Local guards turned violent on Sunday when people wearing and giving out rainbow badges at Beijing’s trendy 798 art district were reported as holding an “illegal gathering.” The badges were meant to raise awareness for the International Day Against Homophobia.
This article was updated on Monday, May 14, 17:30 (Beijing time).
On Sunday, May 13, an altercation between people wearing rainbow badges and local guards at the Beijing 798 art district caused much commotion on Chinese social media after footage leaked online, showing at least one female being knocked to the ground.
According to sources on Weibo, there were people giving out rainbow buttons for free to celebrate International Day Against Homophobia (May 17/国际不再恐同日) before the altercation occurred, but there are no official media sources reporting on the incident at time of writing. (Update 05/14: Global Times has now reported that “security staff at Beijing’s 798 Art Zone who roughed up two women for wearing rainbow badges on their clothing have been harshly criticized by LGBT groups and other netizens on Chinese social media on Sunday.”)
Buttons in support of the LGBT community at 798 art district.
WeChat lifestyle blogger Zakki (@zakki吉吉), however, did report on the issue, saying that Weibo netizen Piao Quan Jun (@票圈君) was one of the initiators behind the idea to give out badges in support of May 17 at the 798 art park.
Via Wechat / @zakki吉吉
Other people on Weibo also posted photos of the event, which showed that besides giving out badges, Piao Quan Jun also gave out free hugs to people.
On Sunday late afternoon, police cars allegedly came to monitor the area where the people were giving out the badges, and the activity was marked as an “illegal gathering.” Local guards started to surveil the area and denied entrance to the park to those wearing rainbow badges.
The 798 art zone is a relatively large area that used to be an old factory complex, and has now turned into an artistic community area full of exposition spaces, restaurants, and shops. It previously was the main venue for the annual Beijing Queer Film Festival.
According to Zakki, things turned violent when two females and guards clashed over the rainbow badges, which is the moment of the video that is going viral.
Although the topic was discussed by many on Weibo and WeChat, articles and videos of the incident were soon taken offline.
“Today we won’t be silent,” one Weibo user wrote: “We will raise our voice for love. Although it scares us what happened today at 798, we cannot give up our right to love and be loved.”
By Sunday late night (Beijing time) the hashtag “798 Beating” (#798打人#) received more than 250,000 views. Hours later, the page and hashtag were taken offline.
“Are public security guards allowed to beat people?” a typical comment read.
Today, China's LGBT team is holding a rainbow pin in the Beijing 798 art district. During the event,Chinese secret service members are against LGBT activities beat up a lesbian. This is the status quo of Chinese women's survival and the status quo of Chinese homosexuals. How sad! pic.twitter.com/000L66mefl
“Today, for now, I won’t discuss homosexuality or LGBT, I just want to discuss why you beat someone at all. What gives you the right?”, one commenter said.
Censorship on gay-related issues and content in China has recently gained more attention on social media sites such as Weibo. Last month, Weibo administration issued a notice saying it would no longer allow “gay content” on the site, which was reversed within days after an online uproar against the ban.
This week, China broadcast of the Eurovision Contest was revoked after Chinese broadcaster Mango TV edited out rainbow flags and other gay-related footage of the semi-final on its channel.
“I have difficulties understanding why our country would prohibit homosexuality,” one Weibo user writes: “Isn’t it a normal thing? Is it because it is not in line with your family planning program?”
Manya Koetse is the founder and editor-in-chief of whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer, public speaker, and researcher (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends, digital developments, and new media in an ever-changing China, with a focus on Chinese society, pop culture, and gender issues. She shares her love for hotpot on hotpotambassador.com. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.
good. give the Lbgt a good beating. Chinese lgbt are western idolising degenerates. they don’t care about Chinese culture, they only care about copying western culture.
What a stupid uneducated comment. As if anybody would show his preference for a culture through sexual orientation ?. In this way of thinking, eating hamburgers or wearing addidas is a sign of western idolizing too. But back to reality: homosexuality was seen as normal in Chinese history. Opposition to homosexuality started in China through the Westernization efforts of the Qing dynasty. So the contrary is right: homosexuality is a part of Chinese culture, homophobia is copying western cultures and religion.
@Lee the problem is homosexuality is only interested in ugly activism and ugly visibility, and yes expressing your sexuality is no point of pride, or individual accomplishment, no contest, just exhibitionism at it’s worst, poluting the scenery with all sorts of gender bending concepts, disreputable exhibitionism, and zombie like conduct. You see the worst aspect of homosexual activism exactly from Western Cultures, and not following it in part because of the way LGBT groups conduct themselves in Western cultures, if they were something like Japan where they act honorably and cultured, then you might see better perception for homosexual visibility in the future. As from the video, I notice the woman threw the first punch and that is another ugly sight of this sort of activism, these people just do not respect the law or civility until they face the consequences, the same can be said with LGBT activism, they are just creating their own separate identity, and expect others to subvert their own culture and national identity to include the LGBT into the mainstream. This is not going to work, LGBT movement of the Western activism concept seems nothing more than a tool to destroy social cohesion within a country and community and in the end leads to no good path forward.
It was a top headline on Baidu News on Saturday, March 25: while delivering a speech to the Canadian parliament on Friday, U.S. President Biden said he “applauded China for stepping up,” quickly correcting himself and saying he meant to say ‘Canada’ instead of ‘China.’
Biden was giving the speech in Ottowa during a state visit to Canada, during which the U.S. President and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau held bilateral talks discussing various security issues.
In the speech, Biden reaffirmed the strong relations between Canada and the United States.
At the moment of Biden’s gaffe, he said: “So today I applaud China for stepping up,” before correcting himself and making a quick joke: “Excuse me, I applaud Canada. You can tell what I’m thinking…about China. We won’t get into that yet.”
Ahead of the state visit, Trudeau spoke to CNN about U.S.-Canada relations and China, stating that there are areas in which they will “going to have to directly challenge China” on issues such as human rights and security. He said: “We’re going to have to continue to be wide-eyed and clear about the threat that China poses and wants to pose to the stability of our democracies.”
Regarding Biden’s gaffe, Chinese media were quick to jump on it and soon the incident spread on Weibo using various hashtags (“Biden Corrects Himself after Saying He Applauds China” #拜登称为中国鼓掌后改口#; “Biden Accidentally Says He Applauds China” #拜登口误为中国鼓掌#).
Chinese state media outlet Global Times (环球网) posted one of the most popular posts on the matter, which included a video of the moment, receiving over 82,000 likes.
But other big accounts, such as the Communist Youth League, also posted about the moment.
“Even if he dreams, he still thinks of China,” one top comment said, with others replying things such as: “He just can’t keep China out of his mouth.”
Some people also suggested it was a Freudian slip, and that Biden actually said what he was thinking: “Finally he said what he feels!” and “he loves China.”
China’s Communist Youth League also posted a meme about Biden allegedly also saying “US-China relations” instead of “US-Canada relations” during a bilateral meeting in 2021.
At one time in 2022, Biden apparently also mixed up “Ukraine” and “China” during a speech.
By now, Biden’s mix-ups and mistakes have become a regular occurrence, something that was already covered byThe New York Times as early as 2019.
One meme on Chinese social media featured Joe Biden and Donald Trump side by side wearing a 1960s PLA uniform, the flag of the Communist Party in the background.
Trump was previously also jokingly called “Comrade Trump” on Chinese social media, saying he was the man “making China great again,” suggesting that his policies and actions inadvertently contributed to China’s rise. For this reason, he was also nicknamed “Build the Country Trump” (川建国) and ‘Comrade Jianguo’ (建国同志 [Comrade Build-Country]).
For a similar reason, Biden is now also nicknamed “Boosting China Biden” (拜振华). Both ‘Build the Country Trump’ and ‘Boosting China Biden’ are written in such ways that they could pass as Chinese names, which is part of the joke.
Some netizens playfully warned Biden and Trump about being careful not to give themselves away: “Please, comrades, be careful about hiding your true identity!”
“Comrade Boost China Biden, thanks for your hard work,” another jokingly wrote.
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As Chinese experts and local authorities across the country are thinking of new ways to encourage couples to have more children in light of China’s dropping birth rates, this latest measure announced by Shanxi’s Zhezhou County has sparked controversy.
Dropping birth rates have been a major concern for Chinese authorities for years now, and in light of the recent Two Sessions and its aftermath, it has become a bigger topic of discussion on Chinese social media.
To encourage young people to marry and have more children, various initiatives have been suggested or implemented, with a particular focus on the role education plays in this matter.
One recent proposal from an expert has been to shorten the education period as a means to promote China’s birth rates. This includes the idea of eliminating the middle school entrance exam to reduce two years of elementary and middle school education to allow young people to start their post-graduate life at an earlier age.
Earlier this month, another measure that also focuses on education in the context of boosting birth rates sparked heated debates on Weibo.
The measure was introduced by the local government of Zezhou County, a county in the southeast of Shanxi province. The idea entails that families of two children or more will receive benefits in education; their second or third child would get ten additional points in their senior high school exams (zhongkao 中考).
The related hashtag, titled “Second or Third Children from Shanxi’s Zezhou County Will Receive an Additional 10 points in the Senior High School Entrance Exam” (#山西泽州二三孩中考将加10分#) received over 120 million views in less than two days.
On Chinese social media, most netizens responded to this proposed measure with indignation, arguing that it violates the basic principle of exam equality.
In response, one popular legal blogger on Weibo called ‘Lawyer Zhuang Zhiming’ (@庄志明律师) published an article titled: “Shanxi’s Zezhou County Giving Families with Two/Three Kids Extra Zhongkao Points – How Did Such a Brainless Policy Come About?” (“山西泽州二、三孩家庭中考加分,如此弱智政策是怎么出台的?”)
In the article, the author vehemently criticized the policy, stating that it goes against the basic spirit of education equality and describing it as a “devilish measure against the times” (“逆时代的魔鬼之操作”).
In addition to being unfair to one-child families, the author argues that the policy also treats the first child of two or three children families unequally since they cannot receive the extra bonus points while their younger siblings can.
Many users on Weibo also agree with this argument, stating that the policy creates a situation where the first-born child is “inherently placed at a disadvantage,” “starting one step behind the others.”
The cover of the official notice from the Zezhou county government regarding their measurements for promoting the balanced development of population. Image from Sina Weibo’s post.
Other netizens also criticized this policy, viewing it as an extreme family planning policy. One Weibo post under the hashtag suggests that this policy is similar to measures taken during the one-child policy era and creates inequality to compel people to realize the state’s birth rate goals.
Another Weibo user stated: “When we were young, our parents were fined for having multiple children, while we watched families with one child or two daughters receive bonus points. Now that we’ve grown up and can’t afford to have more children, we’re watching those with two or three children receive bonus points.”
Some also expressed anger and frustration in the comments sections, saying these kinds of policies make them feel pressured to have children and actually makes them feel like not having kids altogether.
“Just don’t have babies at all,” one person wrote, while another comment said: “If we would treat humans as actual humans, we could avoid strange occurrences like this.”
In mid-March, Sina Newsreported that the local government responded that the policy is not active yet and is being implemented in “one or two years.”
In addition to the extra points for the senior high school entrance exam, the local authorities have come up with other measures that benefit families with two or three children, including exemption from outpatient registration fees in the county’s public hospitals, an additional sixty days of maternity leave for the third child, 50% off (second child) or no fees (third child) for county public kindergartens, and free after-school childcare services.
Although these local initiatives have drawn a lot of criticism, some people also applaud them.
Phoenix Weekly‘s Weibo account posted about all the measures taken by the local government, and one person replied: “This is the most effective policy I have seen so far. If Shanghai were to implement such measures, the birth rate would increase very quickly.”
Other netizens also suggested that the policy may not be as harmful as some claim it is. In response to concerns about the policy’s impact on education equality, some point out that the extra points are only added if students take the zhongkao for high schools located within the county. They, therefore, suggest the measure could actually decrease competition for urban schools, since there will be no bonus points for those entrance exams.
Another Weibo user trivialized the policy’s impact by suggesting that “there are no good high schools in the county, so [the policy] won’t have much of an influence [on education equality] at all.”
While the policy’s scope is limited to the county level and may not significantly affect the lives of most individuals, most commenters in these online discussions still see it as a challenge to the fundamental values of equality, merit-based education, and individual autonomy over family planning.
Many people doubt the effectiveness of manipulating the education system to boost birth rates and argue that addressing the broader socio-economic context is the only viable solution: “The government’s priority should be to ensure high-quality basic services for children and to maintain these standards. When people feel happy, they may be more willing to have children. Improving the quality of child-rearing and education is more crucial than increasing the quantity of children.”
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nolgbt
May 14, 2018 at 4:46 am
good. give the Lbgt a good beating. Chinese lgbt are western idolising degenerates. they don’t care about Chinese culture, they only care about copying western culture.
Lee
May 14, 2018 at 10:22 am
What a stupid uneducated comment. As if anybody would show his preference for a culture through sexual orientation ?. In this way of thinking, eating hamburgers or wearing addidas is a sign of western idolizing too. But back to reality: homosexuality was seen as normal in Chinese history. Opposition to homosexuality started in China through the Westernization efforts of the Qing dynasty. So the contrary is right: homosexuality is a part of Chinese culture, homophobia is copying western cultures and religion.
LGBTZYZxxxdsyzaaa
May 15, 2018 at 7:43 am
@Lee the problem is homosexuality is only interested in ugly activism and ugly visibility, and yes expressing your sexuality is no point of pride, or individual accomplishment, no contest, just exhibitionism at it’s worst, poluting the scenery with all sorts of gender bending concepts, disreputable exhibitionism, and zombie like conduct. You see the worst aspect of homosexual activism exactly from Western Cultures, and not following it in part because of the way LGBT groups conduct themselves in Western cultures, if they were something like Japan where they act honorably and cultured, then you might see better perception for homosexual visibility in the future. As from the video, I notice the woman threw the first punch and that is another ugly sight of this sort of activism, these people just do not respect the law or civility until they face the consequences, the same can be said with LGBT activism, they are just creating their own separate identity, and expect others to subvert their own culture and national identity to include the LGBT into the mainstream. This is not going to work, LGBT movement of the Western activism concept seems nothing more than a tool to destroy social cohesion within a country and community and in the end leads to no good path forward.