reactions. this reminded them of one of the most repressive periods in recent chinese history. that is the cultural revolution in the 1960s and 70s when political fanatics were humiliating their enemies in this manner. that s why even in state media outlets said this is a serious violation of rule of law. it should never happen again. of course, critics say this is once again exposed the dark side of china s zero covid policy with many local officials having little regard for human rights or dignity in the name of covid prevention. max? steven in beijing, thank you. from cape town to johannesburg and beyond, south africa is saying good-bye to antiapartheid hero archbishop desmond tutu. a live report is next.
china from vietnam. now, that is considered to be a heinous crime by local place buzz of china s border closure, and increasingly tightened covid rules. there were some recent local outbreaks blamed on illegal immigrants. so officials are facing counting pressure from beijing, especially ahead of the winter olympics. still, these kind of images have stirred strong public reactions, because people say it reminded them of one of the most repressive periods in chinese history, that is the culture revolution in the 1960s and 1970s. so the local officials so far have very much defended their decision, saying they need to do this to act as a deterrent, but others, including state media outlets, said this is in serious violation of the rule of law and
denying any wrongdoings. it s totally normal here. reporter: those videos then shared widely by chinese state media and embassies around the world. promoting china abroad is not without risk. jaswal says he s faced personal attacks and death threats for doing business with china. i m an american citizen. i m a patriot. my mindset going in was i was promoting an event that belongs to the world. reporter: but the world is fractured. and even during a global sporting event that s supposed to unify china s social media blitz may do little to sway minds. david culver joins us now. is there any way to quantify these influencers are actually having an influence on anyone outside of china? reporter: hey there, anderson. difficult to say the direct impact these influencers have outside of china. but chinese officials, they know the vulnerabilities and the potential influence and uncensored social media has outside its borders. in fact, many chinese officials and state media outlets
i have been to a lot of these significant government coordinated events. these events are near perfection. really well produced, and they re striking performances. but they re highly choreographed. the opening ceremony was no exception. the chinese choosing a uighur skier. that plays into the propaganda push. trying to show they re not being detained but flourishing under the chinese communist party s control. we ve reported on this extensively, we ve traveled to that region in china, we ve heard from families separated from loved ones who they believe were put in camps. immediately after our visit, the chinese sent in state media outlets to refute our reporting. this staging for the opening ceremony so this seems to be a part of the same consistent propaganda push. josh, do you think these olympics represent a big moment in the standoff between china and the west?
without risk. he says he faced personal attacks and death threats for doing business with china. i am an american citizen, i am a patriot. um, the mindset going in was i was promoting an event that belongs to the world. reporter: but the world is fractured, and even during a global sporting event that is supposed to unify, china s social media blitz may do little to sway minds. david culver joins us now. is there any way to quantify these influencers are actually having an influence on anyone outside of china? anderson, difficult to say the direct impact these influencers have outside of china but chinese officials they know the vulnerabilities and a potential influence and uncensored social media has outside its borders. in fact, many chinese officials and state media outlets, themselves, very active on twitter and facebook, even though those platforms are blocked here. we did reach out, by the way, for comment to several influencers. those who got back to us they maintain