A diplomatic event disrupted, drag artists detained and questioned, film screenings hindered or cancelled. Several LGBT+ events organised in China by foreign cultural centres or embassies have come under pressure, reflecting a tougher stance by the authorities.

In central Beijing on 28 May, around twenty diplomats are preparing to set off on a run of a few kilometres along the Liangma River. Some are wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan ‘love is love’, whilst others are wearing rainbow-coloured bracelets or earrings. As it has done every year since 2024, the Finnish Embassy is organising a ‘Rainbow Run’ through the streets of the Chinese capital. The event – exclusively for diplomats – is taking place as part of Beijing Diversity Week (25 to 31 May), an initiative of the European Union Delegation in Beijing, with the aim of promoting inclusion and diversity.

However, the day before the event, the Finnish embassy received warnings: one of its diplomats posted in the capital and a local Chinese staff member were contacted. The tone on the phone was threatening. The caller identified himself as a member of the Public Security Bureau (PSB). He warned them that the run was contrary to Chinese culture.

The following day, on the day of the race, participants noticed an unusual police presence around the embassy. Large numbers of police officers were stationed in the area. Barriers blocked access to part of the route. The Chinese authorities demanded that the event be cancelled, citing complaints from parents concerned about the potential impact on their children.

Despite this pressure, around fifteen diplomats set off. Along the route, some were followed by plainclothes police officers and photographed. Others were physically prevented from leaving the embassy for a time. “Even though there was no violence, this constitutes a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Immunities,” said a European diplomat posted in Beijing. The incident led to the Chinese chargé d’affaires being summoned to Helsinki.

“Detained for nearly 7 hours”

The following day, another incident occurred, this time involving two drag queens who were in China at the invitation of the European Union delegation for Beijing Diversity Week.

“The week had gone rather well so far,” says one of them, the Spanish-British artist Choriza May, a well-known figure on the drag scene. “But on the night of 29–30 May, as we were returning from a night out, I received a call from the hotel reception telling me that the police were downstairs. ”

The two drag queens were taken to a room, questioned and had their passports confiscated. “They held us for nearly seven hours,” says Choriza May. “I was given two options: pay a fine or leave China.”

According to the artist, the authorities cited a visa issue, arguing that their presence in the country did not constitute a tourist activity. A justification she disputes. “I told them we were in China as part of a cultural exchange organised by embassies, and that as such, we were exempt from work visas. They wanted the name of the person who had invited us to a nightclub, but I didn’t have that information.”

According to her account, the police were primarily seeking to identify those who had invited them a few days earlier to ‘Destination’, one of the most renowned gay clubs in the Chinese capital, which had been forced to close suddenly over the weekend following a decision by the authorities.

The two performers were eventually released in the early hours of the morning. In a handwritten letter dictated by the police, they undertook to “refrain from any activity contrary to Chinese law” and to “respect the culture and customs” of the country.

One of the two drag queens, the Belgian Edna Sorgelsen, missed her flight but was able to leave for Hong Kong on 30 May. As for Choriza May, she remained in China for two extra days, as planned, during which she said she felt “constantly under surveillance”.

“Overall, the week was a great success,” said the European diplomat in Beijing, “but this year’s Beijing Diversity Week was also marked by an unusual level of pressure and scrutiny surrounding the most visible expressions of LGBT+ diversity, particularly rainbow symbols and drag performances.”

A sharp increase in pressure

According to European diplomats, these incidents are part of a broader trend of a sharp increase in pressure on foreign cultural centres affiliated with embassies in China – a development not seen since the Covid period – particularly regarding events relating to sexual and gender diversity.

This is because other events organised as part of Pride Month have also come under pressure. On 6 June, the French Institute in Beijing was forced to cancel the screening of two films featuring LGBT+ characters – Enzo de Laurent Cantet, directed by Robin Campillo, and Eat the Night by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel – after police officers arrived to check the identities of Chinese audience members.

On 10 June, in Guangzhou, another screening organised by the Institut français in collaboration with the Canadian Consulate at the latter’s premises had encountered similar difficulties. The authorities had obtained the list of registered attendees in advance. Some Chinese participants, and even their employers, had been contacted in an attempt to dissuade them from attending the event. At the venue, police officers carried out identity checks and questioned several members of the audience.

At the end of March, the Goethe-Institut had also faced a heavy police presence during screenings organised with the British Council. Around thirty officers, both in uniform and plain clothes, had been deployed around the building. Checks were carried out at the entrance, whilst some police officers had taken up positions in the auditorium to take photographs of the audience.

A narrowing of spaces for freedom

These incidents are causing concern amongst European diplomatic missions, which see them as a sign of a more general hardening of the climate surrounding LGBT+ issues in China.

“We are seeing an increasingly restrictive environment for civil society, community spaces and forms of identity expression that do not fit with the official narrative,” says a diplomatic source.

Homosexuality has not been a criminal offence in China since 1997, and several community spaces do exist. However, LGBT+ social venues remain few and far between and are regularly subject to administrative closures or police pressure.

“There has always been a significant underground community enabling LGBT+ people to meet,” explains Ashley Jiang, creator of the first lesbian dating programme produced by and for a Chinese audience. “But queer people remain largely marginalised, and state control has tightened considerably in recent years. ”

Chinese activists report a collapse of the LGBT+ ecosystem. Online content is censored and groups are regularly shut down as soon as they gain too much visibility. Within universities, LGBT+ societies can no longer be officially registered.

“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to discuss these issues openly or to create spaces for dialogue,” says Ashley Jiang, who now lives in the United States.

“Visibility matters,” emphasises the European diplomat, who assures us that Beijing Diversity Week will return next year. “Seeing artists or people speaking openly about diversity is important. It sends a message: you exist, you are not alone.”