China’s War on History Is Growing

The government is inviting snitches to report on “historical nihilism.”

By Johanna M. Costigan, a writer and junior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.

An older man walks past a mural of Maoist hero Lei Feng

A man walks past a mural of Maoist hero Lei Feng in Shaxi, China, on May 29. STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

SEPTEMBER 23, 2022, 2:05 PM

On Sept. 20, popular Chinese livestreamer Li Jiaqi, known as the “lipstick king” for his impressive ability to push sales of lipstick and other makeup products, reappeared on Chinese streams for the first time in three months. Li had disappeared from the Chinese internet for a mistake he probably had no idea he was making. In the middle of his summer sales push, on June 3, one of his employees brought out a cake in the shape of a tank. Alas, June 4 is the anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre of 1989, and the Chinese authorities relentlessly police any hint of commemoration.

Li and many of his fans were born after the massacre occurred. They may not have even been aware it happened. China has long policed historical memory, deleting and rewriting references to past atrocities and insisting on adherence to official narratives. As President Xi Jinping said in a speech last year, “know history; love the party.” Today, that relentless censorship is increasingly focused online.

Ahead of the critical 20th Party Congress starting on Oct.16, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) is inviting netizens to snitch on those guilty of “historical nihilism.”

 

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