Chinese Government Smacks down on Stock Market Rumors

Chinese Government Smacks down on Stock Market Rumors

by Teresita Blanco

The Chinese Government arrested 197 citizens for spreading rumors about the stock market crash and the explosions in Tainjin.  The shares in China fell by 8 percent. A warehouse explosion in Tainjin took place in August 12. About 150 died and 23 are still missing. There are also 367 in the hospital.

Whether the rumors were true or not, it is irrelevant to the Communist Party. What’s important for them is the control of information that could be detrimental to the Party’s stability.  A good number of those arrested were stock market officials and a journalist. 

According to the UK’s Financial Times, the Party seems to think that they failed to rescue the market properly. Whatever stabilizing measures they used, it did not have the desired effects. Since they failed, they sought to punish those who supposedly weakened the Chinese Market.   

These arrests are nothing new in China. As of 2013, anyone who posts or views rumors online end up with a 3 year sentence. As it stands, the Party arrests anyone who posted up to 500 rumors or someone who viewed rumors 5000 times. What’s considered a rumor depends on the Party.