China’s Culture Creep

China is beginning to have a visible impact on American culture, and it’s something that we should be thinking about. Over the past three weeks we have seen three incidents of U.S. companies being threatened or banned from China. In two of those scenarios, the companies quickly caved to Chinese demands.

Two weeks ago, it was coercion of the NBA when Daryl Morey, General Manager of the Houston Rockets, had posted a Tweet supporting Hong Kong.

Last week China caused a major shakeup in the Hearthstone online gaming community. Ng (ing) Wai Chung, aka Blitzchung, pulled off his Hong Kong-protester-style mask and said, “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age!” during an interview on Hearthstone Taiwan’s official channel. Hearthstone owner Blizzard Entertainment responded by stripping the player of his status and financial winnings [1].

South Park was also a casualty when their series was banned and scrubbed from the internet in China due to an episode titled “Band in China.” Creators Trey Stone and Matt Parker responded with mock-apology and a follow-up episode that further challenged Chinese censorship.

These instances are a few of many. China has demanded U.S. airlines remove any references to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau as countries independent from China [2]. They forced the CEO of Marriott Hotels to repeat the Communist Party of China’s talking points [3], made Apple censor the Taiwanese flag from its keyboard for users in Hong Kong and Macau [4], and have been working with Google to develop a…