In general news, the U.S. social networking software “Clubhouse” has become a hit in China and the West, causing a wave of discussion on China. Many Chinese netizens have flocked to the software’s chat rooms, large and small, to discuss sensitive Chinese political topics.
Among the many similar topics, a chat room called “There’s a concentration camp in Xinjiang” drew the attention and participation of netizens from around the world. Netizens from mainland China and overseas countries and regions shared their experiences and insights about the so-called re-Education camps in Xinjiang, while local minority people expressed their concerns about the situation in Xinjiang. Meanwhile, our correspondent observed that journalists, including those from our station, Voice of America and other international media, also participated.
In addition, there were chats about Life in Hong Kong after the implementation of the national security law, as well as the current state of relations between Taiwan and China, and the relationship between the Chinese people and the Chinese Communist Party, among other topics that are often blocked on Chinese social media.
Some netizens lamented that they had finally found a place to talk again after Western social media software such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter were blocked by China.
Because of the sensitive nature of these chat rooms and the fact that participants come from different Time zones around the world, they often lead to long marathon conversations that can last for hours, or even 12 hours, in a single chat room.
The “Elite Club” software is currently only available on Apple’s cell phone interface and is not available on the Apple App Store in China, but many users have been able to download it by changing the region of the App Store.
Many netizens expressed concern that the Chinese government would soon block the use of this software in China, and wondered how long such “freedom of speech” could be maintained.
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