A shockingly violent attack on several women dining at a barbecue restaurant in Tangshan, a prefectural-level city in northeast Hebei province, became one of the key focal points in public opinion in China in June 2022. Owing to the graphic nature of video footage of the attack shared across social media, and poor official handling of the case, the incident gripped the public for several days on end.  

On the domestic political front, there was a clear downturn in the number of reports in the Chinese Communist Party’s official People’s Daily newspaper mentioning the country’s premier, Li Keqiang (李克强) – this following premature speculation in international media in late May that Xi Jinping might be receiving less prominent coverage in the flagship newspaper. Contrary to such guesswork, by the second week of June, there seemed to be a clear rise in prominent acts of “loyalty signaling,” or biaotai (表态), by senior CCP officials, paving the way for the further elevation of Xi and his bann…