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CCP

Rationale behind China’s overtures

China recently invited journalists from a select media network to Beijing, entertained them, and arranged interactions with select officials who parroted the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) line on Indo-China ties.

Catch a spy

Reds under your beds? On the contrary. Beijing, it seems, sees insidious forces bent on undermining it absolutely everywhere, according…

Shanghaied

Reeling under a massive Covid-19 outbreak of the BA.2 variant, what is happening in the city of 26 million people which accounts for 3-5 per cent of China’s GDP according to some estimates, is an illustration of the overreach of an absolutist state.

Fandom threat

The attempt to control fandom culture is part of the matrix of supressing youth entertainment in China, including severe restrictions on online gaming. Some like David Bandurski, co-director of the China Media Project partnered by the University of Hong Kong, say all this talk of rescuing Chinese youth from their own appetites is in fact a smokescreen for a far more serious purpose.

Communist calisthenics

There’s also no indication that the CCP leadership will change its position on the rights curbs in Xinjiang and Hong Kong or back off from the intense pressure it is exerting on Taiwan not to harbour any ambitions of independence.

Cheer for sport is a cheer for CCP

China’s reputation worsened after the safety of tennis star Peng Shuai, an alleged sexual assault victim, became a matter of international concern. Domestically, however, the Olympics are portrayed as something that benefits the Chinese people – a way for Chinese athletes to achieve glory and to showcase the Communist Party’s ability to execute a worldclass sporting event. The underlying narrative glorifies the regime and legitimises the CCP’s institutions and practices.