One of China’s most successful and popular Olympians and two-time gold medallist swimmer Pan Jianle this week shut down her official fan page on the regime-controlled social media site Weibo, drawing loud applause from state media for taking a stand against a “toxic fan culture.”
State-run propaganda newspapers Global Times lamented On Tuesday, it warned that allowing fans of celebrities to maintain social groups and praise their favorites “can lead to excessive idolatry, irrational advocacy and even online violence.” Times Twitter published several articles praising Pan for shutting down his Weibo fan page, suggesting that his decision was well received by the Chinese government.
The move comes as the Communist Party has essentially declared war on what it calls “fan culture,” the elevation of celebrities in the public consciousness that could distract from the obsessive worship of the Communist Party, particularly genocidal dictator Xi Jinping. The Chinese government, through its media arm, has for years denounced Korean pop stars, athletes and Korean fan clubs. Movie Starand other non-political groups, creating a situation in which they pressure well-known Chinese figures like Pan to avoid being the focus of such attention.
This war on fan culture doesn’t even touch on the government’s manufactured personality cult around Xi Jinping, stoked through mandatory teaching of “Xi Jinping Thought” in schools, government pushes to replace crosses in Christian homes with photos of Xi Jinping, and events marking historic days with propaganda about Xi Jinping to drown the memory of past Communist leaders such as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. The Communist Party-driven hero worship of Xi Jinping has become so pervasive that in 2021, Chinese car company SAIC unveiled vehicles equipped with an app that read messages from “Xi Jinping Thought” to passengers while they were driving.
Pan, 20, became one of China’s most popular athletes at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris this month. Earn income China’s swimming performance at the Olympics was the subject of months of controversy in the press, with two gold medals, including one in the men’s 100m freestyle, won in world record time by Pan, who broke his own world record. The New York Times Revealed About 20 Chinese swimmers have tested positive for banned substances but have been allowed to compete in the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics, including some who have been allowed to return to Paris. Pan, who was 17 at the time of the Tokyo Olympics, has not been named among those suspected of involvement, but his breaking world record has sparked widespread speculation among Western swimming experts that he competed unfairly.
The controversy and his performance have made him a huge star in China and led to the abrupt closure on Monday of his Weibo account, a state-run microblogging site often compared to America’s Twitter and Facebook.
“Pan’s actions were quickly praised by netizens, with many saying he demonstrated the ‘calm’ attitude that an athlete should have.” Global Times beam on tuesday.
“In some cases, fan groups can become breeding grounds for excessive idolatry, irrational favoritism and even online violence,” state media claimed. “By disbanding the fan group, Pan Zhanle has sent a positive message that athletes should earn respect through hard work and professionalism, rather than relying on blind praise from fans.”
In another article, Global Times Declared “Fans also need to have a good sense of decorum and boundaries,” but that has proven elusive. “Fan culture has become invasive and disruptive to not only athletes’ personal lives, but also the daily lives of their families.”
“Not only has Pan become the swimming world’s biggest surprise with his outstanding swimming performance at the recently concluded Paris Olympics, but he is also very calm about becoming a national star,” the state-run newspaper continued. “Pan’s attitude demonstrates his resistance to fan culture. It also reflects his professionalism as an athlete.”
of Times He then scolded the players, saying, “You must not be distracted by relationships with the fans. Instead, you need to focus on training and competing.”
Pan and the rest of China’s Olympic delegation returned home this week after the climax of the Games on Sunday. Returning before throngs of adoring fans, Pan lamented the loss of his anonymity and made disgruntled comments to Chinese media.
“I can’t go out alone. When I came to this interview, the first floor of the hotel was full of people asking for autographs,” Pan said. said According to Chinese media, South China Morning Post“The only bad thing about being a celebrity is there are so many people around. I like to keep a low profile.” [and] Please be quiet. I don’t want to be too successful. [as I did in Paris] As long as I can continue my rigorous training with peace of mind.”
Pan, who has become something of a mascot for the Chinese government’s fight against “fan culture,” has not shied away from using fans as ammunition against rivals. Speaking to Chinese media during the Paris Games, Pan accused Australian Kyle Chalmers and American Jack Alexei of being disrespectful to him and other members of the Chinese team, prompting swarms of angry Chinese fans to denounce the athletes on their social media accounts.
“On the first day, I said hello to Chalmers during the 4x100m relay, but he completely ignored me,” Pan said. Claimed“Even Alexei from the US team wouldn’t pay me any attention. During practice, when the coach was next to him, the other athletes would do somersaults and splash water directly on him. It was very rude.”
A confused Chalmers later told reporters he was surprised that Pan had been snubbed, as he “didn’t sense there was any animosity”.
“From my standpoint, I spoke to him in the marshals room before the race, I went straight up to him after the race and shook his hand in the pool and I also shook his hand on the podium,” Chalmers said. I remembered“And before we started to cool down, we had a great conversation about how amazing the race was and about the Shanghai World Cup. And he also said that I’m his idol and what an honour it was to swim against me and that he never thought it would be possible.”
Mr Chalmers said Mr Pan’s comments had caused “enormous distress which is obviously very difficult to cope with mentally” among swimming fans on social media.
of Global Times He did not mention Chalmers’ experience as an example of toxic fan culture.
