- This is the Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan.
Everyone's here to see the Cantonese pop icon Anthony Wong.
Wong has been making music for 30 years,
released more than 40 albums,
and has millions of Chinese fans.
But if you search for him on any Chinese music-streaming platform,
you'll come up empty.
It's like he never existed.
Wong has been a long-time political activist, and that's written into his music.
He's joined a long and growing list of celebrities, public figures, and companies
that have been punished for "hurting the feelings of the Chinese people."
Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Bon Jovi, Maroon 5, Versace, Marriott... the list goes on.
People outside of mainland China now have to watch what they say,
or risk losing access to China's huge and still-growing consumer market.
The result is that Chinese censorship is affecting everyone, including you.
We're traveling around the world to find out how China is changing... basically everything.
This week: Censorship.
I'm Nikhil Sonnad. And you're watching Because China.
What does it mean to "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people"?
On October 4, the general manager of the Houston Rockets tweeted support for protests in Hong Kong.
After the NBA commissioner tacitly supported him, state media and the internet company Tencent
announced that they wouldn't broadcast NBA preseason games in China.
There's a long history in China of celebrities, brands, and institutions being put on a so-called blacklist.
But the thing is, there's no actual list. At least, none that we can see.
The rules aren't clear, and they seem to be getting stricter.
All it takes is a tweet or an Instagram photo.
- When an American brand wants to sign an American artist,
there'll be an email consulting every market about the person's local image.
If our Chinese team says they at one time said something
that in any way hurt the feelings of the Chinese people,
headquarters basically drops them.
This is Cindy.
She's a marketing executive who agreed to speak to us under an alias
For nearly two decades, She's been booking talent and organizing marketing campaigns
in China for international brands.
She says anyone who makes money from the Chinese
market needs to make sure they don't say the wrong thing.
- We have in-depth communication with artists and get their views on a range of issues.
Their past interviews and social media posts all get reviewed.
For a long time, artists and brands were able to say one thing in China and another outside.
That's no longer such an easy option.
- If the brand finds out that what someone says inside and outside China is inconsistent,
there will be a serious complaint.
These days, many details like this are written into contracts.
This isn't only affecting what people hear and see in China.
At some point, whether you've realized it or not,
Chinese censorship has probably affected you, too.
Search for flights to Taipei on most major US airlines' websites,
and you'll notice it doesn't say the country afterward, like Tokyo, Japan.
China pressured airlines to stop referring to Taiwan as anything but part of its territory.
After the NBA fallout, ESPN's senior news director sent out a memo
telling the channel to avoid any discussions of Chinese politics.
And you probably never saw this promotional video from the German camera company Leica.
It depicts a photographer capturing the iconic "Tank Man" image from Tiananmen Square.
- I don't speak Chinese. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to get go downstairs...
Intense outcry on Chinese social media caused Leica to distance itself from the video
and not promote it at all.
But censorship often doesn't come directly from the government.
You can also be bottom up, fueled by social media outrage.
At first glance, social media outrage in China tends to resemble what happens in the rest of the world.
There are hashtag campaigns, public shaming, and boycotts of prominent brands and individuals.
But they're not the same.
- One of the major differences is that a lot of the anger issues
in other countries have to do with social justice issues.
Whereas in the Chinese case, while those debates also exist, a lot becomes framed within this narrative
of national humiliation and the way that Chinese nationalism works.
This is Florian Schneider.
He studies China's digital nationalism.
He says that national humiliation,
the idea that China has historically suffered at the hands of foreign powers,
is imperative to understanding the way Chinese citizens rally for or against a cause.
- That's actually quite an accurate description of how history has worked.
What's tricky is that this nationalist, emotional, identity-based framework
pushes people to see themselves and China as generally just the good guys,
and all these outside forces inherently out to get you.
This framework is the underpinning for most social media outrage.
That's not only because it's baked into the country's media and education systems.
It's also because other narratives are blocked by Chinese government censors.
Posts and outrage in favor of social justice, LGBTQ rights, feminism, and democracy
are much more likely to be blocked.
- It's quite clear that the Chinese state profits from the kind of nationalism that is going on online.
It endorses it by simply not censoring what people are saying.
Top-down government censorship and bottom-up social media outrage can also work together.
- And the fact that so many people in China are voicing similar views
is the helpful, because Chinese state officials can say.
"Look, we're actually acting on behalf of the population as a whole."
Social media, aided by the government, decides whether someone has hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.
When that happens, the offender has to quickly apologize
or risk being attacked and losing Chinese customers, investors and partners.
This is Chou Tzu-yu, a K-pop star from Taiwan.
In 2015 on a Korean TV show, she held up Taiwan's national flag and spoke Taiwanese.
Chinese social media quickly branded her a separatist,and she issued this apology:
Several international brands have also apologized
for in some way running afoul of China's definition of national sovereignty.
- Our company’s 'JOIN LIFE' collection website, incorrectly referred to Taiwan as a 'country.'
We have always supported the One China policy and resolutely respect the sovereignty...
...the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China.
...Chinese territorial sovereignty.
Versace affirms that we love China.
We recognize the severity of the situation and sincerely apologize.
...our sincerest apologies for this.
Even if no actual money is lost,
Florian says the fear alone is enough to change what people say.
- It's about the psychology of being attacked online,
or for companies to worry they might lose their access
is already enough to incentivize them to act in certain ways.
For a long time, people within China have been afraid to speak their minds.
But that's now expanding to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and around the world.
- When I started in the industry, we rarely considered anything other than popularity.
But in the past three to five years, we've seen a lot of unpredictable backlash.
The image of Chinese censorship is often like this:
Bureaucrats in a dark room deciding what can and cannot be said.
This does happen, but the government doesn't have much power to do it outside China.
Self-censorship, on the other hand, is happening everywhere,
thanks to the growing role Chinese consumers play in the global economy.
The world is looking to Chinese consumers for growth,
but they're demanding alignment with a particular political ideology.
When it comes to China, many public figures and institutions
face a choice between their political views and their economic interests.
Increasingly, they appear to be choosing money.
Anthony Wong is different.
- This song and this artist is totally banned in China.
He's among the few who are determined to find a way to survive without China.
- It's banned over there. We sing here.