Beijing Municipal Propaganda Department: Do not report on the glass that was broken at the [Chairman Mao] Memorial on Tiananmen Square. (February 25, 2013)

北京市委宣传部：有关天安门广场纪念堂玻璃被砸一事不报道。

Beijing Municipal Propaganda Department: Regarding the trash dumps in the upper reaches of the Miyun Reservoir, all media coverage is to be conducted in accordance with the information released by the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau. Media are not to conduct their own coverage or commentary. From now on, media are to submit drafts of all reports involving public opinion to be examined and approved by the Municipal Propaganda Department. (February 25, 2013)

北京市委宣传部：有关密云水库上游垃圾填埋坑一事，按北京环保局统一信息发布，媒体不再自行报道和评论。以后媒体要将涉及舆论监督的报道一律上报市委宣传部备案审批。

Two directives from the Beijing Municipal Propaganda Department were reported on February 25, 2013. The first directive referred to an apparent act of vandalism at the Chairman Mao Memorial Mausoleum on Tiananmen Square.

The second directive forbade coverage of trash dump sites near the Miyun Reservoir from deviating from official information released by the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau. Recently, fears spread that the reservoir, which is reported to supply about two-thirds of Beijing’s drinking water, was being contaminated by illegal dumping.

Public awareness of the issue can be traced back to a call by popular Weibo personality Deng Fei for Spring Festival travelers to take note of the condition of the environment in their respective hometowns. Mr. Deng, who is the director of the department of reporting at Hong Kong based Phoenix Weekly, is a champion of environmental causes in China. H generated tremendous buzz on Weibo last week when he accused Shandong officials of forbidding media coverage of illegal pollution in Shandong Province.

Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to these 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.

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.

© Little Bluegill for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beijing environment, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, environment, media censorship, Ministry of Truth, propaganda department, reservoirs, Tiananmen Square, water pollution
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One might ask why Southern Weekly’s notion of dignity cannot simply be inserted into Xi Jinping’s China dream. Why should it conflict with either material improvement or national strength? The problem — and Southern Weekly editors wrote the point plainly — is that personal dignity depends on personal rights, and such rights can be secure only under a constitutional system of government.

“Constitutional government is the basis for the entire beautiful dream,” they wrote. “Only when we have established constitutional government, only when the powers of government have been limited and separated, will citizens be able to voice their criticisms of authority with confidence and be able to live in freedom, in accordance with their inner convictions. Only then will we have a free country and a country that is truly strong . . . . The real ‘China dream’ is a dream for freedom and constitutional government.”

[…] After officials of the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department “revised” the Southern Weekly statement, all of the lines quoted above had been removed and were replaced with words from Xi Jinping’s speeches about materialism and state power. It was announced that the editors had made these changes, and the result was published as “Message for 2013: We Are Closer to Our Dream than Ever Before.”

Propaganda officials’ actions sparked popular outrage in Guangdong and online. At the same time, the strong-arm tactics show the weakness of the party’s position. China’s rulers are well aware that something is missing in their version of the dream. Charter 08 and the original Southern Weekly statement both put “individual dignity” at the dream’s center. If it were true, as the regime often maintains, that such ideas are “Western” and stirred up only by “external hostile forces,” then there would be no reason to censor them or to jail their proponents. Authorities could simply publish the ideas and then watch the Chinese people inoculate themselves by rejecting them as “un-Chinese.” But no one is clearer than China’s rulers that this would not be the case.

See more on China’s constitutionalist movement and Xiao Qiang and Perry Link’s previous collaboration on subversively coded online slang, via CDT.

© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Charter 08, Chinese Dream, constitution, perry link, propaganda department, Southern Weekly, southern weekly protest 2013, universal values, Xi Jinping, Xiao Qiang
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On Tuesday, the paper’s editorial committee was to hold a fourth round of negotiations with its top management, which is part of the provincial propaganda office, according to a Southern Weekly editor. The editor spoke on condition of anonymity because of an internal directive not to talk to the foreign media.

Propaganda officials want the newspaper to publish — as per normal — on Thursday but editors are negotiating over whether to do so, and the terms under which they would be willing, for example, if they could include a letter to readers explaining the incident, the editor said.

The committee is also pushing a larger appeal to abolish censorship of the newspaper’s content prior to publication, the editor said. The suggestion is that Communist Party leaders could provide direction but not interfere with reporting and editing, and should refrain from taking issue with content until after publication, the editor said.

Meanwhile, protests continued outside Southern Weekly’s headquarters, with the newspaper’s supporters facing off against a small Maoist counter-protest. From James Pomfret at Reuters:

The scuffles broke out after supporters of the paper, published on Thursdays, jeered and skirmished with a small band of leftists holding posters of Chairman Mao Zedong and signs denouncing the Southern Weekly as “a traitor newspaper” for defying the party.

“These people (leftists) are paid agitators of the government, twisting the truth with propaganda. We had to do something about it,” said pro-press freedom protester Cheng Qiubo.

Dozens of police officers had to intervene, though the protests were allowed to continue. Two technicians with a ladder tried to rig a surveillance camera to the branch of a tree outside the newspaper gates, but were swiftly surrounded and shouted down by angry crowds and forced to retreat.

The Economist’s James Miles observed (using the newspaper’s alternative English name):

Small group of leftists only persistent protesters outside Southern Weekend, Spectators wave 50 cents at them. twitter.com/jarmiles/statu…

— James Miles (@jarmiles) January 8, 2013

The Wall Street Journal’s Paul Mozur posted video of the heated confrontation, while others published dozens of photos on Facebook and other social media sites. Some showed Guy Fawkes masks inspired by the Alan Moore graphic novel V for Vendetta, via the 2005 Hollywood adaptation that aired last month on CCTV. From The New York Times’ Jonah Kessel:

Some freedom of speech advocates wearing v for vendetta masks. Said he saw the movie on CCTV recently and ordered the mask

— Jonah Kessel (@jonah_kessel) January 8, 2013

Tea Leaf Nation tracked online support for Southern Weekly:

[… T]hese include some of Chinese social media’s most high profile users from all walks of life. Celebrities such as actress Yao Chen (with 31 million followers) and actor Chen Kui (with 27 million followers) tweeted explicit messages of support on Sina Weibo, a microblog platform. Yao quoted the 1970 Nobel lecture of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Russian author and dissident, along with a logo of Southern Weekend. Chen was more direct: “I am not that deep, and I don’t play word games; I support the friends at Southern Weekend.”

[…] Ren Zhiqiang (@任志强), one of the most outspoken businessmen in China with almost 13 million followers, tweeted on Sina Weibo, “Freedom of press and freedom of speech are rights given to the society and the people by the constitution; they are also symbols of human rights and freedom. Yet they have become pipe dreams without the rule of law, being seriously distorted and restricted. If truth is not allowed to be spoken, would truth disappear?”

Li Chengpeng and Han Han, China’s two most famous bloggers, both wrote articles in support of Southern Weekend. Li wrote, “We don’t need tall buildings, but we need a newspaper that speaks the truth. We don’t need the second highest GDP in the world, but we need a newspaper that speaks the truth. We don’t need a fleet of aircraft carriers, but we need a newspaper that speaks the truth.”

Han Han’s post was previously featured at CDT on Monday.

A Global Times editorial, ‘Southern Weekend’s ‘Letter to Readers’ Truly Makes One Ponder‘, on the other hand, reiterated a claim posted by Southern Weekly’s official Sina Weibo account: that provincial propaganda authorities in fact had nothing to do with the controversial edits. China Media Project’s David Bandurski had previously reported that newspaper staff felt this to be “completely at odds with the truth”, and that it was issued “without confirmation or authorization from members of the newspaper’s editorial committee.” The Times editorial went on to hit other points from a propaganda directive obtained by CDT: that “Party control of the media is an unwavering basic principle”, and that “external hostile forces are involved in the development of the situation”—including, it alleged, Chen Guangcheng. From translated highlights at Fei Chang Dao:

These people are making spirited demands, and while on the surface they are going after a specific person and event, its obvious to everyone watching that their target is the entire system that involves the media.

Whether these people like it or not, this is common sense: given the current state of China’s society and government, the kind of “free media” that these people yearn for in their hearts simply cannot exist. All of China’s media can develop only to the extent China does, and media reform must remain part-and-parcel of China’s overall reform, and the media absolutely will not become a “political special zone” of China.

[…] Even in the West, the mainstream media will not choose to openly oppose the government.

A version of the editorial also appeared on the English-language Global Times site.

The Diplomat’s David Cohen reported that, as instructed, the editorial was republished by major web portals including Sohu, Sina and Tencent. Each, however, added a disclaimer to the effect that republication did not equal endorsement. Further defiance was shown in screen grabs of headlines on sites’ front pages, arranged so that their first characters spelled out messages of support. According to Amy Li at South China Morning Post, the editorial also appeared in Guangzhou Information Times, Guangzhou’s New Express Daily, Beijing Youth Daily, Beijing Times, Hangzhou’s City Express, Shenzhen’s Daily Sunshine, Xi’an’s Sanqin Daily, Xi’an Evening News and China Business News.

David Bandurski saw the leaked directive as potentially ominous. From China Media Project:

If it is true, as Berkeley’s China Digital Times reports, that media have been issued a propaganda directive on the Southern Weekly incident that deflects blame from Guangdong propaganda officials toward foreign “hostile forces,” that is not an encouraging sign.

Readers should understand that the Southern Weekly crisis is not just a face-off between pro-reform voices and status-quo Party conservatives. In this case, it was propaganda officials in Guangdong — the spiritual heart of China’s reform and opening — who upset the status-quo by exercising censorship to such an intrusive extent that the situation became unacceptable to working journalists, most of whom had already made an uneasy peace with media controls.

The crisis at the Nanfang Media Group is not just about whether Xi Jinping is serious about the ostensible new openness and responsiveness attributed to him by sustained state propaganda. It is about whether China could be moving backward on the issue of media freedom, which would send worrying signals about the overall direction of the new leadership.

At The Wall Street Journal, Danwei’s Jeremy Goldkorn also discussed the situation in terms of prospects for media and internet freedom, saying that “I don’t believe there’s anybody in the senior leadership who’s committed to those ideals.”

An editorial in The Telegraph suggested that the new leadership’s response will be revealing, finding some encouragement in a People’s Daily editorial with a different tone to Global Times piece:

This is Mr Xi’s first serious test and early indications suggest that he is treading carefully. Demonstrations have been lightly policed and yesterday the People’s Daily, the party’s official outlet, said that propaganda officials should “follow the rhythm of the times” and help the authorities create a “pragmatic and open-minded image”. On the face of it, this heralds a welcome and more tolerant official approach to the media. Whether or not it amounts to anything of substance will become clear in the next few days.

Guangdong’s new Party chief Hu Chunhua will also be under scrutiny: the posting is, in part, a near-final test of his suitability for future national leadership.

For now, however, it remains unclear which way Beijing will move. From Jonah Kessel and Chris Buckley at The New York Times:

Both supporters and critics of Southern Weekend journalists have claimed that Mr. Xi would back their cause.

“I don’t believe that Xi is totally hypocritical when he talks about reform,” said Mr. Chen [Min, also known by the pen name Xiao Shu], who was forced out of the newspaper in 2011.

“The Southern Weekend journalists have said that they accept party control, but the question is what kind of control and how far should it go unchallenged,” Mr. Chen added.

Update (January 8, 11:20 am PST):

Reuters has reported that Guangdong Provincial Party chief Hu Chunhua has stepped into the fray and negotiated an agreement between propaganda officials and Southern Weekly:

Under Hu’s deal, the source said, newspaper workers would end their strike and return to work, the paper would print as normal this week, and most staff would not face punishment. “Guangdong’s Hu personally stepped in to resolve this,” the source said.

“He gets personal image points by showing that he has guts and the ability to resolve complex situations. In addition, the signal that he projects through this is one of relative openness, it’s a signal of a leader who is relatively steady.”

The standoff at the Southern Weekly, long seen as a beacon of independent and in-depth reporting in China’s highly controlled media landscape, has led to demands for the country’s new leadership to grant greater media freedoms.

[...]

It wasn’t possible to immediately corroborate Hu’s involvement in brokering the deal with editorial staff, who may be bound by an agreement not to speak out.

© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chen Guangcheng, chen min, danwei, David Bandurski, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, Global Times, Guangdong, Guangdong Department of Propaganda, Han Han, Hu Chunhua, Jeremy Goldkorn, Li Chengpeng, Mao Zedong, maoism, media conditions, new left, people's daily, propaganda, propaganda department, protests, sina, sina weibo, sohu, Southern Media Group, Southern Weekly, southern weekly protest 2013, tencent, V for Vendetta, Xi Jinping, Xiao Shu
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CCTV reported on the People’s Daily article “The Internet is Not Outside the Law” on its prime-time news show.

When CCTV aired V for Vendetta, uncut, last Friday, netizens thought it was a sign that reform is truly on its way. They were a bit crushed, then, to read a signed article in Tuesday’s People’s Daily entitled “The Internet is Not Outside the Law.” The official media should at least hold itself to the same standards as netizens are now being asked to, savvy commenters complain. Some worry the article marks an official response to a series of “Internet anti-corruption” efforts in which human flesh searches and vocal complaint about abuses of power have forced the government’s hand. Everything from luxury watch collections to bedroom antics have been exposed online, costing a number of officials their jobs. Will the censors now crack down on Internet justice?

From Weibo:

author-blessing: The Internet is not outside the law? In that case, please respect the constitution; do not delete comments as you please, do not detain people as you please, and do not wield labor re-education as you please.

作家-天佑:网络不是法外之地？那请你们尊重宪法，不要随便删帖，不要随便抓人，不要随便劳教。

JinningMantouMonster: On the one hand, you people take in an astronomical amount of advertising money, and on the other, you enjoy lucrative government funding. On top of all that, you retain exclusive privileges to the Spring Festival Gala and special rights to broadcast your news show over every local satellite channel every day from 7-7:30 p.m. You’re half government and half business, and yet you have the audacity to talk to me about the rule of law? Piss off!

馒头妖在金宁：你们，一边收着天价的广告费，一边享受着财政拨款，还占着除夕晚会的特权、每天19:00-19:30强制地方卫视性转播你家新闻的特权，半官半商，居然还有脸给我说法制？死滚！

ZhaoChu: CCTV’s News Simulcast publicized a People’s Daily article about how “the Internet is not outside of the law.” Not bad. According to the universal, modern principles of the rule of law, nothing should fall outside the boundaries of the law. However, I wish to inform CCTV and People’s Daily of the following: every office of every level of the Party and the government, all heavily guarded secret government locations, and even the two of you, which are government-funded and operated, should even more so not exist outside the boundaries of the law.

赵 楚 : CCTV新闻联播高调转发《人民日报》文章，说什么“网络不是法外之地”，不错，按照普世的现代法治原则，没有任何地方应该成为法外之地，但是，我想在这 里告诉央视和《人民日报》：各级党政的办公楼以及各种戒备森严的官家秘密场所，连同你们两家以公帑运营的媒体，更不应该成为法外之地。

HeBin: So CCTV is the only one outside of the law?

何兵: 央视才是法外之地？

Evan_Chen: Government officials should not do their work outside of the law, yet your corruption is impossible to ignore. News Simulcast should not speak outside the law, yet you continue to spew nothing but lies. No offense, but my level of acceptance for this government and this TV station is zero.

Evan_Chen的微博：国家公务人员也不是法外职务，但你照贪不误；新闻联播不是法外之言，但你依旧谎话连篇。不客气的说，我对这个政府和这个电视台的认可度是零。

PoliteYoungMaster: Totally, man! It’s only the government that is outside the effing boundaries of the law!

和气大少爷：那是，那是！官场才是尼玛法外之地！

chuyoo: What the crap… I’m a law-abiding citizen! But are you sure you’re in accordance with the law?

chuyoo：卧槽，我可是遵纪守法滴。。你们有没有按照法律来呢？

NanQianZhu: In today’s China, justice is found mostly online. Democracy is found mostly online. Law-abiding citizens, for the most part, I’m afraid, are found mostly online. The Internet is virtually the only channel through which Chinese can freely access information. The Internet and the country’s citizens aren’t outside the law–that’s the domain of the government and corporations.

南千住：现在的中国，最多的正义在网上，最多的民主在网上，最守法的公民怕也多在网上。网络几乎是唯一可以自由得到信息的途径。法外之地不在网络不在民众，在官在商。

HeartwoodLife: For the most part, signed People’s Daily articles don’t actually represent the work or views of an individual. Even though an author’s name is given, it name obviously represents the combined views of a given organization. For example, take Zhong Xuanli. That’s obviously the Central Propaganda Ministry’s Indoctrination Bureau. And Zhong Zuwen is the Central Organization Department. Actually, precedent for this kind of tactic dates back to ancient times.

心木生活：人民日报的署名文章一般都不是代表个人，尽管都有署名，其实这个署名一看就知道是某个机构的谐音。比如仲轩理，就是中共中央宣传部理论局，仲祖文就是中共中央组织部。其实这种传统古而有之。

China Media Project all points out that the name of the article’s author, Mo Jinjin, is likely a fictional commentator representing an entire government department.

WenZhige: These fucking mouthpieces… First they say the law is not a shield, and then they say the Internet is not outside the law. What kind of ass-backwards logic is this?

文止戈：这些狗日的喉舌，一会儿说法律不是挡箭牌，一会儿说网络不是法外之地，这是什么狗屁逻辑？

Accener: Those watch brothers and house uncles must be scared now.

Accener：表哥房叔们害怕了

LiZhiyongLawyer: Can’t take it anymore?

李志勇律师：受不了了？

ToriWine: Of course they’ve come out with an article like this. All those watch brothers are really taking a hit from Weibo.

东篱把酒V：这是必然的，微博已经严重影响各种表哥的发展。

LeisurelyFuton: In that case, I want to say something too: the Communist Party should not retain the special right to override the constitution.

悠闲居士的蒲团：那我也想说一句。共产党不是凌驾宪法的特权政党。

Read more untranslated comments at CDT Chinese.

Translation by Little Bluegill.

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: CCTV, censorship, freedom of speech, Internet freedom, Internet stars, Netizen Voices, people's daily, propaganda, propaganda department, rule of law
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All websites are to properly report on demonstrations in Hong Kong

August 30, 2010

The purpose of the demonstrations in Hong Kong (over the hostage tragedy in the Philippines) is not pure. (Those demonstrations) are releasing dissatisfaction towards the mainland.  All websites are to properly report on demonstrations in Hong Kong, and not allow themselves to be taken advantage of by anti-mainland sentiment in Hong Kong.

各网正确报道香港的游行

香港的游行目的不单纯，是针对大陆的不满的释放，各网正确报道香港的游行，不要被香港反华势力所利用

Do not report the story “Secretary General of Vietnamese Communist Party holds multi-candidate elections”

August 30, 2010

It is forbidden to report on democratic steps taken in Vietnam: the Secretary General holding multi-candidate elections, direct elections for the National Assembly, and the requirement starting in April for all National Assembly representatives, legislators, and high-level government officials to report their property.

不报道“越共总书记实行差额选举”

禁止报道越南的民主进步：总书记实行差额选举，国会议员直选，所有国会代表、及议员和政府高级官员，从四月份起申报财产。

Central Propaganda Bureau: All media outlets are to recall reporters sent to Yichun

August 28, 2010

Other than reporters from CCTV, Xinhua, People’s Daily (Renmin ribao), Heilongjiang Daily (Heilongjiang ribao), and Yichun Daily (Yichun ribao), reporters sent from other media outlets are all to be recalled from Yichun.

中宣部：各媒体撤回赴伊春记者

除中央电视台，新华社，人民日报，黑龙江日报，伊春日报的记者之外，其它媒体派去的记者一律从伊春撤回。

Regarding Gao Yaojie in Southern Weekend

August 26, 2010

All websites are to delete the report on Gao Yaojie in Southern Weekend (Nanfang zhoumo).

南方周末关于高耀洁

各网删除南方周末关于高耀洁的报道。

Read more about the “Ministry of Truth” via CDT:

In China, several political bodies are in charge of Internet content control. At the highest level, there is the Central Propaganda Department, which ensures that media and cultural content follows the official line as mandated by the CCP. Then there is the State Council Information Office (SCIO), which has established “Internet Affairs Bureau” to oversee all Websites that publish news, including the official sites of news organizations as well as independent sites that post news content.

This “Internet Affairs Bureau,” sent out very specific instructions to all large news websites daily, and often multiple times per day. Those instructions do not always mean that related contents are completely banned online, but they instruct websites to highlight or suppress certain type of opinions or information in a very detailed manner.

Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions, as well as other type of censorship orders to media and websites, as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” The Ministry of Truth (or Minitrue, in Newspeak) is one of the four ministries that govern Oceania in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the Chinese blogosphere, it is the online lingo for the Central Propaganda Department and generally speaking, all other subordinate propaganda agencies including Internet supervision departments.

Today, it’s been said that news does not break, it tweets. For the officials in the the Ministry of Truth, the news is that their supposedly confidential instructions get tweeted as well.

© CDTtranslator for China Digital Times (CDT), 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ministry of Truth, propaganda department, SCIO
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All websites with streaming video are to clean out “Nothing Feels Better Than a Young Lass’ Leg” (Hao mo bu guo shao fu tui)
August 24, 2010
The musical video “Nothing Feels Better Than a Young Lass’ Leg” has recently been discovered on the Internet. The lyrics are base and obscene, and the movements of the singers are clearly sexually suggestive and provocative. All websites, please delete the video.

请各视频网站清理《好摸不过少妇腿》
近日发现网上流传视频《好摸不过少妇腿》，该视频歌词低俗淫秽，肢体动作带有明显性暗示、性挑逗。请各网删除。

Follow the line of action of the Foreign Ministry in reporting the hostage event in the Philippines
August 24, 2010
The Central Propaganda Department News Bureau gives notice: On August 23, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry has issued a formal position on the kidnapping incident of Hong Kong tourists in the Philippines. All media outlets must follow the formally expressed line of action of the Foreign Ministry, and positively report on the particulars of all relevant parties actively working to rescue the hostages and effectively deal with the aftermath. Do not link this event to Sino-Filipino relations, and refrain from extreme statements.

按外交部口径报道菲律宾人质事件
中宣部新闻局通知：8.23，外交部发言人已就香港游客在菲律宾遭劫持事件正式表态，各媒体要按照外交部表态口径，正面报道有关各方积极营救人质及做好相关善后工作的情况，不要将此事与中菲关系挂钩，避免出现过激言论。

2010 Internet Media Outlet Convention in Inner Mongolia
August 23, 2010
All provincial-level Internet propaganda and Internet surveillance bureaus are invited to select reliable, skilled, and diligent employees to participate in the activity “2010 Internet Media Convention in Inner Mongolia.”

2010网络媒体内蒙古行
请各地省级网宣网监部门和网站选派政治可靠、业务娴熟、能吃苦耐劳的人员参加“2010网络媒体内蒙古行”活动。

Do not report the story “Student at Shandong Architectural University Leaps to Death”
August 23, 2010
A news management notice received from the provincial propaganda bureau: All media outlets are not to report on the incident of a student at Shandong Architectural University jumping off a building.

不报道“山东建筑大学学生跳楼”
接省委宣传部新闻处通知：关于山东建筑大学一学生跳楼事件，各媒体暂不报道

The bombing at Aksu, Xinjiang, and other orders
August 19, 2010
1) Other than reports from Xinhua and Xinjiang media, all other media outlets are not to report or repost stories on the bombing in Aksu. Even copy from Xinhua is not to be reposted.
2) All media outlets are not to send journalists to report on the August 20 trial in Wuxue, Hubei of Zhu Cainian for premeditated murder.

新疆阿克苏爆炸等
1、对于新疆阿克苏爆炸，除新华社和新疆本地媒体报道外，其他媒体一律不报道、不转载，对新华社通稿也不转载。 2、湖北省武穴市朱才年等故意伤害案8月20日一审，各媒体一律不派记者采访报道。

For the National Day of Mourning, media outlets in Xinjiang are not to publish advertisements for two consecutive days.
August 14, 2010
Xinjiang Propaganda Bureau informs all media outlets under its jurisdiction: The National Day of Mourning is changed to two days. On the 15th and 16th all print is to be in black and white, and publishing advertisements is not allowed.

全国哀悼日新疆媒体连续2日禁登广告
新疆宣传部通知所属媒体：哀悼日变2天，15,16日都黑白，不许登广告。

Read more about the “Ministry of Truth” via CDT:

In China, several political bodies are in charge of Internet content control. At the highest level, there is the Central Propaganda Department, which ensures that media and cultural content follows the official line as mandated by the CCP. Then there is the State Council Information Office (SCIO), which has established “Internet Affairs Bureau” to oversee all Websites that publish news, including the official sites of news organizations as well as independent sites that post news content.
This “Internet Affairs Bureau,” sent out very specific instructions to all large news websites daily, and often multiple times per day. Those instructions do not always mean that related contents are completely banned online, but they instruct websites to highlight or suppress certain type of opinions or information in a very detailed manner.
Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions, as well as other type of censorship orders to media and websites, as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” TheMinistry of Truth (or Minitrue, in Newspeak) is one of the four ministries that govern Oceania in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the Chinese blogosphere, it is the online lingo for the Central Propaganda Department and generally speaking, all other subordinate propaganda agencies including Internet supervision departments.
Today, it’s been said that news does not break, it tweets. For the officials in the the Ministry of Truth, the news is that their supposedly confidential instructions get tweeted as well.

© CDTtranslator for China Digital Times (CDT), 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ministry of Truth, propaganda department, SCIO
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Do not report on Han Han’s trip to Hong Kong

July 22, 2010

不报道韩寒赴港。

Regarding “the battle between Mandarin and Cantonese”

July 22, 2010

From the propaganda bureau of the provincial party committee: Regarding the “battle between Jin and Yue” [note: a phrase referring to a controversy in Guangdong province over a recent decision to require Guangdong television stations to broadcast in Mandarin, which has raised larger concerns about the future of Cantonese language and culture], all media outlets must use circulated copy.  They are not permitted to do interviews and reports on their own.

关于”普粤之争“

省委宣传部：对普粤之争，各媒体一律采取通稿，不允许自行采访报道。

For the incident in Hubei of a mistaken beating of an official’s wife, interviewing and reporting without authorization is not allowed.

July 23, 2010

湖北错打官员妻子一事，不得擅自采访报道

Immediately execute these delineated regulatory actions on the Internet.

July 28, 2010

Several changes in regulatory actions and operations:

1) Intensify the liability of all Internet site managers and managerial bureaus; bring penalties against people.

2) When a problem emerges, immediately halt or cancel all related business.  Disregard personal feelings.

3) All items related to the following should be brought together and cleaned up:

a) Do not play up luxurious and wealthy lifestyles

b) Do not hype the “rich second generation” (i.e. wealthy people born in the 1980s after the institution of the reform and opening policy), or problems related to the income gap.

c) Do not hype immigration

d) Do not hype the housing benefits and wages of public officials.

e) Do not hype the darker sides of society (political stories, satirical stories)

f) Do not hype or play up vulgarity

立即进行网络专项整治行动

此次专项行动操作方式的几点转变：

1) 强化各网负责人及负责部门的责任，将处罚落实到人。

2) 出现问题直接暂停或取消相关业务，不留情面。

3)   相关话题集中清理：

a)   不得渲染奢华、富裕的生活方式；

b)   不得炒作富二代、贫富差距问题；

c) 不得炒作移民潮；

d) 不得炒作公务员住房福利、待遇；

e)   不得炒作社会阴暗面（政治段子、讽刺段子）；

f)   不得炒作渲染低级趣味

Regarding the “Great Explosion of Nanjing”

July 28, 2010

The propaganda bureau of the Nanjing party committee has issued a directive: In all cases use circulated copy on today’s explosion; reporters are not allowed to interview or publish pictures.

关于“南京大爆炸”

南京市委宣传部已下令，今天的爆炸事件一律用通稿，记者不得采访，不发图片

Read more about the “Ministry of Truth” via CDT:

In China, several political bodies are in charge of Internet content control. At the highest level, there is the Central Propaganda Department, which ensures that media and cultural content follows the official line as mandated by the CCP. Then there is the State Council Information Office (SCIO), which has established “Internet Affairs Bureau” to oversee all Websites that publish news, including the official sites of news organizations as well as independent sites that post news content.

This “Internet Affairs Bureau,” sent out very specific instructions to all large news websites daily, and often multiple times per day. Those instructions do not always mean that related contents are completely banned online, but they instruct websites to highlight or suppress certain type of opinions or information in a very detailed manner.

Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions, as well as other type of censorship orders to media and websites, as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” TheMinistry of Truth (or Minitrue, in Newspeak) is one of the four ministries that govern Oceania in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the Chinese blogosphere, it is the online lingo for the Central Propaganda Department and generally speaking, all other subordinate propaganda agencies including Internet supervision departments.

Today, it’s been said that news does not break, it tweets. For the officials in the the Ministry of Truth, the news is that their supposedly confidential instructions get tweeted as well.

© CDTtranslator for China Digital Times (CDT), 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: foreign investment in media, Ministry of Truth, propaganda department, SCIO
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Delete all commentary on “Chinese Academy of Social Science’s Report on the Development of New Media in China”

July 8, 2010

All websites: Delete all posts commenting on a series of news items related to the Chinese Academy of Social Science’s Report on the Development of New Media in China.  Close all interactive links.

删除“社科院《中国新媒体发展报告》”的一切评论

各网：删除有关社科院发布《中国新媒体发展报告(2010)》系列新闻的评论跟帖，关闭所有互动环节。

Do not interview or report on [Han Han’s new journal] Party

July 9, 2010

This afternoon, mainstream media in Beijing all received a directive from the Central Propaganda Bureau, instructing them not to interview or report on [Han Han’s journal] Party (Du chang tuan).

对《独唱团》不采访，不报道。

今天下午北京主流媒体均已收到中宣部通令，对《独唱团》不采访，不报

Regarding the incident of Tang Jun’s fabricated C.V.

July 12, 2010

Reports regarding the incident of Tang Jun’s fabricated C.V. must be measured.  Do not play it up, do not hype.

关于唐骏学历造假事件

关于唐骏学历造假事件报道要适度，不再渲染，炒作。

Shanghai television channel not to report on content related to Han Han

July 13, 2010

In a corporate propaganda directive, Shanghai Media Group (SMG) has issued an order killing all reports related to Han Han

上海电视台不报道韩寒相关内容

集团宣传命令，SMG下令封杀任何与韩寒有关报

Regarding Tang Jun

July 16, 2010

In all cases, delete and manage all content implicating Chinese governmental bodies, occasioned by Tang Jun’s fabricated C.V.  Delete content that calls into question the C.V.s of high-level leaders.

关于唐骏

凡涉及唐骏学历造假引发的对中国政治体制的攻击内容一律删除处理。删除涉及高层领导人学历的质疑内容。

Lianhe Morning Report (Lianhe zao bao): China demands urban newspapers end press office communications, and requires them to use Xinhua news agency copy

July 16, 2010

An article from Lianhe Morning Report (http://www.zaobao.com/zg/zg100716_001.shtml) explains: This directive demands that city newspapers in Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, and Hunan forbid the exchange of copy.  The order is meant to prevent reports of hot topics and negative news from spreading across regions, and thus lower the pressure of popular opinion felt by local governments.

Chinese officials in recent days have required many city newspapers that are popular among readers to stop the practice of “linked press office communications” (baoshe tonglian 报社通联) and reaffirmed the ban placed on all city newspapers against “trans-regional monitoring” (yidi jiandu 异地监督, i.e. reporting negative news that occurs in different areas).  They also emphasized that international and national news published in each newspaper, aside from reports written by in-house reporters, must use wire copy circulated from the Xinhua News Agency.

The term “city newspapers” refers to market-based newspapers with a relatively light official tone that support themselves via their own sales.  “Linked press office communications” refers to the exchange of copy via cooperative agreements between city newspapers, or commentary issued in concert among press offices. If a controversial or prominent incident happens in a given area, local media are often restrained by local government control and are thus unable to give reports on the incident.  However, through “linked press office communications,” they can take their reports and offer them to non-local city newspapers for publishing.

In March of this year, prior to the “Two Meetings” (the meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress), the Economic Observer (Jingji guancha bao) and some 13 other city newspapers issued a joint editorial, calling upon officials to speed up reform of the rights restrictive “residential registration system.”  This attracted attention from all areas of society, and infuriated officials who manage propaganda bureaus.  These bureaus believed that “linked press office communications” could easily lead to press offices establishing connections, working together to amplify certain events, and increasing their influence over public opinion.  They might even publish viewpoints that go against the official propaganda “mainstream,” which would be harmful to “establishing correct public opinion guidance.” (树立正确的舆论导向)

The Central Propaganda Bureau for years has always required that all non-local news must come from Xinhua copy.  In recent years, by positioning themselves closer to the people with lively and vivid reports, some city newspapers have achieved a solid foothold in the market, with sales volumes far beyond those of the big officially managed newspapers.  These city newspapers also often break the established journalistic practice of “territorial jurisdiction” (shudi guanxia 属地管辖), crossing regional borders to report on hot topics and negative news.  This has caused local officials to feel extreme pressure.  Because local officials cannot cross borders to intervene in the media, they often lodge complaints with the Central Propaganda Bureau, demanding that it stop this “trans-regional monitoring” and “linked press office communications.”

According to reports yesterday in the Hong Kong-based newspaper Ming bao and other media outlets, an employee at a Beijing newspaper revealed that his office received a directive ordering the following: a ban on reporting negative news in non-local contexts; a ban on reporting negative news in the bureaus of Public Security, Investigation, and Justice; a ban on using copy from “linked press office communications”; and a requirement that all breaking news be reported with Xinhua News Agency copy.  This directive was issued at the end of last month, and on July 1 it went into effect.  Many newspapers are dissatisfied with the rule and hope that it will be repealed.

The reports state that this directive was issued from the Central Propaganda Bureau, and caused many city newspapers to become upset.  Managers at these newspapers have expressed their concerns to the Central Propaganda Bureau via officially-managed channels, hoping it will repeal the new rule.

Yesterday, a reporter for this newspaper checked to verify this information with a spokesperson from the Central Propaganda Bureau.  The spokesperson responded with a statement asking him to “please direct the question to the External Propaganda Office of the Central Committee of the CCP.”

According to what this newspaper has learned, the new directive mainly concerns Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, and Hunan, forbidding city newspapers in these regions from exchanging copy.

An editor from a city newspaper who requested anonymity confirmed to this newspaper that, starting from the beginning of July, responsible bureaus have indeed required that all city newspapers can no longer exchange copy.  Moreover, another person employed in a local media outlet has revealed that actually as early as one year ago newspapers received this sort of order, but only a few papers had actually strictly enforced it.  However, all newspapers had implemented an order to “not publish Internet news,” including items coming from websites such as Renmin, Xinlang, Wangyi.

Reports yesterday from Hong Kong media outlets also pointed out that this order also affected online micro-blogs and other new media.  In China, a few large Internet portals and social networking websites have established micro-blog platforms, which recently have been examined unannounced, and had their service connections severed.

At the same time, officials have emphasized the “positive leadership” of micro-blogs.  The Zhongxin news agency yesterday reported that with the establishment of 21 micro-blogs at the city- and provincial-levels in Guangdong, Beijing police have also recently set up micro-blogs for external propaganda, trying to achieve a level of communication equivalent to those of Internet users.  This development suggests that more and more micro-blogs with an “official background” will begin to have a public presence.

联合早报：中国要求都市类报纸，停止报社通联须用新华社稿

http://www.zaobao.com/zg/zg100716_001.shtml
说明：该禁令要求广东、广西、江西、湖南等地区的都市报禁止交换稿件。以杜绝他们跨地区报导热点事件与负面新闻，降低地方政府的舆论压力。
　　中国官方近日要求多家较受读者欢迎的都市类报纸停止“报社通联”的做法，重申禁止各都市类报纸进行“异地监督（报道其他地区的负面新闻）”，强调各报刊登的国际和国内新闻，除自己记者稿件外，必须一律采用新华社的电讯稿。
　　所谓都市报是指官方色彩较淡、经济上自负盈亏的市场化报纸，而“报社通联”是指都市类报社之间通过协议交换稿件，或报社间联合发表评论。有了 “报社通联”，如果某地发生热点新闻或突发事件，当地媒体往往因受到当地政府的管制而不能擅自报道，但他们可以通过“报社通联”将报道提供给非本地区的都市报发表。

今年3月“两会（全国人大和全国政协年会）”前，《经济观察报》等中国13家都市类报纸发表联合社论，呼吁当局加快改革限制人权的“户籍制度”，引起社会各界关注，也令官方主管宣传部门震怒。有关部门认为，都市类报纸存在的“报社通联”行为容易导致报社相互串联，就某一事件联合发声，扩大舆论影响力，有时甚至发表有悖于官方宣传“主旋律”的观点，不利于“树立正确的舆论导向”。
　　中共宣传部门多年来一直要求各报非本地新闻要转引新华社稿件。近些年来，一些都市类报纸通过贴近民众、生动活泼的报道在市场站稳脚跟，销量远远超过官办大报。这些都市类报纸也时常打破“属地管辖”常规，跨地区报道热点事件和负面新闻，令事件发生地当局深感压力。由于地方当局不能跨区干涉新闻媒体，地方当局便纷纷向中宣部投诉，要求制止这种“异地监督”和“报社通联”。
　　据香港《明报》等媒体昨天报道，北京某报内部人员透露，该报社这次此次收到的新禁令是：禁止异地负面报道，禁止报道公检法等部门的负面新闻，禁止采用“报社通联”稿件，突发事件均需用新华社稿件。禁令上月底发出，7月1日开始执行。 　　引发多报不满希望取消禁令
　　报道说，这一禁令由中宣部发出，引发多家都市报不满。有都市报负责人已透过体制内管道向中央高层陈情，希望取消有关禁令。
　　本报记者昨天向中宣部新闻发言人查证相关消息，发言人回应说，这个问题“请向中共中央对外宣传办公室了解”。
　　据本报了解，新的禁令主要指广东、广西、江西、湖南，不准这些地区的都市报交换稿件。
　　一名不愿公开姓名的都市类报纸编辑向本报证实，有关部门确实要求从7月份开始一律不能与其他都市报交换稿件。另有中国地方媒体同行也透露，其实早在一年前就接到这样的指示，只是一些报纸没有严格执行，但各报都执行“不发网上消息”的指示，包括来自人民网、新浪网、网易等网站的新闻。
　　香港媒体报道昨日也指出，这次禁令也波及到网络微博这种新兴媒体。中国一些大的门户和社交网站的微博平台，最近突然变成测试版，服务联接不时中断。
　　同时，官方加强了对微博的“正面引导”。中新社昨天报道，继中国广东省21个地级市及省公安厅的官方微博相继开通后，北京警方也于近日对外宣布将开通微博，实现与网民平等交流。这预示着，越来越多具有“官方背景”的微博正逐步走入公众的视线。

Regarding Micro-blogs

July 17, 2010

1. Websites allowing posts and information that attacks the government must be dealt with severely.

2. Clear out online rumors, stories, and puns that defame the Party, nation, leadership, and people working for the nation.  This sort of content blackens the name of the Party and the government, and has an extremely corrosive influence on society and public opinion.

关于微博

1.对允许存在攻击政府类信息及传播的网站必须严办。
2.清理网上存在大量丑化党和国家、丑化领导、丑化国家工作人员的顺口溜、段子、民谣。这些内容给党和政府抹黑，对社会舆论形成了非常恶劣的影响。

Obedient

July 17, 2010-07-21

I did not come to issue orders.  I really obey the words of the Ministry of Truth.  It says: “It is forbidden to distribute online directives banning the release of sensitive news.”

听话

我不是来发指令的。我很听真理部的话的，它说:“禁止在网上散布禁止发布敏感新闻的禁令。

Read more about the “Ministry of Truth” via CDT:

In China, several political bodies are in charge of Internet content control. At the highest level, there is the Central Propaganda Department, which ensures that media and cultural content follows the official line as mandated by the CCP. Then there is the State Council Information Office (SCIO), which has established “Internet Affairs Bureau” to oversee all Websites that publish news, including the official sites of news organizations as well as independent sites that post news content.

This “Internet Affairs Bureau,” sent out very specific instructions to all large news websites daily, and often multiple times per day. Those instructions do not always mean that related contents are completely banned online, but they instruct websites to highlight or suppress certain type of opinions or information in a very detailed manner.

Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions, as well as other type of censorship orders to media and websites, as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” TheMinistry of Truth (or Minitrue, in Newspeak) is one of the four ministries that govern Oceania in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the Chinese blogosphere, it is the online lingo for the Central Propaganda Department and generally speaking, all other subordinate propaganda agencies including Internet supervision departments.

Today, it’s been said that news does not break, it tweets. For the officials in the the Ministry of Truth, the news is that their supposedly confidential instructions get tweeted as well.

© CDTtranslator for China Digital Times (CDT), 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: media censorship, Ministry of Truth, propaganda department, SCIO
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Xiao Qiang: Exposing the “Directives from the Ministry of Truth”

July 6, 2010

In the wake of ever-increasing dissatisfaction with and resistance against the control of information in the media and Internet worlds, at the same time the channels and transmission methods of emerging social media outlets, in this age of the Internet, have become increasingly broad.  This is particularly true of microblogs, which now allow formerly secret propaganda directives to be more and more widely known amongst Internet users.

Allow me to select some items from the “Ministry of Truth directives” of June and examine their content.  Of course, some of them are political in nature, such as the prohibition on reporting or reposting stories about the Dalai Lama’s visit to Japan.  Others say not to report or follow domestic industrial strikes.  Still others require all websites to clean up content harmful to party and government leaders.  What is here called “harmful content” primarily refers to rumors and doggerel that, from the perspective of the Central Propaganda Bureau, contain information that damages the image of party and government leaders.

The prohibitions, however, also often cover society news, such as the order not to report on cell phone cheating during the gaokao (college entrance examinations).  There is also the directive against reports on keeping in good health, and a requirement to use designated specialists from the Health Department for interviews if reports are made.  We have even more absurd cases, including a prohibition against using the pretext of the World Cup to make fun of football in China.

From these directives, the truth of the matter is that the more content becomes off limits to reports or emphasis from media outlets, the more this content becomes a subject of feverish discussion and sharing online.  Netizens have their own source channels and ways to get at information.  Some of them are able to get over the Great Firewall, others are good at transmitting news.  They have their own parody (ègǎo 惡搞), humor, and music.  By comparison, traditional media outlets and large websites under the strict control of the Central Propaganda Bureau are not able to report, and their front pages are often filled with whitewashed terms, and hackneyed so-called “main melody”.

This comparison shows that traditional media outlets and large websites are covered with a veneer of terms and stale motifs. Are they really meant for the eyes of netizens or are they just for the censors themselves to see? 

In the Internet age, it seems more and more to be the latter.

萧强：曝光“真理部指令”

随着媒体界和网络界对于这种言论管制不满和抵抗日益增加，同时呢，这种社会媒体出现的渠道和传播方式在网络时代越来越广，特别是微博客，使得本来绝对秘密的宣传指令，今天也越来越在网民中广为人知。

让我来选几条在六月份网路上披露的“真理部指令”，看看它们都是哪些内容。当然有的是政治性的，比如说达赖访日一事，禁止报道转载；或者说不报道、不跟进国内罢工事件；还有说各网要清理针对党和国家领导人的有害内容，这里它说的有害内容主要指的是打油诗、顺口溜等等在中宣部看来，对于党和国家领导人形象有所损害的内容。

但是这一类的禁令也常常包括社会新闻，比如不报道高考手机舞弊；又比如养生类新闻不报道，如报道须用卫生部指定的专家采访。那还有更荒唐的，包括不得以“世界杯”报道的名义，嘲笑中国足球。

从这些指令上来看，其实越是不让正式媒体报道或者突出的内容，基本上就越是网络热议或者热传的内容。对于网民们来说，他们有自己的来源渠道、有自己的小道消息；有的能翻墙、有的善传播；有自己的恶搞与饭否、也有自己的幽默和音乐。而相形之下，那些传统媒体和各大网站在中宣部的更严格控制之下，既不能报，那么首页上往往是充满了粉饰之词、或者是陈辞滥调。

相比之下，那些传统媒体和各大网站充满了粉饰之词和陈辞滥调的所谓主旋律，究竟是给网民们看的、还是给管制者自己看的呢？

在网络时代越来越象是后者了。

Do not report the story “Accident at Overseas Chinese Amusement Park in Shenzhen”

July 5, 2010

不报道“深圳华侨城游乐园事故”

http://sh.sina.com.cn/news/s/2010-06-30/0809147196.html

Accurately report the story “Bus in Wuxi, Jiangsu catches fire”

July 5, 2010

Regarding the incident of a bus catching fire in Wuxi, Jiangsu, websites are not permitted to send people there to conduct interviews.  Only use copy circulated from Xinhua.  Do include it among the headlining stories, and do not hype it.  So ordered.

正确报道“ 江苏无锡班车起火”

江苏无锡班车起火一事，网站不得派人员前往采访，只用新华社通稿，不放要闻区，不得炒作。宣此。

The books San shi nian he dong (Thirty Years on the East Bank) and Si shou lian tan (Four Hands Playing Together) are to be removed from lists.

July 4, 2010

《三十年河东》《四手联弹》“下榜处理”

Do not report the story “Student from school in Zhaoqing, Guangdong hangs self.”

June 30, 2010

For the time being, do not report on the incident of a student hanging himself in his room at Ronghe School, Zhaoqing School District, Guangdong.

不报道“广东肇庆学校学生上吊”

暂不报道广东金融学校肇庆校区一学生在宿舍上吊一事

Do not report “Signatures gathered against ‘letter of sanction issued by Chongqing’s Chen bao (Morning Report), threatening reporters’”; accurately report on the “integration of telecommunications networks”

June 30, 2010

1) Today on the Internet there was a coordinated post of a draft story exposing Chongqing’s Chenbao (Morning Report), entitled “Signatures gathered against ‘letter of sanction issued by Chongqing’s Chen bao (Morning Report), threatening reporters.’” Do not report on this.

2) Recent events related to the integration of telecommunications networks are intensely political.  Maintain a high level of sensitivity, and all outlets in all cases must use Xinhua reports as the standard.  Carefully publish reports.

不报道“《就重庆晨报恫吓同行宣布个人制裁书》联合签名”，正确报道“三网融合”

1，今天网上联合发贴，揭露重庆晨报的稿件(《就重庆晨报恫吓同行宣布个人制裁书》联合签名)，不报道。

2，近期关于三网融合的事件政治性强，敏感度高，各报一律以新华社报道为准，谨慎发稿

Delete all reports related to the strike at Fengtian in Guangzhou

June 24, 2010

删除有关丰田广州罢工的一切报道

The book Tianzhu: Zangren chuanqi (Heavenly Pearl: The Story of a Tibetan) must be removed from shelves

June 23, 2010

书籍《天珠：藏人传奇》一律下架

Do not report on the exchange rate reform; in all cases use copy circulated from Xinhua

July 22, 2010

不得评论汇率改革，一律用新华社通稿

Anniversary of July 5^th Incident: Related reports are forbidden, use circulated copy for other reports.

July 22, 2010

A report in Mingbao (Morning Report) says that in recent days all media outlets in Xinjiang have continually received notices from higher levels that forbid them from reporting anything related to the “Anniversary of July 5^th.”  Even news such as the recent disturbances in Pakistan must in all cases use copy from Xinhua as the standard.

七五事件周年，禁止相关报道，其他报道用通稿

《明报》报道，连日来，新疆各媒体已陆续接到上级通知，禁止任何涉及「7．5周年」的报道，即使如近日的吉尔吉斯坦骚乱等新闻，也一律以新华社稿件为准 http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5709566,00.html

Do not hype story “The case against Karma Sandrup for stealing from tombs”

June 22, 2010

不炒作“11.3凯·嘎玛桑珠盗掘古墓葬案”

不炒作“11.3凯·嘎玛桑珠盗掘古墓葬案”

背景资料:
人权观察敦促中国：撤消指控藏人环保慈善家 家人受到监禁之后，嘎玛桑珠又陷冤案

译者：Buxoro
时间：2010年6月10日
来源：人权观察网站
（纽约）——人权观察今天指出，中国政府应立即释放两位因在家乡建立环保组织而以莫须有的罪名被关押的藏人环保人士，并应立即撤消对他们的兄弟嘎玛桑珠的指控，他曾在被捕之前对其兄弟们的拘捕表示抗议。这两位环保人士，其美郎加和仁青桑珠，自2009年8月在西藏被拘留至今。著名藏人环保人士，慈善家嘎玛桑珠，是中国最成功的藏人艺术收藏家之一，也是备受嘉奖的三江源生态环境保护协会创始人。在寻求他兄弟们释放的同时，本人也于2010年1月3日被捕，原因为发生在1998年的一起盗掘古墓葬案。未经法院解释，原定于6月1日的庭审在最后时分推迟，新的日期还未确定。人权观察的亚洲部主任索菲?理查德森说，“这是对中国政府的检验。这些人代表了政府所希望看到的现代藏人——经济上成功，只去支持非政治化的，被认可的文化及环境等事业——但即使是这样的人，也被当作罪犯。”嘎玛桑珠，全名如凯?嘎玛桑珠，是中国最大的私人古董收藏家之一，同时经营藏人艺术品，人称“天珠王”，拥有对这一藏人传统宝物无与伦比的收藏。2006年《南方周末》曾发专文介绍嘎玛桑珠。2009年由中国记者刘鉴强所著的传记（《天珠》）也得到官方的新华社的好评。在2000年代中期，嘎玛桑珠赞助的环保组织，青海三江源生态环境保护协会，响应中国政府的号召，为保护青藏?

Read more about the “Ministry of Truth” via CDT:

In China, several political bodies are in charge of Internet content control. At the highest level, there is the Central Propaganda Department, which ensures that media and cultural content follows the official line as mandated by the CCP. Then there is the State Council Information Office (SCIO), which has established “Internet Affairs Bureau” to oversee all Websites that publish news, including the official sites of news organizations as well as independent sites that post news content.

This “Internet Affairs Bureau,” sent out very specific instructions to all large news websites daily, and often multiple times per day. Those instructions do not always mean that related contents are completely banned online, but they instruct websites to highlight or suppress certain type of opinions or information in a very detailed manner.

Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions, as well as other type of censorship orders to media and websites, as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” TheMinistry of Truth (or Minitrue, in Newspeak) is one of the four ministries that govern Oceania in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the Chinese blogosphere, it is the online lingo for the Central Propaganda Department and generally speaking, all other subordinate propaganda agencies including Internet supervision departments.

Today, it’s been said that news does not break, it tweets. For the officials in the the Ministry of Truth, the news is that their supposedly confidential instructions get tweeted as well.

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Post tags: media censorship, Ministry of Truth, propaganda department, SCIO
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Two Directives for Reportage on Society News

June 2, 2010

Do not report news regarding on keeping in good health. If you do report, you must use interviews with appointed specialists from the Department of Health, and use reporting formats specified by the Central Propaganda Bureau.

Do not give general reports on public expenditures for the Shanghai World Expo. Do not report on visits by petitioners, but do report on the vulgar (bu wenming) behavior of tourists.

两则社会新闻报道指令

养生类新闻不报道，如报道须采用卫生部指定的专家采访，中宣部指定的报道形式；世博会公款消费不要笼统报道，上访不要报道，但游客的不文明行为要报道；
June 3, 2010

On June 3 a suspect carrying a gun opened fire in the Baiyun district of Guangzhou, injuring a police officer before being shot dead. All media outlets must strictly follow and publish copy circulated from the city public security bureau. Do not make any other reports, water down the event, and do not put the story on the front page or in the recommendation index.

3日一名持枪嫌疑人在广州白云区开枪打伤一民警后被击毙。各媒体要严格按市公安局通稿刊播，不作其它报道，淡化处理，不上头版和导读

To all Internet sites: Clean up “harmful content related to Party and national leaders”
June 9, 2010

Currently, the transmission and dispersal of harmful doggerel regarding Party and national leaders is fairly serious. According to the indicated demand, each website must initiate inspection and management of harmful information related to central government leaders. Related demands are as follows: each website must organize specialized efforts to take on this task of initiating inspection and management of related information on the Internet.

各网清理“针对党和国家领导人的有害内容”

目前，网上针对党和国家领导人的打油诗及顺口溜类的有害信息传播扩散情况较为突出。根据指示要求，各网站针对网上涉及中央领导的有害信息开展巡查处置，有关工作要求如下：各网站要组织专门力量负责此事，针对网上相关信息开展巡查处置

June 14, 2010

Delete the report dated June 12 from Jinling Evening News regarding the Ma’anshan incident

删除《金陵晚报》6月12日关于马鞍山事件的报道

June 18, 2010

It is not allowed to use the pretext of reporting on the World Cup to make fun of Chinese football

不得以世界杯报道名义嘲笑中国足球

June 18, 2010

Do not report and do not follow domestic strike incidents

不报道不跟进国内罢工事件

Regarding strike incidents occurring domestically: do not report, do not hype, do not re-publish other reports, do not follow.

对国内发生的罢工事件不报道，不炒作，不转载，不跟进。

June 18, 2010

Do not report the story “Cheating on the gaokao via cell phone”
Be advised:
1) Neither republish content nor do independent interviews, reporting, or commentary regarding the story published in China Youth Daily about the student from No. 2 middle school in Zijin county who cheated during the gaokao [college entrance examinations] via his cell phone
2) The shareholders’ meeting of Shenzhen Hongkai Group 深鸿基 to be held on June 18 might cause a large-scale incident. Do not hype the large financial compensation owed by Shenshen Hongkai; do not report on information obtained from unofficial channels.
不报道“高考手机舞弊”
通知：
1、中国青年报报道的紫金县第二中学一考生在高考时带手机作弊一事，请不要转载相关内容，也不要自行采访报道或评论。
2、深鸿基股份有限公司于6月18日召开股东大会，有可能引起群体性事件，不炒作深鸿基公司大额经济补偿的情况，不报道非正规渠道获取的信息。

June 18, 2010

With the fourth stage of the gaokao complete, we send the following directive

Do not report on the story, “Guangdong investigates cell phone cheating incident from no. 2 middle school in Zijin.”
刚考完四级，送上指令一条
不报道“广东查处紫金二中高考手机作弊案”

It is forbidden to report on the Dalai Lama’s visit to Japan
June 18, 2010
It is forbidden to report on the Dalai Lama’s visit to Japan. At all times, delete related provocative opinions.
禁止报道达赖访日一事
达赖访日一事禁止报道、转载，随时删除有关煽动性言论。

Read more about the “Ministry of Truth” via CDT:

In China, several political bodies are in charge of Internet content control. At the highest level, there is the Central Propaganda Department, which ensures that media and cultural content follows the official line as mandated by the CCP. Then there is the State Council Information Office (SCIO), which has established “Internet Affairs Bureau” to oversee all Websites that publish news, including the official sites of news organizations as well as independent sites that post news content.

This “Internet Affairs Bureau,” sent out very specific instructions to all large news websites daily, and often multiple times per day. Those instructions do not always mean that related contents are completely banned online, but they instruct websites to highlight or suppress certain type of opinions or information in a very detailed manner.

Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions, as well as other type of censorship orders to media and websites, as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” The Ministry of Truth (or Minitrue, in Newspeak) is one of the four ministries that govern Oceania in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the Chinese blogosphere, it is the online lingo for the Central Propaganda Department and generally speaking, all other subordinate propaganda agencies including Internet supervision departments.

Today, it’s been said that news does not break, it tweets. For the officials in the the Ministry of Truth, the news is that their supposedly confidential instructions get tweeted as well.

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Post tags: media censorship, Ministry of Truth, propaganda department, SCIO
Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

More about China’s “Ministry of Truth,” please see here.

May 30, 2010

Do not report on the bankruptcy of the textile factory in Guangyuan, Sichuan. Do not hype problems related to high-end, luxury homes, and housing for public officials. Use with care figures from intermediary organizations and non-governmental investigations, as well as perspectives from individual blogs. Fully report on how local areas are putting into practice Document 10 from the State Council.

四川广元市元纺织厂破产事件不报道。
不炒作高档房、别墅和公务员住房问题，慎用中介机构、民间调查数据和个人博客观点。
报道好各地如何落实国务院10号文件。

May 29, 2010

1. Absolutely no reporting on the Foxconn incident.

2. Absolutely no reporting on the Honda plant strike.

3. Regarding the killings by the mentally disordered person in Tongshan, Xuzhou: if you report, use circulating copy from the local propaganda bureau.

1、富士康一事一律不报道；
2、广州本田罢工一事一律不报；
3、徐州铜山一精神病患者杀人一事，若报道，请用当地宣传部门的通稿。

对于新闻首页和新闻中心页面以及论坛、博客、微博首页等页面不出现出新闻网以外的任何有关“富士康”方面的信息。如果有请自行清除。

May 28, 2010

Regarding the Foxconn incident, on the Internet, other than copy circulated from Xinhua, do not give further reports. All special reports and transmitted news should be deleted. All forums and blogs are not allowed to post further new commentary, and all comments made prior to the twelfth suicide should be closed off and buried. Tonight all websites must complete clean-up procedures; do not leave any space untouched. Websites in repeated violation that do not heed this call and do not put it strongly into effect will be heavily fined.

有关富士康事件，网上除新华社对内通稿外，不再报道，凡有专题、新闻采纳的一律撤销。论坛、博客一律不得再出现新的相关贴文，12跳前的贴文全部锁定下沉。各网站今晚要完成清理任务，不得留任何死角。对多次违规、不听招呼、落实不力的网站，要予以重罚。

May 27, 2010

For information on the linked suicides at “Foxconn,” only use news copy about the attitude of the local government and the apology by Guo Taiming. Do not give details about the twelfth suicide.

“富士康”连环自杀消息只用地方政府表态和郭台铭致歉的新闻稿件，“第12跳”不做内容推荐。

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May 24, 2010

Regarding the Cheonan incident, reports should only use copy circulated from Xinhua.  Strictly follow the attitude of spokespeople from the Foreign Ministry when reporting.  Do not hype the incident; do not quote commentaries from foreign media.

對天安號事件報道只用新華社通稿，嚴格按照外交部發言人有關表態進行報道，對事件不炒作，不援引外媒評論。

This message comes from the Ministry of Justice:

There are still media outlets publishing He Weifang’s article.  We suggest that this no longer be published, but do not institute inflexible rules.  He has not yet gone too far, and he is different from people like Teng Biao.  In other matters, Yuan Tengfei recently openly criticized Mao; from now on his articles are not to be published.  Sun Liping’s articles have recently spread widely on the Internet.  He says too much, and has already started to become a problem.

這條來自正義部：賀衛方文章還有媒體在發，建議不要再發，但不做硬性規定，原因是賀還是沒有走得太遠，和滕彪他們不太一樣。另，近期，袁騰飛公開大罵毛，以後其文章不准發。孫立平的文章近期在網上風傳，其說得太多了，已開始走板了。

May 17, 2010

For Xu Yuyuan’s initial decision in the kindergarten stabbing incident at Taixing, Jiangsu, use copy circulated from Xinhua.  For the second decision and the sentencing, all media outlets are not to give reports.  For similar cases, in your reporting do not hype, and do not make in-depth reports that connect [the incidences] together.

江蘇省泰興殺童案徐玉元一審宣判使用新華社通稿。二審和執行死刑各媒體不報道。類似案件報道不炒作不作連續深度報道。

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Post tags: media censorship, Ministry of Truth, propaganda department, SCIO
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May 12, 2010

Regarding the incident of the stabbing in a kindergarten in Zheng County, Shaanxi Province, only publish the general draft from Xinhua, do not use information from other sources; do not place it in a prominent position; do not exhibit it for a long time; close the news commentary function. All local agencies, please strengthen the monitoring and management to ensure the implementation of relevant requirements. Do not place in an important position; do not allow interactivity (comments).
有关陕西南郑县一幼儿园发生砍伤事件，只转发新华社通稿，不转发其他来源消息，不安排在显著位置，不长时间摆放，关闭新闻跟帖。请各地加强监管，确保相关要求落实。不得放重要位置，不得互动（评论）。

Regarding the incident of children being killed in Nanzheng kindergarten, no TV stations, newspapers or radio stations can send their reporters to interview, and all reporters who have been sent must return, and relevant reports must be deleted to follow Xinhua’s reporting. (SCIO)
南郑幼儿园杀童案，各电视台、报社、电台不准派记者前去采访，已派出的全部撤回，相关报道比照新华社删除处理。(国新办)

News on the killing of Shaanxi children incident must only publish drafts from the Party media, no discussion in interactive sessions.
陕西杀童案只发党媒稿件，互动环节不讨论。

May 11, 2010

News about Internet in Xinjiang must all use draft of media in Xinjiang, do not promote, do not hype, do not follow “hot issues”.
关于新疆互联网的新闻，一律用新疆媒体的稿子，做到不宣传，不炒作，不跟风。

Read more about the “Ministry of Truth” via CDT:

In China, several political bodies are in charge of Internet content control. At the highest level, there is the Central Propaganda Department, which ensures that media and cultural content follows the official line as mandated by the CCP. Then there is the State Council Information Office (SCIO), which has established “Internet Affairs Bureau” to oversee all Websites that publish news, including the official sites of news organizations as well as independent sites that post news content.

This “Internet Affairs Bureau,” sent out very specific instructions to all large news websites daily, and often multiple times per day. Those instructions do not always mean that related contents are completely banned online, but they instruct websites to highlight or suppress certain type of opinions or information in a very detailed manner.

Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions, as well as other type of censorship orders to media and websites, as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” The Ministry of Truth (or Minitrue, in Newspeak) is one of the four ministries that govern Oceania in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the Chinese blogosphere, it is the online lingo for the Central Propaganda Department and generally speaking, all other subordinate propaganda agencies including Internet supervision departments.

Today, it’s been said that news does not break, it tweets. For the officials in the the Ministry of Truth, the news is that their supposedly confidential instructions get tweeted as well.

© Xiao Qiang for China Digital Times (CDT), 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: media censorship, Ministry of Truth, propaganda department, SCIO
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The Knife that Killed the Children and the Wheel of Tragedy

(Prepared to be Harmonized*)

From the time that Zheng Minsheng repeatedly slit the throats of those young children, a wheel of tragedy was put in motion.

Very quickly, Zheng was sentenced to death to be carried out immediately.  Two days after we reporters were sent out to cover this incident, the propaganda department sternly ordered us to return.  What they eventually told us was obvious from the start—we could not conduct interviews, we could not editorialize, we could only publish drafts that had been prepared by Xinhua News.  At times I really feel like it’s so tragic but also so ridiculous.  Even if we did conduct interviews, what would come of it?  Even if we did editorialize, what would come of it?  For a lot of things can there really by any harm caused by giving a full and clear accounting of what transpired?  Can you establish peace on earth just by hiding things and covering them up?

Of course you can’t establish peace that way. After all the news media organizations were forced to castrate themselves, the second slaughter of young students occurred, followed closely by the third, then the fourth.  If they weren’t elementary school students, then they were preschool students.  All were totally unarmed and defenseless children.  For these incidents that followed, our instructions were the same.  After the slaughter in Taixing, while a colleague was still on the plane, the order came once again.  Propaganda department, fuck your mother hard 100 times over!

In the beginning, I wondered whether the media’s reporting caused more deranged lunatics to imitate the actions of others and recreate their own cold-blooded slaughter.  Later [I] discovered this was not the case; it turns out that most media organizations didn’t say anything about these incidents.  Like us, they too were forced by this series of bloody murders onto the wall of shame—unable to report and unable to editorialize.  We are also all unable to just express our overflowing anger by cursing them bitterly.  In this regard, we are just a bunch of shameless spectators watching these murderers take the stage one after another—and during all of this spectacle forced to remain silent.

When everyone, one after another, becomes silent, the wheel of tragedy is already set in motion.  The first people it crushes are those poor children and the dreams of their parents.  Next is Zheng Minsheng [the first murderer], followed by the second group of children, followed by the second murderer. . . until finally, finally those crushed will be the children of the propaganda department.  Of course when the children of the propaganda department are slaughtered, we will also not say anything.  We will just watch silently from the side as these young lives vanish.  Then we will see the propaganda department go insane, just like how the parents in Taixing lost their sanity.  Or perhaps, we in this process, have already been crushed [by this wheel of tragedy].

At times, I am full of hope for this country.  That is because while its 5000 years of history have been filled with twists and turns, the teachings of courtesy, justice, benevolence, and trust remain deeply inscribed in our bones.  However, at other times, I am filled with despair for this country.  That is because despite the fact that during our 5000 years of history we have had countless wise people use the rise and fall of dynasties to leave behind so many ancient teachings—despite this, there are still those who stubbornly repeat the mistakes of history—not letting people look, not letting people speak, not letting people think.  Is this the way to establish peace on earth?

Clearly, the murder of these children was despicable.  People should at least know how those responsible had become so cruel.  Why were all these people males, all around forty years of age, with low levels of education, and unstable incomes?  Why would they take such extreme measures to seek revenge on society?  What had society ever done to them?

What was their housing like?  I feel like if they had houses they probably were not very nice.  They certainly could not afford to live in commercial real estate developments; they couldn’t even hope of affording those.  What about medical care?  They certainly could not afford to pay any medical bills.  What about education?  None of them received very good education.  It could also be said that the time they most needed education happened to be the time when things were most chaotic.**  What about work?  Without an education how could they hope to find a decent job……

What is most frightening is that during the 5000 years of this nation’s history, while there has always been social stratification, there has never been a time like there is today where people unabashedly worship money, where people openly look down upon those in lower social classes, and where people do not even attempt to hide their scorn of the poor!

Ideological heavy-handedness in post-1949 China nearly destroyed the collective wisdom and culture accumulated over the course of 5000 years of history.  On the surface all you see is this façade of a beautiful world with favorable winds and rains.  All you hear about are things like how 115 coal miners were saved from the Wangjialing coal mine.  But have I been a reporter for all these years without having learned a thing or two?  After water had been seeping into the mine for eight days how could the “survivors” emerge with such rosy cheeks?  How could they still have strength to applaud their rescue?  Even though their hands had been darkened you could still below their wrists areas of snow-white flesh.  If you tell a lie one hundred times will you really start thinking it’s true?

Right now, China does not have a “buffer layer.”  Whenever there’s an acute conflict, be it a social conflict or an ethical conflict, people treat it as a matter of life or death.  There is no room given for a buffer.  What is this buffer?  It should be one’s beliefs; it should be benevolence; even more than that, it should be heartfelt sympathy.  And who should most possess this kind of sympathy?  It should be our great and glorious government agencies.  So then why is it that I always see the big fish eating up the small fish and the peoples’ interests wrested from their hands?

Once the wheel of tragedy is set in motion it is difficult to stop it from moving.  Who knows but that the last to fall will be those who sit atop the machine carried by this wheel of tragedy.

*  “Harmonized” refers to an article being deleted by web censors in order to create a “harmonious society.”

** This probably refers to the fact the formative years of the murderers coincided with major disruptions in Chinese society such as the Cultural Revolution.

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Post tags: media censorship, propaganda department, school shootings
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April 30th, 2010

All websites: News regarding killings of students should all be deleted or obscured. Related information should not appear on front pages. Forums and blogs are not to discuss it! This order must be fully executed.

Directive: No longer report “The Deputy General Consul of the PRC Consulate in Houston Yu Boren was arrested by Local Police“; don’t hype the “South Korean Cheonan Incident,” avoiding elements relating to us; keep low-key the handling of the RMB exchange rate; do not report “adjusting exchange rate under US pressure.”

Urgent order:

1. Regarding the campus killing and violence incidents, in order to prevent public panic and some extremists from imitating after large-scale propagation [the news], no reporting or commentary in any form for any of those incidents. For reports already published about Fujian and Leizhou, all reports should be deleted on the Internet.
2. In reporting the central committee leaders coming to the World Expo, all media need to use reports from Xinhua or other central committee media; no other media should do its own reporting; no following or stopping leaders for interviews allowed.
3. Media should not follow the western media in criticizing the World Expo, such as over its excessive costs, that it’s causing housing prices to rise etc…. About the copyrights-related issue, only report according to authorized departments’ explanations.
4, For the opening ceremony, strictly execute according to the plan issued ahead of the event. Strictly forbid any dissenting voices
questioning [the event]. If there is a sudden event, do not report on your own; only report according to unified requirements.

April 30th, 2010
各网站，有关小学生被杀害新闻一律删除或者撤到后台，双首页不要出现相关信息。论坛博客不讨论！务必完成。

指令：不再报道“中国驻美休斯顿副总领事郁伯仁被当地警察逮捕”；不炒作“韩国天安号事件”，避免涉我因素；低调处理人民币汇率问题，不报道“在美国压力下调整汇率”。
紧急通知：
1．对近期发生的校园凶杀暴力事件，为防止规模传播之后引发公众恐慌与一些极端分子仿效，一律不做任何形式的报道、评论，之前已经见报的关于福建和雷州的报道，一律从网上删除。
2．中央领导视察世博园的活动，一律用新华社等中央媒体所发稿件，其他媒体一律不得擅自报道，更不能围堵拦截领导采访。
3．不得跟着西方媒体的声音批评世博，比如花费高，导致房价高等问题，有关作品涉嫌抄袭问题，只能按照权威部门的解释说明做报道。
4．开幕式的报道，严格按照之前下发的方案执行。严禁有任何不同声音的质疑，如发生突发事件，一律不得自行采写消息，不发评论，只能按照统一要求报道。

April 29th, 2010
For the story on the stabbings at the kindergarten in Taixing, only use copy from the Central Party and Jiangsu Party media. Clamp down on commentaries.

The Provincial Propaganda Bureau of Guangdong has issued a prohibition to media outlets in the province regarding the case of killings in Leizhou: Do not send reporters for interviews. Do not make comments or hyperlinks. Do not put it on the highlights section or on the front page. Do not give it a large title. Do not attach photos.

April 29th, 2010
泰兴幼儿园砍杀事件，仅用中央和江苏党媒稿件，关闭评论。
广东省宣对该省媒体下达关于雷州杀人案的禁令：不派记者采访，不评论和链接，不上导读和头版，不做大标题，不配发照片。

April 28th, 2010
It is forbidden to hype content related to the draft revision of the State Secrets Law, which clarifies for the Internet the collaboration required in investigations of leaked state secrets. Close news comment spaces, and related articles on forum postings are all to be deleted.

State Secrets Law, Draft Revision, Clause #26: When public safety agencies, national security agencies, and the National Bureau for State Secret Administration and Control, following legal regulations, open investigations into cases of leaked or stolen secrets, Internet and telecommunications providers and service companies will provide [these agencies with] their technology support and daily records.

Be advised: Replace the story titled “Newsroom Director and Editor-in-Chief at Guangdong Television Jumps to His Death; Financial Problems Suspected” with the following: “Assistant Newsroom Director and Editor-in-Chief at Guangdong Television Jumps to His Death; Tentatively Confirmed as Suicide; Perhaps Caused by Anxiety Disorder.”

April 28th, 2010
禁止炒作保密法修订草案明确互联网需配合泄密调查的相关内容，关闭新闻跟贴，论坛版块有关文章一律删除。
《保密法》（修订草案）第二十六条：公安机关、国家安全机关、国家保密行政管理部门依法开展泄密、窃密案件调查时，互联网和电信运营商、服务商应当提供技术保障和日志记录。
提示：请将《广东电视台总编室主任跳楼身亡 或涉财务问题》（福州新闻网）一稿，替换成《广东电视台总编室副主任跳楼死亡：初步认定自杀 或因焦虑症所致》

April 26th, 2010
Delete content related to a creature called the “chalk fox.”

Background information: “‘The chalk fox.’ This fox steals blackboards for its livelihood. It causes problems because all blackboards scrawled with chalk taken by this fox cannot be used as blackboards anymore. Natural enemy: an eraser. Lethal weapon: chalk. Victim:schoolchildren. Pet phrase: “The new fox will come.” Temperament: anxious. It specifically worries about the Chalk fox of next term and its own work being erased. [Editor’s note: This is a reference to a visit by Hu Jintao to a local school in the area of Qinghai devastated by the recent earthquake, during which he wrote a message to students and teachers on a chalkboard. The school later saved the chalkboard as a memento.]

In order to prevent fallout, Writers Associations at the provincial and city level are hereby ordered to temporarily cease accepting the resignation of members, and from issuing related opinions. (Background: Author Zheng Yuanjie announced that he is resigning from the Chinese Writers Association)

From now on, the word “Google,” “guge,” and related words cannot appear in published materials, nor can there be books designed with Google technology.

Do not hype the story “Zheng Yuanjie Resigns From the Chinese Writers Association.”

In anticipation of heated news about the Shanghai World expo, screen out all negative reports.

April 26th, 2010
删去有关神兽“粉笔狐”的内容。
背景知识：【粉笔狐】，该狐以偷黑板为业，危害是凡是该狐拿粉笔涂鸦过的黑板就不能当黑板使了。天敌：黑板擦。凶器：粉笔。为祸对象：小学生。口头禅：新狐狸，会有的。情绪特征：焦虑。具体表现在对下一任粉笔狐以及自己作品被涂擦的忧虑（以上引用自http://ccnotv.com/fen-bi-hu.html）。
为防止连带效应，部分省市区作协接到指令，暂不受理会员退出及发表相关意见。（背景：作家郑渊洁宣布退出中国作协）
今后的出版物中不能出现“Google”“谷歌”以及其相关字样，也不能策划与Google技术相关的图书。
不炒作“郑渊洁退出作协”。
预热上海世博会消息，屏蔽一切负面报道

April 25th, 2010
Regarding the debate between [Taiwanese politicians] Ma Ying-jeou and Tsai Ing-wen, do not overly quote what Tsai Ing-wen says.

1. Cool down disaster relief reports, speedily heat up Shanghai World Expo reports.
2. Give careful reports in Yushu regarding collapsed earthen homes, problems with the quality of school structures, and problems with antiseptic solutions for preventing disease.

April 25th, 2010
关于“双英辩论会”不过多引用蔡英文的讲话。
1.抗灾救灾报道减温，世博会报道迅速升温。
2.慎重报道玉树土坯房倒塌、校舍质量问题、防疫用消毒水消毒液问题。

April 23rd, 2010
In keeping with the idea of saving the excitement until after the opening ceremonies, during the rehearsal period do not issue reports without permission regarding the content of World Expo pavilions and exhibitions. With the exception of designated media outlets, all other media outlets are to use copy circulated from the Xinhua News Agency.

Regarding tonight’s announcement of the change in leadership in Xinjiang, at the appointed time close news comment spaces, and at the same time pay attention to the nature of posts on online forums. If there are personal attacks, malicious criticisms, etc., delete them. Please execute.

April 23rd, 2010
按照将精彩留到开幕以后的原则，试运行期间对世博场馆展示内容未经允许不作报道，除指定的媒体外，其他媒体用新华社通稿
今晚会公布新疆人事变动情况，届时请关闭新闻跟帖，同时关注论坛帖文的情况，如有人身攻击、恶意评论等情况，请删除，请执行

April 22nd, 2010
The Central Propaganda Bureau has issued an order not to publish Yan Lieshan’s “The Netizen slander case: a premise for a non-established judgment.”

April 22nd, 2010
中宣部下令鄢烈山《网民诽谤案：一个不成立的判决前提》不得登报

Read more about the “Ministry of Truth” via CDT:

In China, several political bodies are in charge of Internet content control. At the highest level, there is the Central Propaganda Department, which ensures that media and cultural content follows the official line as mandated by the CCP. Then there is the State Council Information Office (SCIO), which has established “Internet Affairs Bureau” to oversee all Websites that publish news, including the official sites of news organizations as well as independent sites that post news content.

This “Internet Affairs Bureau,” sent out very specific instructions to all large news websites daily, and often multiple times per day. Those instructions do not always mean that related contents are completely banned online, but they instruct websites to highlight or suppress certain type of opinions or information in a very detailed manner.

Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions, as well as other type of censorship orders to media and websites, as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” The Ministry of Truth (or Minitrue, in Newspeak) is one of the four ministries that govern Oceania in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the Chinese blogosphere, it is the online lingo for the Central Propaganda Department and generally speaking, all other subordinate propaganda agencies including Internet supervision departments.

Today, it’s been said that news does not break, it tweets. For the officials in the the Ministry of Truth, the news is that their supposedly confidential instructions get tweeted as well.

© Xiao Qiang for China Digital Times (CDT), 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: media censorship, Ministry of Truth, propaganda department, SCIO
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