The lack of pushback against the 2023 Worldcon in Chengdu is disturbing. Boycotting the 2022 China Olympics is one of the few things Democrats and Republicans agree on. It should be obvious that a science fiction con, which is supposed to be about open discussion and speculation, can’t function under a government that monitors and censors ideas as pervasively as China does. Fans should find it repugnant to give any support to a government that persecutes minorities and violates human rights on a massive scale. Yet we’ve seen hardly any protests.

I’ve been looking for videos addressing these points to add to my YouTube playlist for boycotting Chengdu. So far I haven’t found any from fannish sources. If you know of any that are good enough to add to the list, please let me know in a comment.

“Red scare racism”?

In this near-vacuum, I’ve had to search hard to find any comments on the issue. An article by Paul Weimer addresses some of the concerns. His name isn’t on the tip of everyone’s tongue, but he has been a Hugo finalist, so he has credentials. The article isn’t just on the Chengdu Worldcon, but I’ll focus on the parts that are. Let’s start with this passage:

There has been a lot regarding the Chengdu (now winning) bid. Some of it has been racially ugly as sin. The apparent attempt by members of the Winnipeg (the competing bid) to push an interpretation of the WSFS constitution regarding voting information in order to potentially disqualify a large number of ballots for the Chinese bid is, frankly, reprehensible. Other areas of the SFF internet have just gone full bore Red Scare racist, implying or saying that the CCP (Communist Party of China) has “bought” a Worldcon. That in and of itself is nonsense. There are a LOT of Chinese SF fans and this year, they mobilized.

Let’s start with the claim that some of the commentary is “racially ugly as sin.” Weimer gives no specifics. In an age when bogus accusations of racism are a standard smear technique, it’s important to back up any such accusation. “Some” is a low hurdle, and doubtless there have been bigoted remarks, but are they from anyone worth noticing?

The dispute over the ballots was that 1,591 site selection ballots from supporting members in China didn’t include a physical mailing address. This raises legitimate questions of ballot-box stuffing. Supporting memberships cost money (though they’re the least expensive option), so it’s not as if people just sat in a room and filled out ballots, but someone with a financial interest in a Chengdu con might have found it worthwhile to buy astroturf. Insisting that the ballots should represent actual people is hardly reprehensible.

The claim that some have gone “Red Scare racist” is two contradictory assertions in a single breath. Communism is European in origin and emphasizes its international nature. American fear of Communism, justified or not, has been directed mostly at Russia. If Communism can be associated with any “race,” it’s with whites. Claiming simultaneously that the critics’ objection is to Communism and to the east Asian race of the organizers is bizarre. Anyway, China today is more fascist than Communist. The key features of fascism are an authoritarian government, intense nationalism, nominal private property in the service of the state, and mandated loyalty and conformity. China has all of those, with too many private-in-name enterprises to be really Communist.

The expression of alleged red scare racism consisted of “implying or saying that the CCP … has ‘bought’ a Worldcon.” I wonder if this refers in part to my article “China Buys 2023 Worldcon,” which I posted just a few days before Weimer’s article. I didn’t specifically say the CCP was behind it; other financial sources are possible. It’s quite reasonable to think that an unprecedented number of Chinese ballots with no address on them represents something more than fans spontaneously expressing a preference.

The threat of … sponsorship?

However, I don’t want to get too stuck on the site selection issue. It’s done with. Whether I’m right or wrong, the big issue now is what the Worldcon in Chengdu will be like and how fans and pros should respond. Here Weimer does better:

10,000 … people gathering in one place, at one time, IS going to draw the eye and attention of the Chinese Government and not in a good way. Authoritarian governments tend to watch large gatherings very carefully. They *have* to, to help maintain their own power. Plus, it may already be “too late” if there are, and its dollars to donuts that there are, fans of SF within the CCP. The CCP may not be content with just the already horrible prospect of monitoring the 2023 Worldcon closely. What if they decide to, say, sponsor the Hugo Award ceremony a la Raytheon and Google? Or some other aspect of the con? Chengdu is not going to be able to say no.

We agree that being under the eye of the Chinese state is a horrible prospect. It isn’t just large gatherings that it monitors, though an event attended by many foreigners will get special attention. Every individual in China, at least those who live in the cities or use the Internet, is constantly affected by surveillance and censorship. It’s a certainty that no program items will be openly critical of the government’s surveillance and censorship. My “Sunrise in the East” won’t be sung there. It’s odd, then, that the worst atrocity Weimer can imagine is sponsorship of the Hugo ceremony. If the CCP wants to make sure that only acceptable works get awards, that’s a clumsy and ineffective way to do it. The votes come from convention members, not from the Hugo committee. Also, if it’s “nonsense” to think that China bought the Worldcon bid, why would it buy the Hugo ceremony? Having the con under its constant surveillance already gives the government everything it needs.

I’ll give him full agreement on his next point, though:

I feel bad for my fellow fans in Chengdu. I do not envy their position in trying to put on a Worldcon in such a country, such an environment, with such a looming shadow.

Unfortunately, he promptly undercuts it:

But lest you think this is just a “Chinese Government bad!” take, let me circle around and reiterate the complicated problems that corporate sponsorships provide, and get to the title.

“Bad” is a very understated word for the Chinese government, which censors communication, monitors people’s ideological compliance, suppresses human rights in Hong Kong, threatens to seize control of Taiwan, and persecutes and kills ethnic minorities. The Chinese government is as evil as Sauron, and anyone who cares about such things should speak out against a Worldcon that would benefit it and lie under its control. Those who claim it’s “racist” to speak out against what’s being done to the people in Hong Kong and Xinjiang deserve only spit in their faces.

The rest of the article focuses on the great threat of sponsorships. Outside China, it may be one of the biggest problems for Worldcons. In China, it’s just a hypothetical action that would be a small piece of what its government regularly does and will do. Fans and pros should ignore the threatened smears and say that they won’t have anything to do with the 2023 Worldcon.