Worldcon 2023 Site Selection: Chengdu
Chengdu, China’s bid to host the 2023 Worldcon was successful, with 2,006 votes received in favor out of 2,915 valid votes. The opposing bid for Winnipeg, Canada received 807 votes. Other votes included seven for the withdrawn Memphis TN bid, 75 “no preference,” and various write-in choices. There was a discussion during the WSFS Business Meeting and a non-binding resolution passed regarding ballot requirements, which will be covered in our Business Meeting writeup: there were 1,591 ballots from China missing a street address, but otherwise valid. For more details, see the site selection tallies.
The 81st World Science Fiction Convention will be held August 23-29, 2023 in Chengdu, China. Announced guests of honor include Liu Cixin, Sergey Lukianenko, and Robert J. Sawyer. For more, see the Worldcon in China website.
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Lovely. How about them Muslims, eh? Politically tone deaf much, WorldCon voters?
This will teach me to watch what’s going on more carefully. I had no idea this was coming.
I have attended about a dozen Worldcons over the years, but not this one. It will be the first one held in a country where there is no freedom of the press, where every word is subject to censorship that makes it impossible to publish anything that could conceivably criticise or embarrass the government or the party, or any person with power. If you think the con will be allowed to screen, launch, discuss or display whatever it wants, or that attendees, including guests, including panelists, will be allowed free speech, think again.
But strict control of publishing and public utterance is the least of the objections. This is a regime that practices genocide, harvests organs from political prisoners, brutally suppresses the slightest hint of dissent, and threatens its neighbours with nuclear annihilation. The WSFS is supporting that regime. Shame on them.
Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves. Anyone who is involved going forward should be held accountable for their actions.