conventions

The Chengdu Worldcon’s speech code

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged censorship China conventions fandom on by

The China Worldcon finally released a progress report, much later in the cycle than normal. The prospect of heavy Western attendance at the con is dead, but I’d like to focus here on the Code of Conduct, and in particular on the speech-related rules. The PR says:

Discrimination (based on but not limited to, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation,
gender identity, neuro-diversity, physical appearance, body size, or physical/mental disability) will
not be tolerated. Racism and politicization are where discrimination prevails.
 

Any acts of aggression, contempt, indifference or offensive words and abusive behavior are
unacceptable, such as judging people of color as less knowledgeable about fannish topics, or
provoking unrelated political topics to attack people of different beliefs. [Emphasis added]

The list of prohibited behaviors includes “comments that belittle or demean others” and “Costumes/Cosplay that are historically or otherwise offensive.”
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A Worldcon in Egypt?

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged conventions Egypt fandom liberty on by

The Chengdu Worldcon is collapsing from lack of organization, likely made worse by the need to satisfy the governmental authorities. A bid for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has fortunately been withdrawn. It’s hard to say whether China or Saudi Arabia is worse on human rights, but Saudi Arabia holds a clear edge in sheer brutality. Replacing the JeddahCon bid is one for PharaohCon in Cairo.

You don’t have to be a flaming libertarian to recognize that every country in the world has human rights issues. The question is how serious they are and how they would affect people attending the convention. Egypt isn’t as bad as Saudi Arabia or China, nor as good as the United States or Canada. How concerned should potential supporters be about what it is doing and might do?
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Dark clouds over the Chengdu Worldcon

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged China conventions fandom on by

The video of the Chengdu presentation at Smofcon 2022 is up on YouTube. It provides some insight into how the 2023 Worldcon is going. Mostly, it’s going badly. The presentation was about a month ago, but I haven’t seen any significant change since then. Correct me if I’ve missed anything. My focus here isn’t on the logistical issues as such, but on the underlying problems.

PR wasn’t out then and still isn’t out. Ben Yalow said that members won’t receive it “until everything is locked in to the satisfaction of people who get very nervous. … We’re holding off on releasing PR 1 until everything in PR 1 we know is absolutely, completely certain.”
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Doha and Chengdu: Comparing the cases for boycotting

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged China conventions fandom world cup on by

As I’m writing this, the FIFA World Cup is about to start up in Doha, Qatar. Many people have called for a boycott on human rights grounds. I agree, though my focus has been on a different boycott: the 2023 World Science Fiction Convention in Chengdu, China. It’s interesting to look at the arguments for and against the Qatar boycott and see how they apply to China.

The case against Qatar is strong. Migrant workers building the infrastructure have been ill-treated, and the number of deaths has been put in the thousands. Homosexual sex is illegal in Qatar, with a penalty of up to seven years in prison. The law is actively enforced. Human Rights Watch has reported multiple cases of “severe and repeated beatings and … sexual harassment in police custody.” Detainees have been subject to “physical abuse, ranging from slapping to kicking and punching until they bled.”
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