Cui Yongyuan is a prominent Chinese social media commentator and former CCTV anchor. From exposing tax-evading celebrities to revealing the misconducts of China’s Supreme Court judges, Cui is one of the nation’s most dauntless online personalities and whistle-blowers.
On April 12th, a video recorded by Cui Yongyuan—in which he shared his opinions on Sima Nan, Hu Xijin, Zhang Weiwei, Jin Canrong, and Chen Ping, among others—became hotly debated by netizens on Weibo. Some media outlets have since then reported that Cui’s video was clipped from a longer one, which he had previously posted on his social media accounts on April 9th.
Cui said in the video, “I do believe that heaven sees every action of human beings. Sima Nan has done numerous wretched things, and there is nothing we can do to stop him. But the elevator got worried and almost closed its doors on him, and the car was worried and almost killed him. The heaven does see every single one of our actions (举头三尺有神明) and dish out punishment accordingly.” [Sima Nan is a Chinese television pundit, well known for his anti-American comments and loyal support of the Chinese Communist Party, though he owns property in the U.S.]
“Many in China hold no religious beliefs; as such, they are capable of wickedness. [Sima Nan] is assured that nothing will ever happen to him. He is wicked, but he thinks he is wealthy just as he is powerful. He holds sway over officials working in various government agencies—including those that have authority over tax, industry and commerce, and the police and prosecutorial apparatus. Just take a glance at the number of people who are working in the anti-corruption divisions. Their biggest sin is to shamelessly dedicate their services to those who are in power.”
Cui suggests that for people such as Sima Nan, their influence and glory rest on being politically correct: “I love my country, and I love my motherland.” As long as Sima Nan remains politically correct, he can hide himself under this guise and do nothing but evil. Those who could have stopped this evil are blinded and unable to perceive his evil. Or more likely perhaps, they are aware of his evil but choose instead to “use” people such as Sima Nan instead of people like us, who, in their eyes, are nuisances. So, they are willing to raise such a group of people for the appearance of prosperity in political correctness and proper ideological views. The current state of affairs on the internet, with all the “positive” energy, is simply unbearable. Sima Nan, Hu Xijin, Jin Canrong, Zhang Weiwei, and Chen Ping… It’s a group of people with a total loss of moral bearing. [Hu Xijin is the former editor-in-chief for Global Times, a tabloid newspaper commenting on foreign affairs from a Chinese ultra-nationalistic perspective; Jin Canrong is a state-honored professor and the Associate Dean of the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China; Zhang Weiwei is a Chinese political scientist and a professor of international relations at Fudan University; Chen Ping is a professor at the National School of Development at Peking University.]
“Using these people to represent our nation’s image makes our country look utterly ugly. We always say that the Americans are taking advantage of us, and this is precisely the advantage they are exploiting. They take the words of these people as the expressions of our country.”
“You allow some to speak and censor the rest. And those who you allow to speak up can only speak in the [ultra-nationalistic] manner. People would certainly assume that you condone and support this voice, and this is the voice of your country and government. This voice has ruined the image and possibly the future of our nation.”
Cui Yongyuan concludes that if the aforementioned people become society’s only voice, then Chinese society will become one of abnormality. We ought to oppose such a voice. Jin Canrong and Zhang Wei have, in their speeches, made China the best and the most powerful nation, and the U.S. thus defines us as a developed country. Do you think our government is happy? Of course not, because as developed countries you are obligated to do a lot more! Premier Li Keqiang once said that the majority of people in our country make less than 2000 yuan on average, yet you allow them to say: “There exist only two nations in the world, one is called China, the other is called the foreign nation (Jin Canrong); a win-win situation is when China wins twice (Jin Canrong); Chinese construction workers eat better meals than middle-class Americans (Zhang Weiwei). Of course, you are a developed country, no? These people are destroying this country, but there is nothing we can do but watch.