Chinese Wikipedia

Chinese Wikipedia
維基百科 / 维基百科
Website logo in Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese
Screenshot
Main Page of the Chinese Wikipedia
Main page of the Chinese Wikipedia
Type of site
Online encyclopedia
Available inWritten vernacular Chinese, both traditional and simplified writing systems are available. Articles can be written in both of these systems, and displayed results are always in one of these, as it has a built-in character converter.
OwnerWikimedia Foundation
URLzh.wikipedia.org
CommercialNo
RegistrationOptional
Launched11 May 2001; 23 years ago (2001-05-11)
Current statusActive but banned in Mainland China
Chinese Wikipedia
Traditional Chinese中文維基百科
Simplified Chinese中文维基百科
Literal meaningChinese-language Wiki-encyclopedia

The Chinese Wikipedia (traditional Chinese: 中文維基百科; simplified Chinese: 中文维基百科; pinyin: Zhōngwén Wéijī Bǎikē) is the written vernacular Chinese (a form of Mandarin Chinese) edition of Wikipedia. It is run by the Wikimedia Foundation. Started on 11 May 2001,[1] the Chinese Wikipedia currently has 1,431,365 articles and 3,551,972 registered users, of whom 64 have administrative privileges.

The Chinese Wikipedia has been blocked in mainland China since May 2015.[2] Nonetheless, Chinese Wikipedia is still one of the ten most active language versions of Wikipedia (and it has the eighth-highest number of active users as of August 2021) due to contributions from users from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, and the large Chinese diaspora. Editors from Taiwan and Hong Kong contribute most of the page views of the Chinese Wikipedia.[3]

Despite being censored in mainland China, and as VPNs are normally not allowed to edit Wikipedia, Wikipedia administrators from China have permitted IP block exemption for a select number of mainland users. Such users are recruited to change the editorial content on Wikipedia in support of China's viewpoint and/or to support the election of pro-Chinese government administrators on Wikipedia, with the aim of gaining control of Wikipedia as part of the Chinese Communist Party's coordinated efforts to push their preferred narrative on platforms that have respected worldwide credibility.[4][5] There has also been an exodus of volunteer editors leaving Baidu Baike, a domestic competitor beset by problems of self-censorship and commercialization, to join Chinese Wikipedia because the "contributors wanted the privilege of working on a higher-quality internet encyclopedia" that also "carries a great deal of international power".[6][7] Observers have suggested that such moves are not just due to patriotic mainlanders but a "larger structural coordinated strategy the government has to manipulate these platforms" beside Wikipedia, such as Twitter and Facebook.[8]

The resulting pro-Beijing Wikipedia community, the Wikimedians of Mainland China (WMC), has clashed with Wikipedia editors from Taiwan and Hong Kong, not only over content disputes on Wikipedia articles, but also made death threats against their Wikimedian communities. In particular, the WMC has threatened to report Wikipedia editors to Hong Kong's national security police hotline over the disputed article "2019–2020 Hong Kong protests" characterized by edit warring.[9] The Foundation's investigation also found that "infiltrators had tried to promote "the aims of China, as interpreted through whatever filters they may bring to bear" and that the WMC had been involved in vote-stacking and manipulation of administrative elections.[10][11]

Due to such threats to volunteer safety, as well as the manipulation of administrative elections by Mainland editors, Wikimedia revoked access of seven editors and downgraded the privileges of 12 Mainland-based administrators on 16 September 2021 over "infiltration concerns."[12][13][14][15] The affair caused significant controversy on Chinese Wikipedia, and also drew critical commentary from Chinese media, where Wikipedia is rarely discussed.[15]

  1. ^ Richey, Jason. "[Wikipedia-l] new language wikis". List.Wikimedia. Archived from the original on 6 January 2016.
  2. ^ "Wikipedia founder defends decision to encrypt the site in China". 4 September 2015. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Wikistats - Statistics For Wikimedia Projects". Wikimedia Statistics. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  4. ^ Harrison, Stephen (26 October 2021). "Why Wikipedia Banned Several Chinese Admins". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Wikipedia blames pro-China infiltration for bans". BBC News. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  6. ^ Harrison, Stephen (26 October 2021). "Why Wikipedia Banned Several Chinese Admins". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  7. ^ "China and Taiwan clash over Wikipedia edits". BBC News. 4 October 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  8. ^ "China and Taiwan clash over Wikipedia edits". BBC News. 4 October 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  9. ^ Cheng, Selina (11 July 2021). "Wikipedia wars: How Hongkongers and mainland Chinese are battling to set the narrative". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  10. ^ Mehta, Ivan (16 September 2021). "Why Wikimedia banned seven Chinese based editors for 'infiltration'". TNW | World. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  11. ^ Tobin, Sam. "Wikipedia infiltrators banned for pushing China propaganda". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  12. ^ Mehta, Ivan (16 September 2021). "Why Wikimedia banned seven Chinese based editors for 'infiltration'". TNW | World. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  13. ^ Tobin, Sam. "Wikipedia infiltrators banned for pushing China propaganda". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  14. ^ Dent, S. "Wikipedia banned seven users after reported 'infiltration' by a Chinese group". www.engadget.com. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  15. ^ a b Pasternack, Alex (18 December 2021). "The war over Chinese Wikipedia is a warning for the open internet". Fast Company. Retrieved 9 January 2022.