CHINA-INTERNAL: CONTROLS ON ULTRA LEFT MEDIA

The ruling Chinese Communist Party has shut down the prominent Maoist website Utopia amid concerns it may boost extreme nationalist sentiment that could undermine Beijing's trade policy with the United States. The leftist ideology website Utopia issued a statement on May 19, confirming that its WeChat account had been permanently deleted because the website had previously published multiple articles that "disclosed the capitalistic media’s suppression of left-wing voices." WeChat said Utopia had "violated relevant laws and regulations." Chinese commentators said the closures may have more to do with current diplomatic negotiations. Former Tsinghua University politics lecturer Wu Qiang said the closures could be a bid to suppress nationalist commentary following apparent concessions made by Beijing in trade negotiations with the U.S. He said "The outcome of the negotiations ... has been a substantial compromise, and basically the acceptance of the U.S. position overall. So China's internet authorities have cracked down in a preventative manner and banned this Maoist social media account, to stop them from attacking the negotiations as ... selling the country out by treaty, or betrayal."

(Comment: The administration of President Xi Jinping has shut down a number of Maoist websites in recent years, including Utopia, but has generally allowed them to re-open after politically sensitive events, such as the trial of leftist icon and former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai in 2013.)







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