China Translated

Every year CCTV broadcasts a live party to celebrate the Chinese new year with assorted celebrities performing songs and comedy skits.  High production values and positive message have proved a winning formula and you can see an example of how it all looks here.

Last year, one Lao Meng decided that it would be fun to put together his own 山寨春晚 (Shanzhai Chunwan - imitation spring party) using celebrity lookalikes to replicate the real thing.  He encountered some problems along the way which gave cause for reflection to Southern Weekend.  You can see the opinion piece by Xiong Peiyun in Chinese here.

The main points of the Southern Weekend article as translated by me are:

2008 was a good year for the creation of new words, including 山寨 （shanzhai: imitation goods which look like the original).  Lao Meng’s 山寨春晚 (shanzhai chunwan - imitation spring party) initially was very popular, catching the attention of internet users and with lots of people volunteering to help.  But it looked like it was over before it had even begun when TV channels and websites decided not to broadcast the event.

This gives rise to more serious considerations.  What’s wrong with a few people getting together to have some fun?  How can a few refusals stymie ordinary people’s attempts to enjoy themselves?

China has moved beyond the time of rationing food and clothing, why is enjoyment now being rationed?  People have the right to enjoy themselves, and everybody knows you can’t enjoy yourself on your own.  People are social, they like to get together.  In a well functioning society, as long as people aren’t breaking the law, they can enjoy themselves after their own fashion.

You could say that the imitation spring party is tasteless and vulgar.  But if you ban it on that basis, that is replacing the law as arbiter with power and morality as arbiter.  On top of that, Lao Meng’s imitation spring party isn’t tasteless, it’s just sharing the fun more widely.

Another criticism of the imitation spring party is that it would compete with the CCTV party for viewers attention.  But isn’t it good to give people a choice, and let them decide what they want to watch?

What’s more, the CCTV party is government and business orientated.  It’s good to appeal to the nation as a whole and to have a positive message, and of course there is a lot of money to be made with adverts as there are so many people watching.  But, free from these constraints, the imitation spring party could offer something which is a purer reflection of the culture.

In the end, you can’t force someone to join your party, and then when you have them bound up there, tell them your blessings are heartfelt and you value their freedom.’

This year, Lao Meng is having another try, and, according to recent press reports, has already received the appropriate permits.  Lao Meng is contrite about his failure to apply for the proper permits last year,   and the name of the event has been changed fom ‘山寨春晚’ (shanzhai chunwan) to the less politically sensitive ‘民间春晚‘ （minjian chunwan - people’s spring party).  Auditions are apparently underway, as are negotiations with television stations for broadcasting the event to a national audience.

Culture, Media, Social Policy

A few weeks ago Caijing’s editor Hu Shuli, and a bunch of the best journalists, left the magazine, apparently because of disputes with the owner over control of the editorial line and revenue from advertising.  As Caijing was the mainland’s best investigative magazine, Hu Shuli’s departure has been taken as a bad sign for the development of a free press in China.

Hu Shuli is reportedly in discussions with investors to start a new publication.  In the mean time, she has become the subject of a heated debate in the Chinese press.  This is my translation of an article in the Economic Observer:

‘A recent article published on the CCTV website follows a very straightforward theme: the attempts of foreigners to interfere in China’s affairs through control of the media, and especially the role of Caijing’s former editor Hu Shuli.

This article is reminiscent of the propoganda posters from the Cultural Revilution in its distortion of the facts.  It even makes an issue of Hu’s oversea’s education.  In fact, short of saying that Hu is working for the CIA, the author has no restraints.

The author suggests that Caijing was responsible for turmoil on China’s stock markets, as if, if it were not for Caijing’s muckracking, the Shanghai Composite Index would have healthily progressed past the 10,000 mark by now. 

The author makes out that having foreign employees in an organisation is a sign of some kind of plot.  But in an era of globalisation, what can be strange about foreigners working in China?

If having foreigners working in the organisation is suspicious, then the China Daily is clearly a very suspicious organisation.

It’s been a long time since we have seen this kind of relic of the Cultural Revolution propoganda, and it can’t but make us a little curious.  The article has subsequently been removed from the CCTV website.

As someone who has worked in media for a number of years, my view is that this ephisode is evidence that someone is trying to blacken the name of Hu Shuli.

The job of the media is a dangerous one, not just in China but everywhere in the world, because our job is not just to sing praises, but to report good and bad news.  Maybe there is media in some places that only wants to recite positive news, but some are not yet resigned to this fate. 

Hu Shuli was a crusading journalist, the journalist who broke the news of the baby milk scandal, someone who would not easily abandon journalistic principles.

Now this essay trys to take advantage of her decision to leave Caijing to blacken her name and silence her.  This is really lower than the lowest low.

And this attack on Hu Shuli is not the only one.  The editor of the Hebei Youth Daily was attacked on his own doorstep by a thug saying: ‘report this! report this!’

So this attack on Hu Shuli is not an isolated incident, but rather represents a dark force at work, and ready to pounce at  any opportunity.’

Here’s the original article.

Culture, Media, Social Policy