China

The Hugo cover-up

This entry was posted in Commentary News Writing and tagged China conventions fandom science fiction on by

It’s out in the open now: Legitimate Hugo Award candidates were disqualified because of Chinese censorship. A collection of internal email, posted on Document Cloud, shows that the committee reviewed “anything of a sensitive political nature.” Dave McCarty was specific about the reasons:

In addition to the regular technical review, as we are happening in China and the *laws* we operate under are different … we need to highlight anything of a sensitive political nature in the work. [Ellipses in the original]

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Another story of the Chengdu Worldcon 2

This entry was posted in News and tagged China fandom science fiction on by

This weekend, I heard a remarkable account from a science fiction writer who wanted to go to the Chengdu Worldcon. He was talking to a small group of people including me, but I don’t know if he wants it publicized, so I’ll omit his name.

To go to China you need a visa, which requires going through a Chinese embassy. He made his application and, as requested, listed his professional affiliations. One of them, not surprisingly, was SFWA. He was asked what the abbreviation stood for and explained it’s “Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.” (The name has changed once or twice while keeping the abbreviation.) This got some alarmed responses, and he was told they’d have to get back to him. The process dragged on without a decision. Finally, a few weeks before the con, he withdrew his application so he wouldn’t have a denied visa request on is record.
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The Tianwen project

This entry was posted in Commentary News and tagged censorship China science fiction on by

File 770 has a fascinating article, “Decoding the Tianwen Project”, about the Chinese government’s aims to achieve a dominant position in the science fiction world. The piece is “posted anonymously to protect the author’s identity, as the author is part of the Chinese diaspora who occasionally travels to China.”

China has already engaged in censorship outside its borders through its print shops. It pressured Disney into killing nearly all the distribution of Kundun, which presents the Dalai Lama favorably and Mao unfavorably. A CNN article says China has “the world’s largest known online disinformation operation.”
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Hugo nominees mysteriously declared ineligible

This entry was posted in Censorship Commentary News and tagged censorship China conventions fandom science fiction on by

The detailed statistics for the 2023 Hugo Awards voting are finally out, and they’ve triggered a controversy. A number of nominees were declared ineligible without explanation.

Kevin Standlee, who has played important roles in running many fan conventions, noted:

An overwhelming majority of the members of WSFS who voted on the site of the 2023 Worldcon (at the 2021 Worldcon in DC) selected Chengdu, China as the host of the 2023 Worldcon. That meant that the members of WSFS who expressed an opinion accepted that the convention would be held under Chinese legal conditions. Furthermore, those people (including me) who suggested that there might be election irregularities were overridden, shouted down, fired from their convention positions, and told that they were evil and probably racist for even suggesting such a thing.

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Coping with Chinese disinformation 1

This entry was posted in Commentary Writing and tagged China research writing on by

When researching and writing material about China, you have to be aware of the Chinese government’s disinformation efforts. People who speak out against it are apt to be the targets of systematic insults and character assassination. If you’re operating on a small level, you probably won’t be bothered. Even though my articles on boycotting the Chengdu Worldcon did well in the search engines, I’ve received only one clear threat with a Chinese connection.

CNN has reported on “the world’s largest known online disinformation operation”:

The Chinese government has built up the world’s largest known online disinformation operation and is using it to harass US residents, politicians, and businesses—at times threatening its targets with violence. …

The onslaught of attacks – often of a vile and deeply personal nature – is part of a well-organized, increasingly brazen Chinese government intimidation campaign targeting people in the United States, documents show.

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