Editor’s note for Thursday, August 26, 2021

My thoughts today:

Today brings bad news for LGBT+ students at one of Shanghai’s major universities, according to a leaked directive to make a list of anyone who is “non-heterosexual.” See our top story for details.

There was bad news, too, for actress Zhào Wēi 赵薇 today: She seems to have been blacklisted by government agencies and her movies have been removed from streaming sites. Zhao is no stranger to controversy: way back in 2001, she was forced to make a public apology after becoming an early victim of internet shaming for being photographed wearing a dress bearing the wartime Japanese flag.

The reason for the blacklisting is unclear, but WWD has a report which suggests two potential reasons:

• Her connection to Hangzhou Municipal Party Committee secretary Zhōu Jiāngyǒng 周江勇, who was put under investigation earlier this week. Zhou “was a close ally of…Zhao and her husband [who] purchased stakes in Alibaba Pictures in 2014, which led to tens of millions of dollars in gains.”
• Her connection to actor Zhāng Zhéhàn 张哲瀚, whom Zhao had signed under her agency. Zhang was the target of nationalist outrage earlier this month after he posted photos from controversial Japanese shrines. Zhang was recently suspended from social media, and 27 brands have cut ties with him.

Meanwhile, Hillhouse Capital seems to be up to something in China: The private equity giant has launched a new fund to invest in Chinese stock markets. The news comes just days after a report that Beijing police had, at Hillhouse’s instigation, arrested a man “for spreading the false rumor” that Zhāng Lěi 张磊, billionaire founder of Hillhouse, had been banned from leaving China.

Over on the other side of the Pacific, the Asian American Foundation has created “The Asian American Foundation Rapid Response Toolkit, a call to action to the 23 million AAPIs across the U.S. to unite, take action and stand up against hate before, during and after it arises.”

Our words of the day are non-heterosexual (非异性恋者 fēiyìxìngliànzhě) and “LGBT rainbow groups” (LGBT 彩虹族群 cǎihóngzúqún), which, per Shanghai University, includes:

• Lesbians (女同性恋者 nǚtóngxìngliànzhě)
• Gays (男同性恋者 nántóngxìngliànzhě)
• Bisexuals (双性向者 shuāngxìngxiàngzhě)
• Transgender (跨性别者 ​​kuàxìngbiézhě)

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief