Wreckage of the Ferrari crash which killed Ling Gu.

As of December 10, the following search terms are blocked on Sina Weibo (not including the “search for user” function):

Ling Jihua Rumors: Before the Party Congress, Hu Jintao was accused by party elders of helping Ling Jihua cover up the death of Ling’s son in a Ferrari crash this March. The scandal had a profound effect on this year’s leadership transition, according to the New York Times. Ling himself was demoted from director of the Central Committee General Office to head of the United Front Work Department.

- Ling Jihua (令计划): Retested. First noted as blocked by CDT on April 16, 2011, and again on November 16, 2011. See our Google spreadsheet of sensitive Sina Weibo search terms.
- LingJH (令JH)
- department head (部长): This could imply either Ling Jihua or Liu Qibao, the newly appointed head of the Central Propaganda Department. Liu went missing last week, only to resurface as mysteriously as he disappeared yesterday. An essay about his new position entitled “Border Province Governor Liu Qibao” was ordered suppressed by censors.
- Gu Liping (谷丽萍): Ling’s wife. Rumors that she was being subjected to shuanggui have been refuted by the authorities.
- Gu Yuanxu (谷源旭): Gu Liping’s younger brother.
- Zhou Benshun (周本顺): Secretary of the Central Politics and Law Commission. Zhou was implicated in the rumors surrounding the crash.
- Liu Qibao (刘奇葆)
- Central Committee Organization Department (中组部)
- power struggle (权斗): retested

Selling qiegao.

Xinjiang Nut Cake Fiasco: A dispute between a customer and a Uyghur peddler in Yueyang, Hunan over the sale of qiegao (Xinjiang nut cake) went viral on Weibo last week. Netizens were shocked by the damages incurred–qiegao ruined in the spat were valued at 160,000 RMB. Anti-Uyghur comments, particular portraying the ethnic group as violent and criminal, have since proliferated.

- Yueyang + qiegao (岳阳+切糕)
- Xinjiang + qiegao (新疆+切糕)
- qiegao + 160,000 (切糕+16万)

Other:

- satellite dish (卫星锅盖)

Note: All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results.

CDT Chinese runs a project that crowd-sources filtered keywords on Sina Weibo search.  CDT independently tests the keywords before posting them, but some searches later become accessible again. We welcome readers to contribute to this project so that we can include the most up-to-date information. To add words, check out the form at the bottom of CDT Chinese’s latest sensitive words post.

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: censorship, Gu Liping, Gu Yuanxu, Hunan, Internet censorship, Ling Jihua, Liu Qibao, Ministry of Truth, netizens, Sensitive Words Series, Shuanggui, sina weibo, Uyghurs, weibo, Xinjiang, Zhou Benshun
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The following examples of censorship instructions, issued to the media and/or Internet companies by various central (and sometimes local) government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.

Central Propaganda Department: With regards to reports on Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s foreign visit, strictly and without exception adhere to Xinhua wire copy. (November 21, 2012)

中宣部：有关温家宝总理出访的报道一律严格按新华社通稿刊播。

Central Propaganda Department: Do not republish, report, or comment on the essay “Border Province Governor Liu Qibao” or related issues. (November 21, 2012)

中宣部：对四川网登载的“封疆大吏刘奇葆”一文及相关问题，不转，不报，不评。

Sichuan Province Party Secretary Liu Qibao has just been appointed head of the Central Propaganda Department. “Governor of a border province” (封疆大吏) is a late imperial term. Its use by the provincial press implies a feudal title, although the intent was probably just to laud Liu.

Central Propaganda Department: With regards to reporting on high-level personnel changes at the national, provincial, and local levels, adopt without exception Xinhua copy. Do not changes titles or contents. (November 21, 2012)

中宣部：对国家有关部门和各省区市等高层人事变动的报道，一律采用新华社稿，不改动标题和内文。

Central Propaganda Department: If reporting on the vulgar video from Chongqing is to appear in print, use authoritative sources, do not make it too big, and do not use pictures. (November 22, 2012)

中宣部：重庆不雅视频报道如果见报，要用权威消息源，不要处理太大，不用图片。

Central Propaganda Department: With regards to the explosion at a hot pot restaurant in Shouyang, Shanxi Province; the explosion in a coal mine in Xiangshui, Guizhou Province; and the vulgar photos of a Chongqing official: if you report on these incidents, follow Xinhua wire copy and the information issued by the authorities in the respective locale. Do not report in depth, do not put the news on the front page or lure readers to these stories, and do not send reporters to the scene. (November 24, 2012)

中宣部：对山西寿阳火锅店爆炸事故、贵州响水煤矿爆炸事故、重庆官员不雅照事件，如报道按新华社通稿和当地权威部门发布的信息刋播，不作深度报道，不上头版导读，不派记者到事发地采访。

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: censorship, central propaganda department, Chongqing, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, Guizhou, Internet censorship, Liu Qibao, media censorship, mining accidents, Ministry of Truth, official corruption, propaganda, Shanxi, Sichuan, Wen Jiabao, Xinhua
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