Pranking the Global Times: Ai Weiwei and a lesson in propaganda
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The Global Times is a state-run tabloid with a reputation for nationalism and feisty rhetoric. But today, it posted an editorial describing the rules of online civility. The outer limits of good taste, apparently, stop at the personal cell phone number of Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin.
Ai Weiwei, artist provocateur and critic of the Chinese Communist Party, on Sunday publicly posted Hu's digits along with others he deemed emblematic of the "wu mao" -- 50 cents, the amount allegedly paid to Chinese state propaganda operatives for each online posting.
The Global Times did not think this was funny. In a column headlined "Lack of ethics is ruining Chinese Web," the paper said of Ai that: "he should be cautious about his behavior, by invading the privacy of his criticizers because of criticism against him, he negated the expectations of those around him."
To get a sense of how strange the experience of reading propaganda in China can be , let's pare this down. We'll put aside discussion of the censorship regime used to choke domestic access to corners of the Internet that don't meet with Beijing's approval. We also will not delve into past Global Times editorials that attacked Ai. Nor will we contemplate the $2.4 million tax bill handed to him by Chinese authorities.
Instead, bear in mind just this one fact: Ai Weiwei was earlier this year held in an undisclosed location for 81 days. He simply disappeared into the hands of state security for almost three months. You'll have to remember it, because as the Global Times complains that Ai's posting of peoples' phone numbers made "them suffer from many prank calls," it does not once acknowledge his confinement:
相反的，我们只需记住这样一个事实：艾未未在今年早些时候被关押在一处未透露的地方81天。他消失在国保的手中几乎三个月。你必须记得，因为当环球时报抱怨艾公布电话搞得“他们遭受很多恶作剧电话的骚扰”，这个报纸并没有一次提到艾的监禁：（下面是环球时报英文报到的原文）
