The Utopia ( zh, s=乌有之乡, p=Wūyǒu Zhī Xiāng) is a Chinese internet forum noted for its strong support of

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

and

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

ideology. The forum is notable for its promotion of Maoist philosophy and for its occasional clashes with the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

History

Utopia was founded in 2003 by Fan Jinggang, who owned a bookstore (also named Utopia, zh, s=乌有之乡, labels=no) in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China. The forum was created with the stated intent to be “a patriotic website for the public interest", and soon acquired a political lean towards Maoism. In addition to online activities, Utopia also has organized offline events and campaigns. In 2011, Utopia organized a campaign against Chinese writer

Mao Yushi Mao Yushi (; born 14 January 1929) is a Chinese economist. Mao graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1950 and was labeled a 'rightist' in 1958. In 1986, Mao was a visiting scholar at Harvard University, and in 1990, Mao was a senior ...

and historian Xin Zilin who wrote and published critical histories of Mao Zedong. The campaign involved organizing of a petition of 40,000 signatures, including those of Liu Siqi (the widow of one of Mao's sons), former vice-minister Ma Bin, and Peking University professor Kong Qingdong. In April 2012, following the arrest and prosecution of Chinese politician

Bo Xilai Bo Xilai ( zh, s=薄熙来, p=Bó Xīlái; born 3 July 1949) is a Chinese former politician who was convicted on bribery and embezzlement charges. He came to prominence through his tenures as Mayor of Dalian and then the governor of Liaoning. ...

, Utopia along with several other leftist Chinese websites was temporarily shut down. In 2013 the forum supported Bo Xilai during the

Wang Lijun incident The Wang Lijun incident was a major Chinese political scandal which began in February 2012 when Wang Lijun, vice-mayor of Chongqing, was abruptly demoted, after revealing to the United States consulate details of British businessman Neil Heyw ...

in which Bo and a number of other Chinese politicians were investigated under suspicion of corruption. Utopia continued to support Bo Xilai when the Maoist was removed from his position as Communist Party Secretary of Chongqing, after which the forum was shut down for several months. However, Utopia continued to announce its support for Bo. Utopia played a prominent role in the Jasic incident of 2018, in which striking workers, student activist and neo-Maoists protested poor working conditions of the Jasic Technology Co., Ltd. factory in Shenzhen, Guangdong. The website was used as a platform to organize supporters of the Jasic workers. Utopia was suspended for one month in response to its advocacy of a "new"

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

References

External links

* {{Chinese New Left Chinese political websites Chinese Internet forums Bo Xilai Maoism in China Jasic incident Chinese New Left Political Internet forums Internet properties established in 2003 2003 establishments in Beijing

History

See also

References

External links