The Chinese government has a new ally when it comes to enforcing its official line on Taiwan: celebrities.
Tensions over the island’s status, which Beijing claims as part of its “One China” policy, have been exacerbated by a series of recent incidents, including a high-profile visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and comments on the island from President Joe Biden, who suggested the US was ready to “militarily” defend Taiwan.
This has prompted an angry backlash from officials in Beijing, who have accused the US of violating its long-standing commitment to uphold its One China policy. But there has also been a renewed propaganda push aimed at getting the association’s message to the Chinese and Taiwanese public.
As experts on Chinese cultural politics, we observed how the highly controversial series of events not only changed regional dynamics around Taiwan, but also penetrated Chinese popular culture – employing celebrities to deliver One China messages to fans and social media followers to spread.
It’s part of a broader trend we’ve been investigating, and forms the basis of an upcoming China Quarterly article on Chinese celebrity political signals. According to our analysis, 85% of the top 218 celebrities in China reposted official government news on their social media accounts at least once within a six-month period we observed in the second half of 2021.
The power of Weibo
This phenomenon has continued into 2022 and was observed during and after Pelosi’s visit. On August 2, the day the speaker of the House of Representatives landed in Taiwan, state media company China Central Television (CCTV) published a post on Weibo, a Chinese-owned Twitter-like social media platform, with the message: “There is only one China in the world.”
Within hours, Chinese celebrities began relaying this message to their extensive networks of followers. They included Xie Na, a 41-year-old popular TV host and actress with 128 million followers on Weibo, and Jackson Yee, a 22-year-old singer, dancer and actor who was ranked the No. 1 celebrity in Forbes 2021 Chinese celebrity list. Taiwanese celebrities such as Chen Qiaoen and Wu Qilong also retweeted this message, albeit about a day later.
Taiwanese celebrities who reposted the news were praised by Chinese media and fans for their outspoken political stance. An article in Chinese tabloid Global Times quoted an online fan as praising Taiwanese celebrities for reposting the one-China message: “Well done! To venture support at this moment must be sincere.”
A prominent news outlet even went so far as to publish an article listing more than 20 Taiwanese celebrities who republished One China, praising them for “assuming the responsibility of expressing political support.”
The article also lists 11 Taiwanese celebrities who didn’t retweet the One China message, suggesting fans will judge them accordingly.
Indeed, celebrities who did not repost the news have been called to silence it, with fans demanding that they show their support for the government. Hebe Tien, a well-known Taiwanese singer with 13 million followers on Weibo, was among those targeted by angry Chinese fans and media for failing to repost the One China message.
Posts become political
Chinese celebrities haven’t always been so politically active on social media when it comes to issues like Taiwan.
Actors, singers, and TV personalities use Weibo, which launched in 2009 and has nearly 600 million monthly active users, to share snippets of their personal lives, promote their work, endorse commercial products, and connect with fans . But until the mid-2010s, they barely engaged in politics.
But since Chinese President Xi Jinping’s second term began in 2017, more and more celebrities have used their accounts to repost official state messages.
This is especially true on important political anniversaries such as the founding of the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Republic of China. For example, on July 1, 2021, Yang Mi, an actress with 112 million followers on Weibo, released a CCTV quote by Xi on the centenary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party: “If a people have ideals, their country will be strong, and their nation will have a bright future.”
These celebrity reposts often receive hundreds of thousands of user interactions, including reposts, comments, and likes.
This effectively promotes official news to an exponentially larger social media network. CCTV’s Weibo account, which sent the One China message to coincide with Pelosi’s visit, has 130 million followers. Xie Na, a leading pro-Beijing celebrity, has 128 million followers alone – and she is one of many who reposted the message.
As we detail in our upcoming article, “Political Signals from Chinese Celebrities on Weibo,” Chinese celebrities began reposting official news when it became important for their career prospects.
As the entertainment industry grew rapidly in the 2000s, the Chinese government began to develop explicit policies to regulate and control celebrities, their cultural products, media platforms, fan groups, and professional associations.
Call for “depraved artists”
In 2014, the State Administration for Press, Publications, Radio, Film and Television issued a notice urging all broadcasting platforms to block “polluted artists” – celebrities who engage in illegal behavior or acts mandated by the government considered problematic, such as B. drug use, prostitution, tax evasion, extramarital affairs and political incorrectness. This last category includes support for Hong Kong or Taiwan independence.
Since then, the phrase “depraved artists” has entered public discourse and is used by people online to criticize celebrities.
Under tightened political scrutiny, Chinese celebrities have promoted what scholars Jian Xu and Ling Yang have described as “a neoliberal subjectivity with Chinese characteristics.” In other words, Chinese celebrities see pleasing the state as an effective way to reach a market.
State-sponsored celebrities are given rare opportunities to appear on state television, star in state-sponsored films and television dramas, serve as ambassadors for government agencies, and attend important national conferences.
As such, celebrities have strong incentives to comply with government demands in pursuit of career, fame, and fortune. It’s also important to acknowledge that some celebrities genuinely want to support the government and promote its policies.
Anyway, the majority of celebrities on Weibo repeat government positions like the One China message. Our analysis found that only 15% of the top 218 celebrities — a list we compiled by reviewing both Forbes’ annual list of Chinese celebrities from 2004 to 2020 and online follower size — were in the ones we selected analyzed six months of no official government message re-released from June to November 2021.
For those who reposted, the frequency of reposting varied from just one to 33 times over the six months.
Our analysis found that younger celebrities with more followers tend to repost official messages more often. This finding challenges the conventional wisdom that young people tend to be more politically critical and rebellious. It also aligns with a recent study of public opinion in China, which found that the Xi generation – those who have come of age in the past decade – are more authoritarian-leaning than previous generations.
legitimacy of state positions
The retransmission of official state messages by celebrities could have far-reaching consequences.
When it comes to politically sensitive events, Chinese citizens often go to celebrities’ Weibo accounts to learn their stance. Regarding Taiwan, heightened nationalist sentiments seemingly prompted users to watch celebrities and expect them to express their support for the Chinese government.
Furthermore, reposting official messages from celebrities serves to make popular culture a key tool for the Chinese government to legitimize its position on sensitive issues.
Dan Chen, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond and Gengsong Gao, Associate Professor of Chinese Studies, University of Richmond
This article was republished by The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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