Sima Nan

Sima Nan (; born 22 June 1956), real name Yu Li (), is a Chinese television pundit, social commentator, and journalist. In the early 21st century, he is well known for his staunch support of Chinese Communist Party stances and nationalistic, anti-American sentiments. In the late 1990s, he was mostly known for his criticism of pseudoscience and supernatural phenomena, especially his opposition to what he called ''Qigong''-related fraud.

Biography

Sima was born son of a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, in Heilongjiang province, although Shandong is considered his ancestral home. He graduated from Heilongjiang College of Business at the end of 1981, after which he was assigned to work for the central government in Beijing. He had worked a variety of jobs since, notably as a journalist and television producer. He is a member of the Communist Party of China.

Filmography

Television

Publications

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Views and activism

As a political commentator

''The Wall Street Journal'' describes Sima as "one of China's most divisive advocates of neo-Maoist ideology", whereas Reuters characterized him as "Communist Party defender". An advocate of the " Chongqing model", he has also been described as a Chinese New Left. Online, Chinese netizens consider him an "anti-America warrior", as a typical entry on Sima's microblog reads: “America is the enemy of all the people in the world... It’s like a giant tumor. Its military bases are all around the world. All wars after World War II were instigated, engineered or started by America...”

In 2011, Sima was invited by the North Korean government to attend the 100th Anniversary of Kim Il-sung's birth. After viewing the military parade, Sima enthused: " Not only should North Koreans love Kim Jong Un, people from every nation should love their leaders."

Sima is among the best-known advocates of ousted political leader Bo Xilai's "Chongqing Model". Bo's top lieutenant, Wang Lijun, was an admirer of Sima. In June 2011, Wang invited Sima to give a lecture on "ideological media voice" to 1800 policemen in Chongqing. During their meeting, Wang claimed he read Sima's writings "everyday".

During the Xi Jinping Administration, Sima's radical views place him the mainstream of Chinese politics.

In August 2022, he admitted to buying a house in California. This made him a target of widespread ridicule, with commentators saying "being anti-American is work, living in America is life" (). For unknown reasons, he was blocked in Chinese social media in August 2022. His accounts were later reinstated on August 27.

War on liberal Western ideas

In 2008, Sima waged an Internet war against Chinese commentators and intellectuals he says have hijacked this year's national dramas to undermine Communist Party rule and patriotic values. He targeted two of the nation's most widely read and combative newspapers, ''Southern Weekend'' and ''Southern Metropolis Daily'', accusing them of promoting "Westernization" and liberal beliefs. He also accused the paper of writing favorably of Amnesty International and other groups critical of the Beijing Olympics and China's authoritarian government.

In September 2008, following the Beijing Olympics, Sima was interviewed by the BBC
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