In a series of crackdowns that included big tech firms, entertainment stars, business magnets, China is now targeting the LGBTQ community.

Fabien Baussart, writing in The Times of Israel said that China's communist government is coming down heavily on the LGBTQ community, initiating measures to keep them under constant surveillance in a university and instructing broadcasters to stop using "effeminate men" in television programmes in order to promote "revolutionary culture".

In a country where there is no legal recognition of same-sex relationships or marriage, the attempt of the Chinese Communist Party to gain control over the country's education, culture and entertainment is ending up interfering in people's private lives.

In the latest crackdown on entertainment programmes on television, the Chinese television regulator is heard saying, "resolutely put an end to sissy men and other abnormal esthetics". The insulting slang used for "effeminate men" is "niang pao", literally, "girlie guns," wrote Baussart.

The official concern is that television programmes are not encouraging China's young men to be masculine enough, instead of copying, as some Chinese pop stars do, the sleek, girlish look of some South Korean and Japanese singers and actors.

"China has instituted stricter censorship of LGBTQ and related terms on social media. Earlier this summer, social media giant WeChat deleted the official accounts of over a dozen student-run LGBT groups," echoed The Diplomat.

The social media swoop down came as a surprise because in recent times the Chinese government had left the LGBTQ community alone.

In July first week, WeChat, China's most popular messaging app, shut down without notice scores of LGBTQ accounts operated by university students. It came as a shock because it was the biggest and coordinated censorship targeting the community in several years.

As per The Times of Israel, this was done in response to an event in China a few weeks ago. Soccer star Li Ying created history when she became the first woman sportsperson to come out openly as gay. She posted a series of photographs on social media, including some with her partner.

The post on Weibo went viral and suddenly without explanation, it was deleted. The soccer star has not posted anything ever since. The Chinese state media did not report the incident at all. There is no official reaction to date.

Worse things were in store for the community. The media has reported that Shanghai University, which has three campuses in the Chinese city, is preparing a list of "non-heterosexual" students and those belonging to "LGBTQ rainbow groups", said Baussart.

Apart from denying several rights to them, the Chinese government has over time done things like equating homosexuality with violence and obscenity, censoring references on television, and promoting books referring to homosexuality as a mental illness, reported The Times of Israel.

It was only in 2001 that China removed homosexuality -- decriminalized in 1997 -- from its official list of mental disorders.

In a series of crackdowns that included big tech firms, entertainment stars, business magnets, China is now targeting the LGBTQ community. Fabien Baussart, writing in The Times of Israel said that China's communist government is coming down heavily on the LGBTQ community, initiating measures to keep them under constant surveillance in a university and instructing broadcasters to stop using "effeminate men" in television programmes in order to promote "revolutionary culture".

In a series of crackdowns that included big tech firms, entertainment stars, business magnets, China is now targeting the LGBTQ community. Fabien Baussart, writing in The Times of Israel said that China's communist government is coming down heavily on the LGBTQ community, initiating measures to keep them under constant surveillance in a university and instructing broadcasters to stop using "effeminate men" in television programmes in order to promote "revolutionary culture". In a country where there is no legal recognition of same-sex relationships or marriage, the attempt of the Chinese Communist Party to gain control over the country's education, culture and entertainment is ending up interfering in people's private lives. In the latest crackdown on entertainment programmes on television, the Chinese television regulator is heard saying, "resolutely put an end to sissy men and other abnormal esthetics". The insulting slang used for "effeminate men" is "niang pao", literally, "girlie guns," wrote Baussart. The official concern is that television programmes are not encouraging China's young men to be masculine enough, instead of copying, as some Chinese pop stars do, the sleek, girlish look of some South Korean and Japanese singers and actors. "China has instituted stricter censorship of LGBTQ and related terms on social media. Earlier this summer, social media giant WeChat deleted the official accounts of over a dozen student-run LGBT groups," echoed The Diplomat. The social media swoop down came as a surprise because in recent times the Chinese government had left the LGBTQ community alone. In July first week, WeChat, China's most popular messaging app, shut down without notice scores of LGBTQ accounts operated by university students. It came as a shock because it was the biggest and coordinated censorship targeting the community in several years. As per The Times of Israel, this was done in response to an event in China a few weeks ago. Soccer star Li Ying created history when she became the first woman sportsperson to come out openly as gay. She posted a series of photographs on social media, including some with her partner. The post on Weibo went viral and suddenly without explanation, it was deleted. The soccer star has not posted anything ever since. The Chinese state media did not report the incident at all. There is no official reaction to date. Worse things were in store for the community. The media has reported that Shanghai University, which has three campuses in the Chinese city, is preparing a list of "non-heterosexual" students and those belonging to "LGBTQ rainbow groups", said Baussart. Apart from denying several rights to them, the Chinese government has over time done things like equating homosexuality with violence and obscenity, censoring references on television, and promoting books referring to homosexuality as a mental illness, reported The Times of Israel. It was only in 2001 that China removed homosexuality -- decriminalized in 1997 -- from its official list of mental disorders.

LGBTQ students targeted, face crackdown in China

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken took down a tweet in which he declared the US would "stand with the people of Hong Kong," accusing Beijing of undermining the city's long-term political stability.

He sent the statement after seven opposition district councillors in Hong Kong were disqualified this week after officials declared their oaths to be invalid.&nbsp;

On September 16, Blinken tweeted his disapproval in a direct manner. 
 
<img alt="Blinken" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d816277f-a997-4307-810f-cacff10485b0" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/blinken.JPG" />

On the same day, US State Department spokesman Ned Price tweeted the same message, which was also deleted.

A day later, Blinken sent a more moderate tweet, removing the US offer to stand with Hong Kong residents and the obvious exhortation to Beijing to listen to the voices of all Hong Kong residents.&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The PRC’s disqualification of seven pro-democracy district councilors undermines the ability of people in Hong Kong to participate in their governance. Governments should serve the people they represent. Decreasing representation goes against the spirit of Hong Kong’s Basic Law.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1438615977680322563?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

(With inputs from agencies)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken took down a tweet in which he declared the US would "stand with the people of Hong Kong," accusing Beijing of undermining the city's long-term political stability.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken took down a tweet in which he declared the US would "stand with the people of Hong Kong," accusing Beijing of undermining the city's long-term political stability. He sent the statement after seven opposition district councillors in Hong Kong were disqualified this week after officials declared their oaths to be invalid. On September 16, Blinken tweeted his disapproval in a direct manner. On the same day, US State Department spokesman Ned Price tweeted the same message, which was also deleted. A day later, Blinken sent a more moderate tweet, removing the US offer to stand with Hong Kong residents and the obvious exhortation to Beijing to listen to the voices of all Hong Kong residents. The PRC’s disqualification of seven pro-democracy district councilors undermines the ability of people in Hong Kong to participate in their governance. Governments should serve the people they represent. Decreasing representation goes against the spirit of Hong Kong’s Basic Law. — Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) September 16, 2021 × (With inputs from agencies)

'US would stand with people of Hong Kong', tweets Blinken; later deletes it

China is a leader in pandemic response, Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen is a swindler, support ruling Hong Kong by law, and pro-democracy protesters are American puppets.

This is dirty Chinese propaganda and Twitter is trying to block it. The social media platform deleted more than 170,000 accounts linked to the Chinese government.

Twitter said it had dismantled "Chinese state-linked" networks run by a "highly engaged core" of 23,750 accounts and boosted by a further 150,000 "amplifier" accounts.

So far -- this is the biggest clean-up of Chinese fake news on any social media platform. China has been caught peddling deceitful propaganda. A vast majority of these accounts had few or no followers at all.

But they had a high level of engagement this meant -- the Chinese government is using an internet bot to boost its propaganda tweets most of these accounts were hacked or bought.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-twitter-deletes-chinese-propaganda-accounts-305485/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

They were used to twist the narrative in china's favour. The tweets mostly cover four major themes first -- China leading the global response to the pandemic. Tweets showing Chinese healthcare workers sending testing kits and medical aid workers around the world. Posts claiming China's pandemic response was the best in the world.

Stealing credit from Taiwan second theme -- targeting Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen posts like these. Safe Tsai Ing-wen, prosperous people can cure the Tsai Ing-wen disease. Tweets calling the Taiwan president a swindler.

Third theme discrediting Hong Kong’s protestor’s posts said trump is interfering in Hong Kong linking pro-democracy activists to the US government.

Cultural Revolution-style cartoons depicted activists as traitors. The worst is the image that shows protesters as cockroaches fourth theme targeting America highlighting the anti-racism riots one image showed the statue of liberty kneeling on George Floyd’s neck there were posts accusing the US of hypocrisy for its criticism of the Hong Kong police the list of china's propaganda tweets is a very long one the clean-up has begun.

China is a leader in pandemic response, Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen is a swindler, support ruling Hong Kong by law, and pro-democracy protesters are American puppets.

China is a leader in pandemic response, Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen is a swindler, support ruling Hong Kong by law, and pro-democracy protesters are American puppets. This is dirty Chinese propaganda and Twitter is trying to block it. The social media platform deleted more than 170,000 accounts linked to the Chinese government. Twitter said it had dismantled "Chinese state-linked" networks run by a "highly engaged core" of 23,750 accounts and boosted by a further 150,000 "amplifier" accounts. So far -- this is the biggest clean-up of Chinese fake news on any social media platform. China has been caught peddling deceitful propaganda. A vast majority of these accounts had few or no followers at all. But they had a high level of engagement this meant -- the Chinese government is using an internet bot to boost its propaganda tweets most of these accounts were hacked or bought. They were used to twist the narrative in china's favour. The tweets mostly cover four major themes first -- China leading the global response to the pandemic. Tweets showing Chinese healthcare workers sending testing kits and medical aid workers around the world. Posts claiming China's pandemic response was the best in the world. Stealing credit from Taiwan second theme -- targeting Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen posts like these. Safe Tsai Ing-wen, prosperous people can cure the Tsai Ing-wen disease. Tweets calling the Taiwan president a swindler. Third theme discrediting Hong Kong’s protestor’s posts said trump is interfering in Hong Kong linking pro-democracy activists to the US government. Cultural Revolution-style cartoons depicted activists as traitors. The worst is the image that shows protesters as cockroaches fourth theme targeting America highlighting the anti-racism riots one image showed the statue of liberty kneeling on George Floyd’s neck there were posts accusing the US of hypocrisy for its criticism of the Hong Kong police the list of china's propaganda tweets is a very long one the clean-up has begun.

In a blow to Beijing's influence campaign, Twitter deletes over 170,000 accounts for spreading Chinese government narratives

Chinese govt suspends additional tariffs on U.S. made automobile & other goods. Beijing has planned to impose 25% duty on U.S. Automobile products. This looks like a trade-truce between the China and United States.

China suspends additional tariffs on U.S. made automobile & other goods

chinese-govt

Chinese Govt, News on Chinese Govt, stories on Chinese Govt, articles on Chinese Govt, Chinese Govt stories at Wion, Chinese Govt news, Chinese Govt latest news

chinese govt

LGBTQ students targeted, face crackdown in China

'US would stand with people of Hong Kong', tweets Blinken; later deletes it

In a blow to Beijing's influence campaign, Twitter deletes over 170,000 accounts for spreading Chinese government narratives

China suspends additional tariffs on U.S. made automobile & other goods