IndieChina Film Festival shut down after harassment from Chinese authorities(www.hrw.org)

88 pointsby ilamont2 days ago9 comments

ronsor2 days ago
Only using the word "Authorities" in the title understates the significance of this.
This is not the US government shutting down a film festival; this is the Chinese government engaging in an illegal overseas harrassment campaign in order to suppress negative depictions of itself.
- gradientsrneat2 days ago
  Yea and the use of the phrase "severe repression" in the article is arguably a bad faith euphemism given that millions of Muslims have been detained by China while women were forcibly sterilized, which is genocide by the United Nations definition. Meanwhile their culture has been repressed as well, in a manner consistent with cultual genocide, which the United Nations does not recognize as a concept.
layer82 days ago
> After the festival was suspended, Zhu issued a statement that the decision was not out of fear, but rather to “stop harassment of … directors, guests, former staff, and volunteers associated with the festival, including my friends and family.”
I don’t quite get the distinction being made here. Surely the Chinese authorities have succeeded in scaring the people involved in the festival into calling it off.
myself2482 days ago
Don't suppose there's a torrent of the suppressed film?
- Incipient21 hours ago
  It'll be a borderline expos on any selection of internal corruption/coercion/authoritarianism/minority oppression/social surveillance/etc issue going on in China. Do you really need the actual film? It doesn't particularly matter.
  You surpress the 95% of discussion globally, outside of your own borders too, and the issues aren't really issues any more.
  Edit: it's about Uyghurs control/genocide/oppression/other description for clarity. There are a lot of articles/stories on the topic if you were after info.
  - 21 hours ago
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rurbana day ago
They did the same to us in European festivals. Some comply, some tell them to fuck off. As of recent years all comply now with Chinese censorship.
But not with Iranian censorship and harassment.
- Incipient21 hours ago
  China probably has more influence from a regional hamlet than Iran does from their highest official.
  Is anyone surprised China has global influence and Iran does not?
  - rurban21 hours ago
    Iran ordered killings, China only extractions and family black mail.
mxuribe2 days ago
Well, this sucks! Whether its the Chinese gov. (like in this piece), or the U.s. gov in other areas (and w/more frequency this year), its an awful state of affairs for everyone. I remember years, maybe a couple of decades ago, there was this rush to "remove the borders" for "better global business"...this helped capitalism spread (for better or worse), and now it feels like more and more the borders that might contain fascism are disappearing...so fascism is spreading more and more. Ugh! :-(
molticrystal2 days ago
Poorly worded title, something like this would be clearer:
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Chinese Authorities Threaten Mainland Relatives to Shut Down Film Festival in New York
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Even the subheading from the article seemed better: "Chinese Police Harass Filmmakers, Families to Undermine Free Expression Abroad"
Though I would of made it "Filmmaker's Families".
How can you be free if your family is held hostage. As soon as a person from China becomes free or achieves anything, this is what happens.
This is what they do just because of a movie they don't care for. Imagine how much further they go when they have a bigger ask for something they truly want.
The coercion is very strong, and why some end up in jail for spying or other criminal acts in the hosting country, even if they end up citizens, and love the place. Very messed up.
esafak2 days ago
tl,dr: It's China policing the Uyghur issue in the context of the inaugural IndieChina Film Festival: https://indiechina.org/about/
- znpy2 days ago
  Sadly the Uyghurs are a third-class genocide. It’s been known for years, but for some reason no one is complaining.
  All those loud protesters screaming genocide in palestine up to two weeks ago are strangely quiet on this.
  - Incipient21 hours ago
    I mean they can't complain about every global issue. Also it's China. No one has any ability to influence what happens within their borders - why try?
  - mcphage2 days ago
    > All those loud protesters screaming genocide in palestine up to two weeks ago are strangely quiet on this.
    Ah yes, the ol’ “they’re hypocrites for complaining about a specific problem without also complaining about every other problem”—that’s gotta be on the first page of “The Rulebook for How to Stop Social Movements”.
    znpyan hour ago
    yes, exactly.
    same goes with many more genocides happening around the world, involving all kinds of people.
oompydoompy742 days ago
[flagged]
- none25852 days ago
  Already there
  - readthenotes12 days ago
    Ironic, considering it was China effectively suppressing expression in the USA
- marginalia_nu2 days ago
  This is actually textbook communism. Stasi used to run a lot of similar operations, though arguably with more finesse[1] than what the CCP's playbook for dealing with dissidents (at least as far as it is known.)
  [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zersetzung
  - dgoldstein02 days ago
    I think authoritarian fits better. They may be copying Soviet techniques which is a government that happened to espouse a communist economic philosophy, but in practice this has nothing to do with the economics and everything to do with exerting control. Fascists are just a different type of authoritarian regime.
    marginalia_nu2 days ago
    It's also worth nuancing authoritarianism against totalitarianism, which captures states and ideologies that aren't satisfied with absolute political power, but want to control every aspect of its citizens lives.
    This certainly encompasses the Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Stalin-era Soviet, Mao-era China, and East Germany among others.
    Contemporary China is undeniably authoritarian, and has totalitarian tendencies, but somewhat inconsistently. One can probably present a compelling argument both for and against their totalitarianism.
ranger_danger2 days ago
No they didn't...
It's third party harassment and they chose to pull out of the festival over it.
- derkster2 days ago
  The FBI and Canada seem to feel differently enough to investigate, and have arrested a few individuals operating these types of "overseas police stations". [1]
  "Chen Jinping, 60, of New York, New York, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to act as an illegal agent of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC),"[2]
  The films weren't just pulled - the festival was cancelled.[3]
  Sources:
  1: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/trnsprnc/brfng-mtrls/prlm...
  2: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/new-york-resident-pl...
  3: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/07/indiechina-ind...
  - ranger_danger2 days ago
    How is it different? It's still not US authorities shutting down a US festival as the title would make you believe...
    I understand this is pressure from China, that they were threatened and that yes this is a horrible situation. All I'm saying is the actual decision to shut down the festival was not (and cannot) be made by China.
    derkster2 days ago
    I see what you're saying, I didn't make the assumption it was the US authorities, simply that an authoritative entity was involved. In this case, that entity applied enough pressure to directors to make the organizers feel the need to cancel the event. I consider the headline to be clickbait, but obviously we drew very different conclusions from it.
    I hear you though, clickbait gonna clickbait.
    Incipient21 hours ago
    I don't find either the HN or original title to be clickbait. The Chinese govt shut down a film festival in new York - seems to be exactly what it is?