Former Global Times top editor Hu Xijin goes dark on social media after now-deleted article on China’s economic strategy

SINGAPORE: Prolific Chinese nationalistic commentator Hu Xijin has gone silent on social media after publishing an article analysing China’s economic strategy, in an indication of the heightened sensitivity around discussions on the country’s economy.

The former editor-in-chief of the state-run Global Times was banned from posting on social media after he wrote controversial comments about the world’s second-largest economy, Bloomberg reported on Thursday (Aug 1), citing a “person familiar with the matter”. Neither the entity behind the purported ban nor its length was specified.

At the heart of the matter is a now-deleted article Mr Hu posted on his WeChat account on Jul 22, weighing in on the outcomes of the third plenum, a reform-focused meeting by the upper echelons of China’s Communist Party (CCP).

The top-level gathering took place last month, yielding a resolution document that was long on commitments but short on specifics, although analysts singled out hints that President Xi Jinping is seeking a fourth term as China’s helmsman.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Mr Hu wrote that the resolution left out a phrase that had long enshrined the role of the state sector in the country’s economy.

He argued that the omission of the phrase “public ownership playing a dominant role” was a “historic change” that showed China hoped to “achieve true equality between the private and the state-owned economy”.

“Chinese society’s understanding, attitude and narrative of various ownership relations will have a big step forward,” Mr Hu wrote.

ANALYSIS TRIGGERS BACKLASH

SCMP reported that Mr Hu’s interpretation triggered fierce criticism from local conservative bloggers, who accused the former Global Times editor of “blatantly violating the political discipline of the party” because the “dominant role” of public ownership was enshrined in the constitutions of both the ruling party and the country.

People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the CCP, also published a front-page commentary on Tuesday, stating that China’s basic stand on the state and private sectors “hasn’t changed and won’t change in the future”.

While the commentary did not make any reference to Mr Hu’s piece, the article stated that the plenum’s resolution emphasised “upholding and improving the basic socialist economic system”, SCMP reported. 

This encompassed the party’s stance that public ownership was the mainstay of China’s economic system, which allowed diverse forms of ownership to develop together, the article wrote. 

A check by CNA on Friday (Aug 2) showed that Mr Hu’s social media accounts – Weibo, WeChat and X, formerly known as Twitter – have been silent since last Saturday. Mr Hu has more than 24 million followers on Weibo and over half a million on X, while WeChat does not show his follower count.