Global Times Chief Editor Steps Down

Hu Xijin launched the English version of Global Times in 2009

It was interesting to find out that Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of Global Times who is a well-known and vocal propagandist on Twitter, has abruptly retired at the age of 62.

Apparently there were rumours yesterday of him stepping down but Hu did not confirm them until noon today on his Weibo.

"I'm approaching 62. It's time for retirement," Hu posted on Thursday. "I have gone through the retirement formalities and no longer serve as the editor-in-chief of the Global Times."

Hu is an outspoken propagandist on social media

The Chinese version of Global Times was launched in 1993 as a staunch and unabashedly nationalist tabloid paper. Hu was the editor-in-chief in 2005 and four years later launched the English version of the newspaper, managing both editions.

"I'll continue to contribute to the party's journalism and publicity work as a special commentator of the Global Times. Thank you for your support," he wrote in the Weibo post.

It is believed he will be replaced by Wu Qimin, international section deputy director of People's Daily. It will be interesting if she gets the top job, as critics describe Global Times as "China's Fox News" for its strong patriotic slant, with Hu's interest in the People's Liberation Army as well.

Nevertheless, why is Hu leaving so suddenly? China Media Project suggests perhaps the central leadership wants to rein in loose cannons "firing against the discipline coming from above", or could it possibly have to do with his recent comments about tennis star Peng Shuai that raised eyebrows.

Did Hu make missteps in the Peng incident?

He tried to look like he'd gotten a scoop when he posted video footage of the tennis player going out to dinner and the people in in the clip emphasised many times in it the day it was recorded which was bizarre and backfired spectacularly.

Nevertheless for Hu to retire at 62 seems too early for him -- what is he going to do? 

Following his post, there were some 6,000 comments. "Old Hu, thank you for speaking for China. You have my support! Wish you a happy life after retirement," posted one internet user.

"Good for you. You don't need to tell lies anymore," wrote another.

JPMorgan's Dimon Regrets Joking about CPC

Last week Dimon boasted JPMorgan would outlast the CPC 

There are jokes going around on social media about how the JPMorgan corporate communications department is now facing its biggest crisis management yet -- their CEO Jamie Dimon boasting that the investment bank will outlast the Chinese Communist Party.

He made the remarks on Tuesday this week at a Boston college series of CEO interviews.

"I made a joke the other day that the Communist Party is celebrating its 100th year -- so it JPMorgan. I'd make a bet that we last longer. 

Dimon visited Hong Kong quarantine free

"I can't say that in China. They are probably listening anyway," he added.

Can someone say oops to the infinitesimal degree?

Dimon said this while the Wall Street bank won regulatory approval in August to become the first full foreign owner of a securities brokerage in the country. 

The next day he quickly apologised in a statement: "I regret and should not have made that comment. I was trying to emphasise the strength and longevity of our company."

Uh huh.

And to further drive the message home, in another statement added: "It's never right to joke about or denigrate any group of people, whether it's a country, its leadership, or any part of a society and culture. Speaking in that way can take away from constructive and thoughtful dialogue in society, which is needed now more than ever."

On social media, the Twitterverse wondered how much Dimon would grovel for forgiveness from the Chinese, or that JPMorgan bankers could finally quit their jobs and set up that boutique hotel they'd always been dreaming about.

Hu says CPC far more successful than JPMorgan

As expected the Chinese were not impressed.

When asked about Dimon's comments in a news conference, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian replied: "Why the publicity stunt with some grandstanding remarks?"

Hu Xijin, chief editor of the Global Times tweeted: "You don't have to regret actually. The CPC has succeeded in its sphere far more than JPMorgan's. As a member of the CPC, I don't mind your company riding the wave of CPC's popularity."

Meanwhile Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor must have regretted approving Dimon's quarantine exemption last week when he visited the city for 32 hours via private jet. 

We wait with baited breath on what the fall out will be... 

Where is Peng Shuai?

Tennis player Peng has not been heard from since November 2

A growing chorus of people are asking, "Where is Peng Shuai?"

However, no one has personally or publicly heard from the Chinese tennis player, who, according to videos issued by state media, apparently had dinner with people on Saturday, and showed up at a junior tennis tournament today.

She apparently appeared at a tennis event today

No one in the West believes these videos for a second, pointing out it is strange that Hu Xijin, the chief editor of The Global Times would some how obtain these videos without explaining how, and adding that she would show up in public soon enough.

She did, at this junior tennis tournament, but somehow the live feed to the event got cut off...

Meanwhile people around the world are asking on social media #whereispengshuai, including former World No 1 Chris Evert, who wrote on her Twitter: "Yes, these accusations are very disturbing. I've known Peng since she was 14; we should all be concerned; this is serious; where is she? Is she safe?"

Even the Women's Tennis Association chairman and CEO Steve Simon has taken a very strong stand against China, threatening to pull the WTA's events out of China, which means almost a dozen next year, including the WTA final.

WTA's Simon threatening to pull out of China

"There's too many times in our world today when you get into issues like this that we let business, politics, money dictate what's write and what's wrong," Simon said in an interview with CNN.

"And we're definitely willing to pull our business and deal with all the complications that come with it because... this is bigger than the business."

If the WTA really did pull out of China, that would be a major loss of face for Beijing, and Simon knows it.

What is also interesting to note is that Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympics Committee has been silent on this issue the whole time. And the Beijing Winter Olympics will be starting on February 4.

Everyday on Twitter people continue to ask where Peng is, while state media tries (but fails) to convince that she is "fine" and doesn't want to see anybody, that she is just "resting".

An unverified photo of Peng with her cat

Those were the same words used when the Hong Kong booksellers were missing in 2015.

In an explosive post Peng wrote on November 2 on her Weibo that was quickly deleted, she alleged that former vice premier Zhang Gaoli coerced her into having sex.

About three years ago, after Zhang had retired, the post alleges Peng was invited him to play tennis in Beijing.

Afterwards, she wrote, Zhang and his wife brought Peng to their home, where Peng claimed she was pressured into having sex with Zhang.

Senior official Zhang Gaoli

"That afternoon I did not agree at first and was crying all the time," Peng wrote. After dinner with Zhang and his wife, and following much persuading by Zhang, she relented, according to the post.

To be sure, the West will continue to put pressure on China to answer to their concerns and allow Peng to answer freely.

The longer she is not allowed to speak of her own accord, the more skeptical the world becomes.

Waiting for the Sign

Carrie Lam has done nothing to alleviate the five-month long protests

Late last night six cars pulled up to Government House for a meeting with Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. There was no statement today about what was discussed, though media speculated perhaps there were plans to add more emergency measures or perhaps a curfew.

Then late in the afternoon nationalist state media outlet Global Times tweeted that it had "exclusive breaking news" that the Hong Kong government would make an announcement about a curfew in the city. It claimed that NowTV was the source of this information.

Chinese State-funded media Global Times reported about a curfew in #HongKong, but has subsequently deleted the tweet #HongKongProtests pic.twitter.com/mmpvnkPQQk

— Damon Pang (@damon_pang) November 14, 2019

 

However, not long after, NowTV issued a statement saying it never issued a report about this, and soon after Global Times deleted its tweet.

Its editor-in-chief Hu Xijin tweeted: "A GT reporter reported from HK that the HKSAR govt is expected to announce curfew for weekend: sources. I just checked how the information was obtained. My conclusion is that the information is not sufficient to support this exclusive news. I have demanded to delete the tweet."

At least they admitted it was wrong.

A lot of supplies donated by volunteers to Chinese University

But in a way we are kind of waiting for it... or it is kind of happening already with the MTR being shut earlier this week, and some of its stations not working. And now with many schools and universities closed, and shopping malls shut down, a lot of people are forced to stay at home.

Speaking of universities, many of the mainland students were forced to leave by the Chinese government. With all their passport details already on hand, bus tickets were quickly arranged to get them across the border. However, many of the students were literally dumped in Shenzhen and left to find their own way back home.

We are also waiting for a showdown between the police and students holed up in the various university campuses. The latter are very organized, managing their own canteen, supplies are categorized and put in piles from food to clothing, first aid, battery chargers and so on. They are completely self sufficient.

Meanwhile the protest marches at lunchtime continue despite riot police lashing out periodically and picking victims to arrest in the hopes of scaring the others. It doesn't work and instead makes these office workers even angrier.

First-time cooks are rustling up decent meals in the canteen

What does the Lam administration think it is achieving by doing nothing and allowing the police to be, as one of my friends put it, "drunk with power"?

This is not the Hong Kong we know and love.

However, whenever this is over, Hong Kong will not be the same again. Are we prepared for what changes will come? In the last few days, being here makes me wonder if it is like pre-World War II, trying to live a normal life when really things around you are not normal. When do you push the panic button and leave?

Oh and yes we can all thank Carrie for all this chaos that was really unnecessary if she had just listened to the people back in June... Her stubbornness astounds.

Protesters Not Giving Up

Thousands of people crammed in and around Chater Garden for tonight's rally

Tonight the protesters were back in numbers in Chater Garden in Central. This time they were angry about police abuse, particularly the sexual harassment of some female protesters who were arrested.

While the dress code for this rally was purple, most people showed up in black and wore purple ribbons that were pinned to their T-shirts. Others wore purple ribbons around their wrists. There were also people with lipsticks on hand to write #ProtestToo on people's arms, a riff off of #MeToo.

"Investigate police sexual violence!" The rally organizer said. "We believe everyone has the right to participate in political activities and take part in rallies, but the police are using sexual violence as a means to humiliate people of different gender."

Others were waiting for friends outside the MTR station

Some protesters were shining laser pens onto buildings to create an impromptu laser show, others put purple filters on their phone lights to create a pastel purple glow.

Some women came to the stage to talk about their experiences of being sexually harassed by the police, including one who says she was strip searched. She said she felt violated as a woman and is now seeking psychological help.

When I was leaving Chater Garden around 8.20pm, the crowd had spilled out onto Des Voeux Road, and they made way when trams were passing through. All the other vehicles had to go along Queens Road Central, causing a traffic jam.

There were a few police officers on hand, just making sure there were no serious accidents or that the crowd was under control.

As I walked towards the Central MTR station, people were shouting, "Reclaim Hong Kong! Revolution of our times!" or "Hongkongers add oil!". The shouts got louder as people streaming out of the MTR station on the escalator already began chanting.

And as I came into the station, more people were coming out, attaching purple ribbons on their shirts or carrying signs. It was heartening to see so many people all with the same goals with the same fighting spirit.

What else happened today?

The editor-in-chief of Global Times, Hu Xijin rolled into town today. His Twitter post said: "Just arrived in Hong Kong to attend media dialogue. I will also report what I see and hear. Current situation in Hong Kong is a bit special for mainland journalists, but I hope I can have an open trip. Looking forward to having a candid exchange of views."

Global Times' chief editor Hu Xijin has arrived in Hong Kong

Welcome to the city where we have freedom of the press, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, Mr Hu.

See how special Hong Kong is and why protesters are defending it to the death.

They have five demands, but the most crucial is to withdraw the extradition bill. It's really simple to do, but our Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor says it cannot be done.

Perhaps you can persuade her to help us have peace in Hong Kong again?

If not, you will see scores of people out on the streets this weekend to show the government protesters are still asking for their demands to be met. They are not giving up anytime soon.

The Struggle Continues

Two protesters apologize about what happened last night with eye patches

Today protesters apologized for their horrific behaviour in Hong Kong International Airport.

The heartfelt apologies don't forgive what they did, but at least they admit their mistakes and are willing to do some self-reflection unlike a person we all know.

The airport had to be shut down due to overcrowding

Last night was shocking and hard to understand and accept. After a three-day peaceful protest at the airport on the weekend, it escalated to another occupation on Monday after Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor continued to condemn the protesters, while reporters were frustrated she had nothing new to say, or would she directly answer questions.

The entire airport was covered in people wearing black and the sheer numbers of people overwhelmed the Airport Authority who shut down the airport for the rest of the afternoon. Reporters said the chanting was non-stop and loud. They were very angry.

Another occupation of the airport was decided for Tuesday from 1pm onwards, but for some reason the protesters would not allow people to enter the departures area. They physically blocked them, restrained them, and shouted at them.

Travelers were desperate to make it to the departure gate

Going to the airport is stressful enough and yet the added layer of protesters made many travelers desperate and freaked out which is understandable. People had to force their way to the departure area or even beg protesters to let them through. It was shocking and embarrassing. Why were protesters doing this?

And then it escalated into paranoia when they saw two men who were mainlanders in their crowd and assaulted the first one, thinking he was an undercover Chinese police officer, when in fact he was there to see his friends off at the airport.

He fell unconscious and the protesters even prevented emergency services from collecting him. What is going on?

The second one apparently smirked and said he supported the Hong Kong police and dared protesters to beat him. Again he was roughly treated and even hog tied with plastic ties. It turns out he was a Global Times reporter and Editor-in-chief Hu Xijin confirmed the young man worked at the paper.

This young man turned out to be a Global Times reporter

This was the perfect storm for state media to pounce on these two incidents, claiming that the protesters had terrorized these two men, the latter one already declared a hero only an hour after the incident ended.

But that's not all.

There were tensions between the riot police and protesters. At one point a woman was just tear gassed in the face and crouched down when a riot police officer literally pounced on her about to beat her with a baton. Others rushed to her defense and the scuffle resulted in one young man grabbing the policeman's baton, that left the police officer terrified and reached for his pistol and point it at the crowd.

Thank God he did not shoot. He slumped to the ground, probably relieved.

In self-defense a police officer brandished his pistol

Eventually the Airport Authority got a court injunction to legally remove the protesters out of the airport.

Today all of us were trying to make sense of what had happened and why.

The protesters themselves are doing some massive soul searching too. They were probably paranoid that police may have been undercover around them, but cooler heads must prevail from now on. This cannot continue.

At the airport, some protesters held handmade signs profusely apologizing for what they did and said they were desperate after having exhausted all means to get through to the Hong Kong government.

But the must continue the fight.

An acquaintance posted a quote from Frederick Douglass, an African-American former slave who became a social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer and statesman. Douglass championed equal rights for people of colour -- including Chinese immigrants, as well as for women.

Abolitionist, social reformer, and orator Frederick Douglass

He said this on August 3, 1857:

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favour freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.

"This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress."

Thank you for the reminder that the struggle must continue.

Travel Warning to China

Yesterday Robert Schellenberg was sentenced to death in his appeal

This morning the Canadian Consulate in Beijing issued a warning to Canadians in China, saying it had revised its Travel Advice and Advisory for the country.

It says: "Exercise a high degree of caution in China due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws", without mentioning by name the recent case of Robert Schellenberg, 36, who was sentenced to death for trafficking methamphetamine from China to Australia.

Foreign media in China say the Chinese government took great lengths to allow foreign reporters to cover the verdict, meaning it was keen on giving the impression that it follows rule of law. Meanwhile, Chinese state media earlier insinuated his case is directly linked with Huawei executive Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, warning Canada would suffer severe consequences if she was not released her back to China.

Meng Wanzhou is under house arrest in Vancouver

Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Communist Party-run Global Times uploaded a video in which he warned that, "if Canada extradites Meng to the United States, China's revenge will be far worse than detaining a Canadian."

Hours after the Canadian travel advisory was issued, China put out a travel warning to its citizens about going to Canada.

A notice by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Chinese citizens should be aware of the risks of being "arbitrarily detained at the request of a third nation" in Canada, and urged caution when making travel plans."

Tensions are certainly escalating between China and Canada. Both have sufficient cause to want to resolve the situation, though China definitely ratcheted things up several notches yesterday when it sentenced Schellenberg to death.

And it is still detaining two Canadians, former diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor.

On top of that China is now warning its citizens about traveling to Canada...

Which side should be more worried?

Mainland Misunderstandings About HK

The seven police officers who were sentenced for assaulting Ken Tsang

After the seven police officers were sentenced to two years in jail for assaulting Ken Tsang Kin-chiu during the Occupy protests two years ago, it was shocking to read that the son of a general in China was willing to pay people 10,000 yuan each to beat up the judge who sentenced them.

Cai Xiaoxin, the son of late PLA Major General Cai Changyuan, wrote on his social media account he would pay anyone who would assault Judge David Dufton.

Other mainlanders were angered that a foreign judge would rule against the police officers, and felt Dufton was sympathetic to the Occupy protesters because he was British.

Hu Xijin claims the British judge's ruling was biased

Even Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of The Global Times said Dufton's ruling was biased and influenced by politics. He said the judicial system in Hong Kong had inherited a tinge of colonialism and not committed to China's constitution.

Here we go again -- the giant rift between how Hong Kong and China works, and the difference between rule of law being upheld by the book, and by political influence.

Eric Cheung Tat-ming, a lecturer on law at the University of Hong Kong, said the outrage expressed in mainland media over the case was due to the lack of understanding of how the city's legal system worked.

"The Basic Law establishes that our judges were appointed by reference to their professional ability and merits rather than where they are from or their race," Cheung said.

The ruling, he explained, was not influenced by politics, and that jurisdictions that practiced common law regularly had judges from overseas hear local cases.

"The common law system is a legacy of the colonial era. But it is guaranteed in the Basic Law that we can continue the... system."

Ken Tsang (centre) was beaten up after in police custody

Also, it is outrageous and dangerous for the People's Daily to say: "The genesis of the Occupy movement in Hong Kong is inseparable from the political landmine the British government planted before it left the city."

That is fake news.

A culmination of factors led to the Occupy movement that sprung up completely spontaneously, the likes of which we will probably never see again.

The Chinese government is trying to blame someone else for Hong Kong people's unhappiness with the electoral reform package, but it was Beijing's white paper in 2014 that set the tone for the resentment and frustration towards the mainland that resulted in the 79-day protest.

But the Chinese will never understand these things because they see things the way Beijing wants them to see them, ie: warped.

The fact is, is that seven police officers beat, punched, kicked and slapped a man already in custody. Yes he got into trouble with the law by pouring liquid on them, but that doesn't give the police license to assault him when he was already ziptied.

This is what is wrong and they are being punished for it.

Seems pretty straight forward, no?

As for former Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's conviction, there was probably no news about it at all on the mainland...

Editor's Red-faced Blunder

Hu Xijin's latest blunder was publicly exposed in anti-graft campaign

Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of Global Times, both Chinese and English versions is an interesting character.

For starters he's journalist worth respecting -- he has covered wars in Bosnia and Iraq for People's Daily, though he's hardly a charismatic-looking fellow. He has a kind of bowl haircut and hardly dresses like an editor, wearing jeans from the 1980s and shirts with sleeves that are too long for his stocky body.

At Global Times his goal seems to be to whip up as much nationalistic fervor has possible, which works in certain circumstances (South China Sea, Taiwan).

But some people like the younger generation see through the provoking opinions and stories and find the Global Times the kind of paper that likes to create attention for itself is tiring and self-serving.

So does it come as a surprise that Hu was recently reprimanded for breaching Communist Party rules by using the newspaper's funds for personal travel?

He and his deputy were ordered to pay back 6,417.90 yuan and write a self-criticism for the party disciplinary team at the People's Daily, according to a statement from the paper.

It confirmed a rumour that circulated online in September that Hu had been punished for changing the schedule of a China-Germany media forum in June 2013, where he arranged for guests to travel to Poland for three days. His newspaper covered the expenses.

The rumours led to people mocking Hu for quickly criticizing others, and yet he himself does not set a good example.

The public punishment of Hu was part of a self-inspection campaign at the People's Daily, which began when it was being scrutinized by an inspection team from the Communist Party's anti-corruption agency from June to August last year.

So this time Hu lost some big face, but he will probably recover soon enough -- with his next breaking story.

Having been through war twice, Hu has a pretty thick skin, and will survive to live another day.

The Chinese government seems so keen on showing that the country has more than one story to tell, and when it comes to state media, it's the various shades of red...