One of China’s most successful and popular Olympians, two-time gold medalist swimmer Pan Zhanle, shut down his official fan page on the regime-controlled Weibo social media site this week, prompting loud applause from state media for taking a stand against “toxic fan culture.”
The state-run propaganda newspaper Global Times lamented on Tuesday that allowing fans of prominent personalities to maintain social groups and celebrate their favorites could lead to “excessive idol worship, irrational support, and even online violence.” The Times published multiple articles praising Pan for shutting down his Weibo fan page, indicating the Chinese government viewed his decision favorably.
The move comes in the context of the Communist Party essentially declaring war on what it calls “fan culture” – the elevation of celebrities in the public consciousness, which could potentially distract from obsessive worship of the Communist Party and, in particular, genocidal dictator Xi Jinping. The Chinese government, through its media arms, has for years railed against fan clubs for Korean pop stars, athletes, movie stars, and other non-political entities – creating a context that pressures famous Chinese people such as Pan to ensure that they do not become the target of such attention.
This war on fan culture never addresses the government’s fabricated cult of personality around Xi, fueled through the mandated study of “Xi Jinping Thought” in schools, government efforts to Christians to replace crosses in their homes with photos of Xi, and drowning out the memory of past Communist leaders, such as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, with Xi Jinping propaganda at events marking historic dates. The hero worship of Xi promoted by the Communist Party is so pervasive that, in 2021, the Chinese car company SAIC debuted a vehicle equipped with an application that reads “Xi Jinping Thought” messages to passengers as they drive.
Pan, 20, became one of China’s most popular athletes at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics this month earning two gold medals, one by winning the men’s 100-meter freestyle race at world-record speed. Pan broke his own world record to win the race. China’s swimming performance at the Olympics was marred by controversy after months of reports in the New York Times revealed that nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers tested positive for banned substances but were allowed to compete in the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics – and several of those were allowed to return to Paris. Pan, who would have been 17 at the time of the Tokyo Olympics, was not named among the implicated athletes, but his world-record swim prompted widespread speculation among swimming professionals in the West that he came about his time unfairly.
The controversy, along with his performance, made him a massive star in China, leading to the abrupt closure of his Weibo account on Monday. Weibo is a state-controlled microblogging site, often compared to Twitter or Facebook in the United States.
“Pan’s action quickly won applause from net users, with many saying that he demonstrated the ‘clear-headed’ attitude that athletes should have,” the Global Times beamed on Tuesday.
“In some cases, fan groups can become breeding grounds for excessive idol worship, irrational support, and even online violence,” the state outlet claimed. “By disbanding the fan group, Pan Zhanle has sent a positive signal that athletes should earn respect through their hard work and professional spirit, rather than relying on blind adulation from fans.”
In a separate article, the Global Times proclaimed that “fans also need to have a nice sense of propriety and boundaries” that has become elusive, as “fan culture has become invasive, disrupting the athletes’ personal lives as well as their families’ everyday routines.”
“Pan not only has achieved remarkable results in swimming at the just concluded Paris Olympics, becoming one of the biggest surprises in swimming, he also is very cool-headed about becoming a national star,” the state newspaper continued. “Pan’s gesture indicates his resistance to fan culture. It also mirrors his professional attitude as an athlete.”
The Times then scolded athletes to “not be distracted by their relationship with fans. Instead, they need to be laser focused on training and competition.”
Pan and others in the Chinese Olympic delegation returned home this week after the culmination of the Games on Sunday. Returning to a mob of adoring fans, Pan offered frustrated comments to Chinese media, lamenting his loss of anonymity.
“I can’t go out by myself, even now, coming to this interview, the ground floor of the hotel is full of people wanting autographs,” Pan told Chinese media, according to a translation by the South China Morning Post. “This is the only bad thing about being famous, too many people surround me. I want to keep a low profile [and] be quiet. I’d rather not have as much success [as I did in Paris] if it meant I could continue training hard with peace of mind.”
While becoming a mascot for the Chinese government’s war against “fan culture,” Pan has not avoided weaponizing his fans against rivals. Speaking to Chinese media during the Paris competition, Pan accused fellow swimmers Kyle Chalmers of Australia and Jack Alexey of America of being disrespectful towards him and those on the Chinese team, sending swarms of angry Chinese fans to berate the swimmers on their social media accounts.
“On the first day, during the 4×100m relay, I greeted Chalmers, but he completely ignored me,” Pan claimed, “and even Alexey from the American team was dismissive. During training, when our coach was on the side, they would splash water directly on him with their flips, which felt quite disrespectful.”
A baffled Chalmers told reporters later that he was caught by surprise that Pan felt snubbed because he did not “think there was any animosity ever.”
“From my point of view, I spoke to him in the marshalling room before the race. After the race, I went straight over, shook his hand in the pool; on the podium, shook his hand,” Chalmers recalled. “And then we had a great conversation before we started that cool down, just in regards to how great the race was and the Shanghai world cup. And again, he just said about me being his idol and how much of an honour it was for him to swim against me and he never thought that was possible.”
Chalmers said Pan’s comments caused “a huge amount of grief which is obviously very challenging to deal with mentally” for him from swimming fans on social media.
The Global Times did not mention Chalmers’ experience as an example of toxic fan culture.
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