Jiang Zemin: in black and white, China’s internet pays tribute to former leader

Chinese websites, social media platforms go to black and white as the country mourns former leader
In China websites are turned black and white to mark major tragedies and historic events

Jiang Zemin

Stella Chen

Published: 9:15pm, 1 Dec 2022

Why you can trust SCMP

Prominent Chinese websites and social media platforms were turned to black and white on Thursday as the country paid tribute to former president Jiang Zemin.

Jiang, who had leukaemia, died of multiple organ failure on Wednesday in Shanghai at the age of 96. As one of the country’s most influential leaders, he elevated China’s global standing and led the country’s economic integration with the rest of the world.

02:28

Former Chinese president Jiang Zemin dies at the age of 96

Homepages of almost all mainland-based news sites, social media platforms, official government sites, and university sites were turned black and white, following official instructions to lower flags to half mast at key official buildings and all Chinese embassies until after Jiang’s funeral, which is set to take place Tuesday.

Jiang’s passing was the first death of a top Chinese leader in the internet era. Deng Xiaoping, the late paramount leader, died back in 1997.

Shanghai remembers Jiang Zemin as ‘key architect’ of growth and reform

State media websites like People’s Daily and Xinhua, as well as official government websites like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are all in “grey” mode in their homepages.

Popular online movie and photography sites also went to black and white. On xitek.com, a photography website that displays pictures for monthly competitions, all colour photos are now black and white.

Jiang Zemin’s passing has turned news sites, social media platforms, official government sites, and university sites black and white. Photo: Handout

Most university websites in China have also been turned to black and white, but the sites of some universities that offer foreign cooperative education remain unchanged, even though they are hosted by the education ministry.

On the homepage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, photos of spokespeople and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is a member of the Politburo, the top decision-making body in China, are all shown in black and white.

Most of China’s official sites were not displaying pictures of President Xi Jinping or other top leaders on their homepages.

06:51

‘I’ve not really done anything special’: when Jiang Zemin reflected on his time as China’s leader

One exception was cpc.people.com.cn, a news portal owned by People’s Daily, whose homepage showed the colour portraits of all seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee, including Xi Jinping.

Social media platforms like Weibo and Douban kept part of their content in black and white, while popular e-commerce platforms Taobao, owned by the South China Morning Post’s parent company Alibaba, and Xiaohongshu turned their front pages to black and white.

In China, websites are turned black and white for major tragedies and nationwide commemorations of historic events. Last year, websites went black and white to mark the anniversary of the 1937 Nanking massacre, a significant day on the Communist Party’s political calendar.

In April 2020, during the early days of the pandemic, two days of national mourning was announced for those who died from the coronavirus. News sites and social media platforms were black and white, and no television entertainment programmes were broadcast.