What Zheng Zhihua wanted was dignity, but many people feel that dignity is non-essential. Some people tacitly accept a lack of dignity in their own lives, and by extension, they don’t feel that others are deserving of dignity."

— Well-known Chinese blind folk singer, songwriter, and poet Zhou Yunpeng, commenting on the vitriolic backlash against Taiwanese singer Zheng Zhihua after Zheng complained about being unable to board a plane with a wheelchair at Shenzhen's airport

 

CDT Highlights

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CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for October 2025, Part Two

CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the message “404: content not found”) from Chinese platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Bilibili, Zhihu, Douban, and others. Although this content archived by CDT Chinese editors represents only a small fraction of the online content that disappears each day from the Chinese internet, it provides valuable insight into which topics are considered “sensitive” over time by the...

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The Guardian Interviews Chinese Fighters for Ukraine

The involvement of Chinese nationals in Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine received widespread media attention earlier this year. This included an extended interview by Chinese journalist Chai Jing with one such combatant, "Macaron," which was was subsequently translated in two parts by CDT. The much smaller number of Chinese fighters on the Ukrainian side has received less notice. One notable exception is Peng Chenliang, who was killed in 2024 and, before joining the war, had reportedly been detained for seven months in China over his anti-Russia, pro-Ukraine posts on X....

Ahead of Global Women’s Summit in Beijing, More Feminist Content Blocked on WeChat

In the run-up to the Global Women’s Summit slated for October in Beijing, which will mark the 30th anniversary of that city’s influential 1995 U.N. World Conference on Women, some WeChat accounts focused on feminism and women’s empowerment have been blocked or had their content deleted. Earlier this month, feminist blogger Jiang Chan (姜婵, Jiāng Chán) had her official WeChat account blocked. The account now displays a message saying that it has been blocked, and that the content cannot be viewed because it is in violation of Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) regulations. Jiang hasn’t...

CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for October 2025, Part Two

CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the message “404: content not found”) from Chinese platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Bilibili, Zhihu, Douban, and others. Although this content archived by CDT Chinese editors represents only a small fraction of the online content that disappears each day from the Chinese internet, it provides valuable insight into which topics are considered “sensitive” over time by the...

CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for October 2025, Part Two

CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the message “404: content not found”) from Chinese platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Bilibili, Zhihu, Douban, and others. Although this content archived by CDT Chinese editors represents only a small fraction of the online content that disappears each day from the Chinese internet, it provides valuable insight into which topics are considered “sensitive” over time by the...

Journalist’s Hong Kong Visa Denial and FCCC Report Underscore Declining Press Freedom

“After six years of reporting in Hong Kong, and at eight months pregnant, I’m very sad to be leaving my colleagues, friends and the place I’ve called home,” wrote senior Bloomberg News reporter Rebecca Choong Wilkins in an X post on Saturday. As other outlets confirmed, the Hong Kong government refused to renew Choong Wilkins’ visa in what many journalists and media organizations have described as the latest blow to press freedom in the city. David Pierson at The New York Times provided more information on the incident: The journalist, Rebecca Choong Wilkins, was not given a reason for her...

Interview: Jessica Batke and Laura Edelson on China’s “Locknet”

In June, ChinaFile published a new report, "The Locknet: How China Controls Its Internet and Why It Matters"—the product of 18 months’ work by Jessica Batke, ChinaFile’s senior editor for investigations, and Laura Edelson, assistant professor of computer science at Northeastern University. The report gives a concise but thorough overview of China’s online censorship system, including the motivations behind it and the mechanisms by which it is implemented. It expands on the familiar image of the "Great Firewall" as a perimeter barrier, adopting a broader...

Interview: Badiucao and Melissa Chan on Their Graphic Novel, You Must Take Part in Revolution

You Must Take Part in Revolution is a graphic novel by Badiucao, political cartoonist and former CDT contributor, and Melissa Chan, a journalist who in 2012 became the first reporter to be expelled from China in more than a decade. The book was conceived in the wake of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, and follows the divergent paths of three friends in Hong Kong and Taiwan from their involvement in the protests through to 2035. CDT: I’m sure anyone reading CDT is familiar with each of you separately. How did the two of you come to join forces? Melissa Chan: I’d interviewed Badiucao for a...

CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for October 2025, Part Two

CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the message “404: content not found”) from Chinese platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Bilibili, Zhihu, Douban, and others. Although this content archived by CDT Chinese editors represents only a small fraction of the online content that disappears each day from the Chinese internet, it provides valuable insight into which topics are considered “sensitive” over time by the...

CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for October 2025, Part Two

CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the message “404: content not found”) from Chinese platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Bilibili, Zhihu, Douban, and others. Although this content archived by CDT Chinese editors represents only a small fraction of the online content that disappears each day from the Chinese internet, it provides valuable insight into which topics are considered “sensitive” over time by the...

Words of the Week: WeChat Account “New New New Silence” and China’s Online “Reincarnation Party”

Last week’s CDT Chinese 404 Archives podcast highlighted the recent revival of the Silent Observer WeChat account. The account, which for several years has provided a platform for philosophically-inclined reflections on Chinese society and current affairs, is now on its fourth incarnation: from 默存格物 Mòcún géwù, or "Silent Observer"; to 新默存 Xīn mòcún, or "New Silence"; to 新新默存 Xīn xīn mòcún, or "New New Silence"; and now on to 新新新默存 Xīn xīn xīn mòcún, or "New New New Silence." Its editor, writer and former journalism professor Song Shinan,...

CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for October 2025, Part Two

CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the message “404: content not found”) from Chinese platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Bilibili, Zhihu, Douban, and others. Although this content archived by CDT Chinese editors represents only a small fraction of the online content that disappears each day from the Chinese internet, it provides valuable insight into which topics are considered “sensitive” over time by the...

Translation: Plunging Prices, Sprouting Weeds, and Broken Dreams

At The New York Times on Monday, columnist Li Yuan describes how, as "wages stagnate and jobs disappear, the promise of upward social mobility is eroding, especially for those from modest backgrounds. For many […], the Chinese Dream no longer feels achievable." Similar themes have featured prominently on CDT in recent months, from uproar over the "4+4" fast-track for medical qualifications to commentary on the decline of former "golden ticket" degrees like computer science and the resurgent appeal of official careers. Other examples include gallows humor...

Human Rights

Latest

Ahead of Global Women’s Summit in Beijing, More Feminist Content Blocked on WeChat

In the run-up to the Global Women’s Summit slated for October in Beijing, which will mark the 30th anniversary of that city’s influential 1995 U.N. World Conference on Women, some WeChat accounts focused on feminism and women’s empowerment have been blocked or had their content deleted. Earlier this month, feminist blogger Jiang Chan (姜婵, Jiāng Chán) had her official WeChat account blocked. The account now displays a message saying that it has been blocked, and that the content cannot be viewed because it is in violation of Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) regulations. Jiang hasn’t...

Politics

Latest

Netizen Voices: “Stop Complaining, Hu Xijin. You Played a Part in This.”

Two posts from nationalist pundit and former Global Times Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin criticizing what he describes as a “collective silence” on Chinese social media have sparked intense discussion on Chinese and overseas websites. The posts, published earlier this month by Hu on his personal WeChat account and his Weibo account, respectively, lament this lack of robust societal debate, and place the blame, variously, on bureaucratic formalism, self-censorship, employer-driven censorship, online trolls, and society in general. At The East is Read, Yirui Li and Yuxuan Jia offered a full...

Society

Latest

Translations: “Lying Down” Vloggers Banned for Espousing the Simple Life

Some popular social media accounts that depict “lying down”—eschewing the rat race in favor of a more frugal, less ambitious, low-consumption lifestyle—have recently been deplatformed, to the dismay of their many fans. Although the bans were ostensibly for “violating platform rules and regulations,” there is widespread speculation that they were targeted for deletion because their easygoing ethos clashed with central government policies promoting marriage, childbirth, homebuying, consumption, and relentless hard work and sacrifice. As the government struggles to address record-high youth...

China & the World

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China Reacts to Nepal Protest Movement

The “Gen Z” protest movement that toppled Nepal’s government last week has sent shockwaves around the region. Fueled by longstanding grievances over government corruption and social inequality, Nepalese youth took to the streets on Monday, September 8 to protest a government ban on 26 social media apps (including WhatsApp, Signal, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, X, LinkedIn, Reddit, WeChat, and others). Amid escalating clashes, security forces shot and killed 19 protesters. Mass outrage ensued. By Tuesday, numerous government buildings had been set ablaze and the prime minister and four other...

Law

Latest

CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for October 2025, Part Two

CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the message “404: content not found”) from Chinese platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Bilibili, Zhihu, Douban, and others. Although this content archived by CDT Chinese editors represents only a small fraction of the online content that disappears each day from the Chinese internet, it provides valuable insight into which topics are considered “sensitive” over time by the...

Information Revolution

Latest

Translation: Special One-Month Reconnaissance Operation Against “Overseas Cyber Forces”

A pair of recently surfaced screenshots appear to offer unusual detail about a special month-long operation, held in Beijing and involving over 40 Ministry of Public Security computer specialists from around the country, to combat “overseas cyber forces” in the battle for public opinion. The apparently leaked internal instructions from the Ministry of Public Security are likely to be the result of an email breach. They include the names and locations of many of the computer-specialist officers, as well as the name and contact information of the individual in charge of the operation. At some...

Culture & the Arts

Latest

CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for October 2025, Part Two

CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the message “404: content not found”) from Chinese platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Bilibili, Zhihu, Douban, and others. Although this content archived by CDT Chinese editors represents only a small fraction of the online content that disappears each day from the Chinese internet, it provides valuable insight into which topics are considered “sensitive” over time by the...

The Great Divide

Latest

Translation: Plunging Prices, Sprouting Weeds, and Broken Dreams

At The New York Times on Monday, columnist Li Yuan describes how, as "wages stagnate and jobs disappear, the promise of upward social mobility is eroding, especially for those from modest backgrounds. For many […], the Chinese Dream no longer feels achievable." Similar themes have featured prominently on CDT in recent months, from uproar over the "4+4" fast-track for medical qualifications to commentary on the decline of former "golden ticket" degrees like computer science and the resurgent appeal of official careers. Other examples include gallows humor...

Sci-Tech

Latest

Words of the Week: WeChat Account “New New New Silence” and China’s Online “Reincarnation Party”

Last week’s CDT Chinese 404 Archives podcast highlighted the recent revival of the Silent Observer WeChat account. The account, which for several years has provided a platform for philosophically-inclined reflections on Chinese society and current affairs, is now on its fourth incarnation: from 默存格物 Mòcún géwù, or "Silent Observer"; to 新默存 Xīn mòcún, or "New Silence"; to 新新默存 Xīn xīn mòcún, or "New New Silence"; and now on to 新新新默存 Xīn xīn xīn mòcún, or "New New New Silence." Its editor, writer and former journalism professor Song Shinan,...

Environment

Latest

CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for October 2025, Part One

CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the message “404: content not found”) from Chinese platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Bilibili, Zhihu, Douban, and others. Although this content archived by CDT Chinese editors represents only a small fraction of the online content that disappears each day from the Chinese internet, it provides valuable insight into which topics are considered “sensitive” over time by the...

Hong Kong

Latest

Journalist’s Hong Kong Visa Denial and FCCC Report Underscore Declining Press Freedom

“After six years of reporting in Hong Kong, and at eight months pregnant, I’m very sad to be leaving my colleagues, friends and the place I’ve called home,” wrote senior Bloomberg News reporter Rebecca Choong Wilkins in an X post on Saturday. As other outlets confirmed, the Hong Kong government refused to renew Choong Wilkins’ visa in what many journalists and media organizations have described as the latest blow to press freedom in the city. David Pierson at The New York Times provided more information on the incident: The journalist, Rebecca Choong Wilkins, was not given a reason for her...

Taiwan

Latest

Taiwanese Singer Zheng Zhihua’s Boarding Difficulties at Shenzhen Airport Spur Debate About Disability Access in China

Taiwanese singer Zheng Zhihua’s complaint about a difficult experience boarding a flight at Shenzhen’s main airport has spurred heated online debate about barrier-free access for disabled people in China. Both Zheng and the airport offered apologies and Zheng, after being attacked online for the way he worded his complaint, has reportedly deleted his Weibo account. The 63-year-old singer, who performs frequently in both China and Taiwan, is well-known on both sides of the strait for such hit songs as "Sailor," "Star Lighting," "The Great Citizen," and “33...

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