Outspoken celebrity blogger’s arrest triggers online debate

The detention of an outspoken social media celebrity on Friday has triggered fears among supporters that the bust was a government attempt to discredit him amid a campaign to rein in public opinion.

Beijing police on Sunday said venture capitalist Charles Xue, 60, had confessed to involvement in prostitution after he was caught with a 22-year-old woman at a Beijing residential compound.

The son of a former deputy mayor of Beijing and a naturalised American citizen, Xue, one of China’s best-known bloggers, posts dozens of messages every day and has over 12 million followers on his Sina Weibo, China’s largest microblog service.

Xue’s arrest comes amid an ongoing Communist Party crackdown on online rumours that has already seen several suspected rumour-mongers arrested. The party is concerned that these rumours could mar the government’s image and hamper the Communist Party’s control of public opinion online.

Although there is no evidence to show a clear link between the two events, many online users have suggested that Xu could be a victim of entrapment in an attempt by the authorities to discredit and intimidate leading liberals.

The idea of a conspiracy theory has been fuelled by the fact that Kong Qingdong, a Peking University professor known for his leftist views was the first member of the public to know of Xue’s detention.