In a post to his WeChat public account on October 9, Li Guangman, who came to prominence for
his article declaring China to be in the midst of a “profound revolution” and which was reproduced
by China's prominent official newspapers, reiterated that a “profound transformation” is underway
in China, with deep implications for politics, business, culture and the media. He first quoted the
notice issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of new draft rules
unambiguously prohibiting the involvement of all “non-public capital” (非公有资本) – meaning
private capital of any kind, domestic or foreign – in news gathering, production and dissemination.
While restrictions on news content and its production are of course not news in China, these new
rules are so salient and broad in their prohibitions that they seem to remove all strategic ambiguity.
The second media case he cited was the detention on October 7 in Hainan of well-known
entrepreneur and former professional journalist Luo Changping, who was charged with insulting
and defaming the martyrs of Chinese history by criticizing a new film about China’s involvement
in the Korean War. Luo’s detention, widely reported by state-run media, underscores the resolve of the Chinese Communist Party leadership in policing the bounds of the CCP’s official narratives, the
stories and mythologies that undergird its power and legitimacy.
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