China’s government is tightening the screws. Sooner or later, that’s what governments do. The government’s financial situation must be worse than generally believed. From Michael Krieger at libertyblitzkrieg.com:
I’m sure all of you are aware of the dramatic power play pulled off over the weekend by China’s Communist Party to eliminate term limits for both the president and vice president. Prior to the move, Chinese leaders have stuck to two five-year terms since the presidency of Jiang Zemin (1993-2003), but that’s about to change as wannabe emperor Xi Jinping positions himself as indefinite ruler of the increasingly totalitarian superstate.
While the weekend announcement was illuminating enough, I found the panicked reactions by Chinese authorities in the immediate aftermath far more telling. The country’s propagandists took censorship to such an embarrassing level in attempts to portray the decision as widely popular amongst the masses, it merely served to betray that opposite might be true.
China Digital Times compiled a fascinating list of words and terms banned from being posted or searched on Weibo. Here’s just a sample of some I found particularly interesting.
- The Emperor’s Dream (皇帝梦) — The title of a 1947 animated puppet film.
- Disney (迪士尼) — See also “Winnie the Pooh,” below.
- personality cult (个人崇拜) — Read more about the image-crafting campaign that has been steadily cultivated by state media over Xi’s first term.
- Brave New World (美丽新世界) — See also “1984,” below.
- my emperor (吾皇)
- Yuan Shikai (袁世凯) — Influential warlord during the late Qing Dynasty, Yuan became the first formal president of the newly established Republic of China in 1912. In 1915, he briefly re-established China as a Confucian monarchy.
- Hongxian (洪憲) — Reign title of the short-lived, re-established monarchy led by Yuan Shikai, who declared himself the Hongxian Emperor. After much popular disapproval and rebellion, Yuan formally abandoned the empire after 83 days as emperor.
- Animal Farm (动物庄园)
- N — While the letter “N” was temporarily blocked from being posted, as of 14:27 PST on February 26, it was no longer banned. At Language Log, Victor Mair speculates that this term was blocked “probably out of fear on the part of the government that “N” = “nterms in office”, where possibly n > 2.”
- emigrate (移民) — Following the news, Baidu searches for the word reportedly saw a massive spike.
- disagree (不同意)
- Xi Zedong (习泽东)
- incapable ruler (昏君)
- 1984
- Winnie the Pooh (小熊维尼) — Images of Winnie the Pooh have been used to mock Xi Jinpingsince as early as 2013. The animated bear continues to be sensitive in China. Weibo users shared a post from Disney’s official account that showed Pooh hugging a large pot of honey along with the caption “find the thing you love and stick with it.”
- I oppose (我反对)
- long live the emperor (吾皇万岁)
The full list is far more extensive and ridiculous, but the key point is that such a pathetic and panicked response from government censors highlights government insecurity, not strength.
To continue reading: What’s Going Down in China is Very Dangerous – Part 1
