MCLC: German's video likens Mao to Hitler

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MCLC LIST
German’s video likens Mao to Hitler
Source: Sinosphere, NYT (1/8/16)
A German’s Video Likens Mao to Hitler, and China Wants Him Punished
By DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW
BEIJING — When Christoph Rehage, a German writer and online satirist on Chinese affairs, joked on Weibo in July that the Communist hero Lei Feng and the female warrior Mulan could have a great baby together, reaction from some quarters was swift.
Mr. Rehage said he received death threats from Chinese who viewed his comments as a slur against cultural heroes. Sina shut his Weibo account, which he said had about 100,000 followers.
“It was a very tasteless joke that I made,” Mr. Rehage conceded by telephone from Germany, where he has returned after studying Chinese and cinematography in Beijing.
But when Mr. Rehage called Mao Zedong “China’s Hitler” in a YouTube video in December, he said, reaction became “ridiculous.”
Mr. Rehage noted that both Mao and Hitler were responsible for the deaths of milllions.
An influential Communist Party website called for him to be punished under Chinese law, despite the fact that Mr. Rehage lives in Hamburg. Coupled with events like the recent disappearances of five people connected to a Hong Kong publisher of books critical of Beijing, the episode has raised questions about China’s reach across borders.
The website, Communist Youth Net, which is owned by the Communist Youth League, published three commentaries accusing Mr. Rehage of “blaspheming” the founding leader of the People’s Republic, who died in 1976. Such people should be “shown the bright sword,” one read.
Mr. Rehage’s statement was “subjective,” meaning incorrect, and is therefore not protected speech, Zhu Wei, the deputy director of the Communications Law Center at the China University of Political Science and Law, was quoted as saying in one of the articles.
The party’s own verdict in 1981 that Mao, under whose political campaigns millions died, did more good than harm, was “objective,” meaning correct, Mr. Zhu said.
So Mr. Rehage broke the law with his statement, Mr. Zhu and an unnamed lawyer were quoted as saying, citing China’s “Internet sovereignty.”
Mr. Rehage said he found the experiences bizarre.
“When I was attacked on Weibo, it gave me sleepless nights,” he said. “It’s so direct, and they flood you with it.”
“They” include anonymous online commenters known as 50-centers, who are paid to uphold the government line and drown out voices of dissent. Others who do it for no pay are known as volunteer 50-centers.
by denton.2 at osu.edu on January 15, 2016
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