Wanda Group. Many netizens focused on his position as a fuerdai (富二代), meaning a “second-generation rich child” and a term that has a negative connotations in China, rather than the controversial remarks he made in the interview.

Here’s some of what netizens had to say:

断背山下的百合花：
European and US reporters are always criticizing from their high horse, talking about universal values.

离Dream的Dream：
He spoke truthfully without an extreme tone, and wasn’t lead on by the BBC reporter. And yet, people still think that he is this successful just because of his father’s money?

Ys_凹凸蔓：
Don’t just say he is just a basic fuerdai. This guy is an exceptional fuerdai, he has his own company with its own high salary. Some people are saying that he would be nothing without his father. Please! Without his dad, this guy would be the father to a fuerdai of his own. Terrifying…

本命年也要求好运：
Having money is not as good as having rights.

凤乙：
This reporter is not professional. Her questions are so subjective and biased. You can see she has already made her mind up about China, and that she is looking for answers that she wants to hear. And the questions she asks are so long, how can the interviewee remember what she asked in the first place? 

要成为跟卡咩一样好的人：
I really feel that Wang Sicong is a talented and capable fuerdai.

鹏鹏鹏蓬蓬蓬：
All those people saying that Wang Sicong is only successful because of his father being rich is just a case of sour grapes. I’ll give you RMB 500 million, and lets see if you can pass the national examination. Would you set up your own online gaming platform? Would you invest your money? He did, and what’s more he was a poor student that attended Oxford on a scholarship. Have you done it? If the father and mother aren’t able to do it, you won’t be able to do it either. All those people who have come here to voice their grievance at Wang Sicong, what are you going to do, beat the computer screen in front of you?

琼999999999：
I just wanted to say that the foreign reporter (spelled with the characters for “prostitute”) is a stupid cunt! It’s does not make a lick of difference to foreigners if we have freedom, or how we are doing! Always coming to China to interview Chinese, can you handle it?

曳火流明：
My cultivation is not high enough, apparently. I don’t think his answers are all that illuminating.

凯爷的王大源儿：
Even though it’s clear that (Wang) is a thoughtful man, I still have the feeling that his words are the result of a trap set by the BBC.

娱桑：
Quit kneeling and kissing ass. Why is it I get the feeling that this malicious reporter has set a trap for Wang Sicong, and that he’s fallen into it face first?

一枚小宝器：
This is why among entertainment circles, you can only trust Sicong. His stature and position are fixed, and so there’s no need for him to lie whatsoever.

–赵航–：
After watching, I have no idea what he’s talking about… 

懒_人_张：
Actually, Wang’s thinking is quite clever. 

Biubiuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu：
This reminds me of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

愿为你L：
How ironic. However, what (Wang) said is a fact. If you don’t want to comply, there’s no way for you to not comply.

monodramabecky：
Just listen to (how good) his English is. 

耶路撒冷的呼召：
He is, in fact, saying the truth.

橙橙橙橙橙橙陈_：
I think that for some of these commenters, the only proper reply Wang Sicong could have answered with is: ‘Screw you! China is great! Ask me again, and I will beat you! Also, Chinese video games are the best, as are their physiques! Long live China!’ Only an answer like that would constitute a proper response.

共济会驻京办：
There was a scene from the movie The Shawshank Redemption in which the librarian of the prison discovered that he wasn’t able to leave the system of the prison when he was to be set free… and so he killed himself by hanging.

欧阳澄璧：
You can choose freedom, but the government is able to define what “freedom” means.

ACCCF：
This guy has enjoyed the prosperity of the system. And going by his words, I’d reckon that the Wang family is going to go the way of the Qing Dynasty and have their lineage terminated just two generations in. Hey, Wang Junior: I hope you had a blast when you were young so that you’ll have something to remember when you’re old and have no money.

lson_lson：
This is something that all rational and mature adults know. However, there aren’t many willing to say it in a public forum.

田中-谦介：
I have to applaud a fuerdai product made by the system that is speaking the truth to a foreign audience.

The post BBC Documentary Saying Chinese Accept Their “Lack of Freedom” Incites Lively Online Debate appeared first on The Nanfang.

London-based political consultancy firm Portland Communications released a ranking of 30 countries that compares their soft power resources through six different categories: government, culture, education, global engagement, enterprise and digital. As part of the study, over 7,000 people in 20 countries were polled throughout the world.

Despite its good intentions, China ranked last, with the report saying much of the success China has been able to achieve has been undone by its policies on censorship, restrictions of personal rights and freedoms, and its foreign policy.

It’s not for lack of trying, though. China has set up thousands of Confucius Institutes, established the Xinhua news agency throughout the world, and held international events like the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. For China, the price of soft power is not cheap. According to Chinese foreign policy expert David Shambaugh, China spends around $10 billion annually on “external propaganda”.China spends around $10 billion annually on “external propaganda”. And when including economic policies and investments like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank or the “Belt and Road” initiative, this sum jumps to $1.41 trillion.

So with all the money being spent, why is China still so sorely lacking in soft power?

Shambaugh describes the inability of China to launch an international charm offensive: “While China’s economic prowess impresses much of the world, its repressive political system and mercantilist business practices tarnish its reputation.”

Portland Communications said China’s political system “has not kept pace with the nation’s economic dynamism”, to which public polls show a lack of trust in China to “do the right thing in global affairs”. These opinions are reflected in China ranking last in the “government” and “digital” categories.

And yet, China looks to improve its soft power in other ways. In a New Year’s speech last year, President Xi Jinping said China “needs to build its capacity in international communication, construct a communication system, better use new media and increase the creativity, appeal and credibility of China’s publicity” in order to strengthen its soft power.

A 2010 People’s Daily Online op-ed also looked at soft power, saying that it can be achieved by “preventing giant foreign media agencies from monopolizing the right of voice, enabling foreign people to hear the voice of China and popularizing actual and outstanding Chinese culture”.

That sounds like it will cost a lot of money. However, as pointed out by Portland Communications, one country is making huge advances in soft power this year, and they’re not spending a dime to achieve it. India wasn’t on the Soft Power 30 yet, but was praised by Portland Communications for its advancements in soft power that were mostly due to its new leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi was lauded for his use of digital tools as he has launched several initiatives on social media. In fact, Modi’s Facebook page is cited as having the most engagement out of any world leader.

It may seem strange for China to spend so much money on something just to get such little return. But the People’s Daily Online suggests, the reason why soft power is so expensive is because you have to pay for it:

China needs to take all kinds of measures to educate the world about China so they can love it.

Maybe the problem isn’t the amount being spent, but the message.

The post China Ranks Last in Soft Power, Despite Spending Billions to Buy It appeared first on The Nanfang.

That is all changing now, though, as the iconic American burger chain has unveiled “Create Your Taste”, a special brand of McDonald’s restaurants, on Dianping, China’s version of Yelp. By using a touchscreen and electronic payment card, diners can order their customized meal in a six-step process. Customers can choose their type of bread, condiments, number of patties, and hamburger toppings, which include guacamole and tortilla chips.

Not surprisingly, an order from “Create Your Taste” will be substantially more expensive that other McDonald’s menu items. A hamburger with fries and a drink will cost RMB 49 (almost $8), before additional costs.

Here are the available options in making your own “Create Your Taste” hamburger:

• 3 types of bread
• 3 kinds of cheese
• 4 types of vegetables
• 8 sauces
• 6 other ingredients
• options available for meat patties (eg. thickness)

With endless hamburger customization possibilities, McDonald’s has provided 24 pre-selected popular combinations to make things easier for customers.

“Create Your Taste” first debuted in Shanghai and Guangzhou, and is set to arrive in Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong soon.

The “Build Your Own Burger” promotion began in the USA before spreading to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Kuwait. China is the 119th country in the world, and the 6th in Asia, to offer it.

Feedback on the Dianping restaurant review website has largely been positive, with reviewers ecstatic over the freedom offered to them:

This is a great do-it-yourself concept; McDonalds is really considerate! People who want to lose weight can just order a lettuce and meat patty burger. As for me, I ordered a three-patty burger with thick slices of bacon on a buttered bun. So sweet tasting!

Despite McDonald’s popularity, KFC remains the most popular Western fast food franchise in China, most likely because its menu caters to to the tastes of its clientele.

Here are some hamburger photographs from the creative people of Dianping:

Related:

• Almost Nothing Left on the Menu at McDonald’s in Beijing
• If You Dine At KFC or Pizza Hut, You Might Eat Expired Meat
• Guy in Guangzhou calls the cops because… his McChicken is too spicy

The post Hey, McDonald’s Fans: Now You Can Build Your Own Burger in China appeared first on The Nanfang.