The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online.
State Council Information Office: All websites are kindly asked to delete the article “Report Says Pollution in Beijing Approaching Level Unsuitable for Human Habitation.” (February 12, 2014)
国新办：《报告称北京污染指数已接近不适合人类居住程度》一文，请各网删除。
The China National Radio report [zh] cites a blue paper jointly authored by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and the Social Sciences Academic Press. Other state media have also reported the findings, but have tried to tone down their language.
Greenpeace has also released a survey of air pollution in 74 Chinese cities, where Beijing ranks 14th. None of the cities studied meet the World Health Organization’s recommendations for air quality.
Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to these as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.”
CDT collects these directives from a variety of sources and checks them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.
Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.
