A source close to Guangdong’s provincial government said Wang Genghui, a deputy editor-in-chief of Nanfang Media Group, which owns the newspaper, had taken over from Huang Can, Southern Weekly’s editor-in-chief since 2009. Huang had been sidelined and was likely to be transferred to another post in the group.

“Wang has a rather popular image as he is more willing to listen to editors and journalists,” the source said. “But this is likely to be a transitional role to restore normal operation at the newspaper as soon as possible.”

This week’s newspaper included a veiled protest saying that editorial procedures should be respected and made corrections – a typographical error, the erroneous numbering of the edition and a factual flaw that said flood control work by “Yu the Great” happened 2,000 years ago, instead of 4,000 years ago.

A comment below the corrections, signed by editorial staff, read: “Newspaper mistakes are always in black and white. In every link of editing and publishing a newspaper, its standard processes should always be respected and followed. We have never been more keenly aware of this.”

A report at Japan’s Asahi Shimbun, meanwhile, described Xi Jinping’s alleged displeasure at propaganda chief Liu Yunshan’s handling of the affair. Though the account is based on information from unnamed sources, Bill Bishop commented in his Sinocism newsletter that “[I] hear from other reporters that this report could be credible, that this paper has had other scoops recently..if true then very interesting.” One sign of the report’s accuracy might come in or after March when, it predicts, Guangdong propaganda chief Tuo Zhen will be removed from his post.

At a meeting in Zhongnanhai in Beijing on the night of Jan. 9, Xi, visibly displeased, asked if the media control division was not adding to confusion, sources familiar with the discussions said.

[…] Liu had decided to impose penalties, including dismissals, against editors and reporters who disobeyed the order. But Xi gave instructions not to punish journalists who protested the propaganda department, according to a party source formerly involved in media control.

Xi has apparently attempted to contain the fallout even by accepting demands from Southern Weekly reporters.

He decided to remove the chief of the propaganda department of the Guangdong provincial party committee, who led prior screening of the Southern Weekly.

The official is not expected to leave the post until at least March, when the National People’s Congress is scheduled to convene, because an immediate removal would reveal confusion within the party.

In particular, Xi reportedly suggested, Liu’s order for other outlets to republish a Global Times editorial expressing the Party line had turned a local problem into a wider one. (The order was conveyed by a Central Propaganda Department directive obtained and published by CDT.) Certainly, it spread the stand-off as far as Southern Weekly’s half-sister, the Beijing News, which initially refused to republish the article at all, and eventually buried an abbreviated version under a non-committal headline deep within the paper. At Reuters, Sui-Lee Wee described what had threatened to become the Beijing News’ last stand:

“This is the first time in China’s history, with the exception of June 4th, that there’s been such a large-scale collective protest by Chinese journalists against the central government’s propaganda department’s restrictions and suppression,” said Cheng Yizhong, who co-founded the Beijing News with Dai [Zhigeng], referring to the Tiananmen Square protests.

But Cheng said he expected no improvement in freedoms, predicting authorities would try to pre-empt any direct challenges by strengthening controls over social media. Cheng was arrested in 2004 on embezzlement charges that his supporters said were politically motivated. He was later released.

The editor at the Beijing News said management had warned staff not to talk about the incident, especially to foreign reporters, who “could make the higher-ups lose face”.

“It’s possible that after this, they might settle scores.”

© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Asahi Shimbun, Beijing News, Cheng Yizhong, Guangdong, June 4th, Liu Yunshan, media censorship, news media, newspapers, press freedom, Southern Media Group, Southern Weekly, southern weekly protest 2013, Tuo Zhen, Xi Jinping
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One of the most shared images on Weibo this week, this image was posted by Southern People Weekly, a sister publication of Southern Weekly in the Nanfang Media Group. (Artists unnamed)

A proud rooster, defying his encroaching enemy, stands tall on a rock inscribed with the words “Southern Weekly.” Artist Rebel Pepper explains his cartoon [zh]: “The vampires hopelessly strangle one rooster after another, just to stave off the coming of the dawn.” This cartoon draws inspiration from the investigative work of Shen Yachuan, who made his name uncovering the assassination of a whistle-blowing schoolteacher. On the 10-year anniversary of Shen’s triumph [zh] last April, @ShenzhenLaocui said, “Even if you kill every last rooster, the sun will still rise!” (Artist: Rebel Pepper)

Many Southern Weekly staff pointed their fingers at Tuo Zhen, the new propaganda chief of Guangdong Province, for writing the reviled New Year’s message which replaced the original. To skirt the censors, netizens have referred to Tuo as a “lump” (坨 tuó), which is also the measure word for excrement. Scatological cartoons lampooning the censors’ treatment of Southern Weekly abound. (Artist: Pearl Forest)

A one-tuo note from the Proppy Bank of China. “Lump” Zhen is now a stand-in for the propaganda and censorship apparatus generally. (Artist: Rebel Pepper)

Posted to AmazeNews with the title “Say No to Shit,” Tank Man faces down an advancing line of government turds. The cartoonist adds the subtitle, “Support the Southern Weekly editorial protest.” (Artist: Badiucao)

Tuo has also been condemned online as an “ostrich” (驼鸟 tuóniǎo) for his conspicuous silence during the protests. (Artist: Simon)

These “news trimming rulers” are yet another reference Tuo Zhen. Netizens have “spelled” out components of Tuo’s surname with the characters for “measure.” As the “Minister of Measure,” Tuo appears to have taken a personal role in demarcating the limits of the printed word. (Artist: Mr. Choo Choo 500)

A carrot and whip are placed strategically on top of the editorial page of the January 7th edition of the Global Times. The top headline, “Southern Weekly’s ‘Message to Readers’ Is Food for Thought Indeed,” claims that the Guangdong Propaganda Department did not write the New Year’s greeting run in place of the original, and that loosely connected, outside forces, including Chen Guangcheng, have stirred up controversy through the Internet. All news media were mandated to carry this editorial. Beijing News refused at first, thus drawing it into the fray. The 50-cent coin above the whip is a jab at the authors of the Global Times apologia. (Artist: Shu Hao)

The censors and the press are personified as abusive boyfriend and female victim. “I rape, you resist! You must be seeing someone else…” (Artist: Dashix)

Press freedom with Chinese characteristics: a bureaucrat, feigning adherence to liberty and the law, holds the axe ready over the stack of newspapers which are his platform. He seems oblivious to the odd fashion choice of three watches and a Hermès belt with a Lady Liberty crown. (Artist: Kuang Biao)

Follow developments at Southern Weekly from CDT.

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: censorship, Drawing the News, media censorship, political cartoons, political humor, press freedom, Southern Weekly, southern weekly protest 2013, Tuo Zhen
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Netizens dug up this image of China Daily reporter Tuo Yannan, whom they suspect is the daughter of Guangdong propaganda chief Tuo Zhen.

WeiboSearch: Limiting Search to Individual Weibo Accounts: Currently, there are two ways to do this: (1) Go to his or her homepage (to search your own Weibo, go to your homepage). There will be a search bar in the upper righthand corner of the first post; (2) Enter keywords into the search bar in the top navigation bar. On the search results page under “advanced search,” enter the account whose posts you want to search. See below↓↓

微博搜索：【如何限定只搜索某个人的微博内容】目前有2种方法：1.去ta首页（如果是想搜自己的微博，就去自己的微博页），第一条微博右上角会有个搜索框；2.在顶部导航的搜索框里输入关键词，进入搜索页，在“高级搜索”的昵称栏填入要搜的人的昵称。具体见下图↓↓

(Does Chief Editor Hu have moral integrity?!)

Supporters in front of the Ningbo Daily: “End press censorship; freedom of the press; freedom of speech.”

Supporters at National Chengchi University in Taiwan: “Support Southern Weekly, defend press freedom.”

Found them! Found them! I found the ancestors of the external hostile forces! To @HuXijin @GlobalTimes

With every flower, blossoms power.

Ordinary People Support Southern Weekly
I don’t think I change the world, I just don’t want this world to change me.

Performance Art: Seeing the Doctor.

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Hu xijin, Netizen Voices, Southern Weekly, southern weekly protest 2013, Tuo Zhen
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Protester in Guangzhou. “End press censorship. The Chinese people want freedom!”

The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by central government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online.

Central Propaganda Department: Urgent Notice Concerning the Southern Weekly New Year’s Message Publication Incident: Responsible Party committees and media at all levels must be clear on three points related to this matter: (1) Party control of the media is an unwavering basic principle; (2) This mishap at Southern Weekly has nothing to do with Guangdong Propaganda Department Head Tuo Zhen; (3) External hostile forces are involved in the development of the situation. Every responsible work unit must demand that its department’s editors, reporters, and staff discontinue voicing their support for Southern Weekly online. Starting tomorrow, media and websites in all locales must prominently republish the Global Times editorial “Southern Weekly’s ‘Message to Readers’ Is Food for Thought Indeed.” (January 7, 2013)

中宣部：关于南方周末新年献辞出版事件的紧急通知，各级主管党委和媒体，对于此次事件，必须明确以下三点：一，党管媒体是不可动摇的基本原则；二，南方周末此次出版事故与广东省委宣传部长庹震同志无关；三，此事的发展有境外敌对势力介入。各主管单位必须严格要求其部门的编辑，记者和员工不得继续在网络上发言支持南方周末。各地媒体、网站明天起以显著版面转发《环球时报》的社评《南方周末“致读者”实在令人深思》。

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.

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: censorship, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, Ministry of Truth, propaganda, Southern Weekly, southern weekly protest 2013, Tuo Zhen
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It is the first time in more than two decades that the editorial staff of a major newspaper has openly staged a strike against government censorship.

The decision was made after the newspaper management took over the department’s official microblog account, and issued a statement claiming that a controversial front-page New Year editorial had been written by its staff and was not a last-minute alteration by Guangdong propaganda officials. The management also blamed a blunder in the article on an editor.

The staff later issued a statement via another microblog denying the management’s account and announced a strike. Unlike two previous open letters issued by the department, last night’s statement was signed.

“The statement [on the official microblog] does not represent the opinion of the editorial staff. It is a result of pressure applied by the authorities on the … management,” the department said. “The editorial staff will fight against the falsified statement … Until the issue is resolved, we will not do any editorial work.”

Physical or “offline” protests were also scheduled to take place today at Southern Weekly’s offices in Guangzhou and Beijing, according to John Kennedy at the South China Morning Post, who has been posting and tweeting live updates and photos (including the ones below) on the developing situation:

Official statements of protest were issued by students at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou and Nanjing University School of Journalism and Communication. Middle school students were also reportedly joining the protest at the newspaper offices, while popular actress Yao Chen, who has more than 30 million followers on Sina Weibo, posted one sentence in support of Southern Weekly:

Actress Yao Chen quoted Solzhenitsyn—”One word of truth outweighs the whole world”—in support of Southern Weekend – bit.ly/UuzSs5

— Austin Ramzy (@austinramzy) January 7, 2013

Yao Chen’s Southern Weekend message has been re-posted 30,000+ times in the past hour or so on Sina Weibo

— Austin Ramzy (@austinramzy) January 7, 2013

David Bandurski of the China Media Project, who calls the incident “without a doubt one of the most important we will witness in China this year,” details the weekend meetings between Southern Weekly editors and newspaper management which led to the strike:

According to an internal account CMP obtained from a source at the Nanfang Daily Group, which publishes a constellation of top magazines and newspapers, including Southern Weekend and Southern Metropolis Daily, an expanded meeting (编委扩大会议) of the editorial committee at Southern Weekly was held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, January 5. The meeting was voluntarily attended by many members of the paper’s editorial staff.

At the meeting, editorial staff demanded that a special investigative team be appointed to look into the “New Year’s Greeting” incident and produce a report to be issued publicly. Wang Genghui (王更辉), the deputy editor of Nanfang Media, and Huang Can (黄灿), a member of the group’s editorial committee and acting editor-in-chief of Southern Weekly, described to those present how the New Year’s special edition of the newspaper had been “altered in violation of the rules” (违规删改), particularly in the addition of an introduction to the edition. They promised that there would be no settling of scores and that the censorship process would be “returned to normal.”

At the insistence of the editorial staff, Wang Genghui and Huang Can agreed to the immediate formation of an investigative team and said they would relay the staff’s demands to their superiors. The meeting concluded at around midnight.

At around 12:30 a.m. yesterday, January 6, editorial staff learned from reliable sources of an instant message (短信) reportedly ordered by Huang Can and passed on by the paper’s general manager, Mao Zhe (毛哲), ordering that a statement be issued via Southern Weekly‘s official Sina Weibo account. The core content of that message was as follows: “The January 3 New Year’s Message and its introduction in the New Year’s edition of this newspaper were written by editors at the paper to conform to the theme of ‘seeking dreams.’”

The deliberate distortion of the truth in the instant message was a shock to the paper’s editors, especially to those editors who had been responsible for the issue in question.

The New York Times’ Ian Johnson writes that the unrest at Southern Weekly “is posing an early challenge” to new Chinese leader Xi Jinping:

The turmoil at the Guangzhou-based newspaper resonates especially strongly among politically aware Chinese because Mr. Xi chose southern China for a tour after taking power in November. He made a pilgrimage to nearby Shenzhen, where the father of China’s economic reforms, Deng Xiaoping, kick-started them two decades ago.

Indeed, Mr. Xi seems to be casting himself in the mold of Deng, who was known for bold economic reforms but who also brooked no opposition to the rule of the Communist Party.

The latest indication was a speech Mr. Xi made that also was published in newspapers on Sunday. Speaking to senior leaders, Mr. Xi repeatedly invoked Deng, especially on the need to adhere to “socialism with Chinese characteristics,” a phrase often used to mean a combination of pragmatic policies and one-party rule. He also praised the pre-reform era, in what appeared to be an effort to appeal to harder-line Communists.

But part of the reason for the clamor for reforms are hopes that Mr. Xi himself has raised. So far he has won praise by calling for China’s constitutional protections to be put in effect, ordering officials to cut pomp and setting in motion an anticorruption campaign.

Update: John Kennedy of the South China Morning Post, who covered the Southern Weekly story through the evening on Sunday and into Monday as protesters gathered in front of the newspaper’s Guangzhou office, has continued to tweet updates from himself and other netizens:

2:00PM

Southern Weekend supporters picking up scattered chrysanthemum petals. twitter.com/wenyunchao/sta…

— John Kennedy (@28wordslater) January 7, 2013

Large crowd still gathered and things remain peaceful, says one attendee. twitter.com/meowdan/status…

— John Kennedy (@28wordslater) January 7, 2013

1:30PM

Tianya.cn’s Liang Shuxin: Quite a few police/undercovers/guards at the scene now, flowers have all been confiscated, starting to get tense.

— John Kennedy (@28wordslater) January 7, 2013

The Sydney Morning Herald’s John Garnaut has more on the implications of the walkout on Xi Jinping’s agenda:

It poses an early test of China’s direction under the new leadership of Xi Jinping, who has made strong and seemingly contradictory calls for the country to press forward with reform while also returning to the revolutionary legacy of its Maoist past.

“Everybody knows that the system stands naked and that the system is aware that the public knows that it is naked,” said political commentator Zhang Lifan, who is close to several liberal-leaning “princeling” children of revolutionary leaders.

“The question is whether it wants to put on clothes, or not,” he said.

Read more about Southern Weekly and press freedom in China via CDT.

© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beijing, Guangdong, Guangzhou, media censorship, microblogs, political reform, press freedom, protest, sina weibo, Southern Media Group, Southern Weekly, southern weekly protest 2013, Tuo Zhen, Xi Jinping
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Wang has become the poster boy for the reformist camp in the party and a darling of the media. His image as a reformer has endured even as the reputations of both Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao have taken a beating: over the past decade, Hu has shown himself willing to use repression to “maintain social stability”, no matter the damage to society and the political and legal systems, while Wen’s image as a clean and upright politician has suffered after the devastating media reports on his family’s wealth.

There’s no doubt Wang stands out among senior party officials for his quick mind and lack of affectation. He was expressive, and knew how to dress up bureaucratic rhetoric to make it more palatable. He should also be credited for creating some room for debate on reform with his call to “liberate people’s thinking” and his push to strengthen civil society.

But as a member of the Guangdong press, I saw how Wang set back the media during his five-year rule. Freedom of speech is the foundation of all political and democratic reform. From this perspective, we can hardly give his performance a good appraisal.

One of the strikes against Wang, Chang argues, is the appointment during his tenure of Tuo Zhen as provincial propaganda chief. Tuo’s alleged conservatism and inflexibility are said to have taken hold gradually during his thirty-year climb from a start as a “crusading” reporter documenting the plight of the poor. From Teddy Ng at South China Morning Post:

Tuo, 52, started his career as a reporter at the Economic Daily in 1982, and went on to become the newspaper’s chief editor in 2005. In 2011, he was made a vice-president of Xinhua, and he moved to Guangdong in May last year.

He gained early fame for an award-winning story he wrote in 1983 about an engineer who lived in a dilapidated home and worked for a boss who owned four apartments.

Tuo was named one of China’s 10 most outstanding young people in 1993 and was made a senior reporter for the Economic Daily in 1994.

During his time at the newspaper, Tuo was involved in a series of reports on reforms launched in Tongling , Anhui province, when former Guangdong Communist Party chief Wang Yang was the city’s mayor.

He once said the fairness and objectivity of journalists should not be challenged, and the trust bestowed upon journalists by ordinary citizens should be a strong motivation.

By the time he reached Guangdong last year, the transformation appeared complete. At South China Morning Post’s Locustland blog, John Kennedy translated a Weibo post from a purported employee of the Nanfang Media Group, owner of the wayward Nanfang Zhoumo (Southern Weekly, or Southern Weekend) newspaper:

Rumour has it when Tuo arrived in Guangdong, he called up the heads of each newspaper for one-on-one chats, saying the party has entrusted them to hold the line on permitted speech together, that any lost ground will be lost for good.

Then he came out with a series of mortal blows: forbidding Guangdong media from reporting on corruption in other provinces, banning any commentary on negative news in far-off locations, constantly requiring that only the People’s Daily or Xinhua version of news be allowed to run. Southern Weekly in particular has been ordered to get prior approval for every story from the provincial propaganda department, which won’t let each issue go to print until it’s seen all major reports.

This week, Tuo apparently vindicated Chang’s comments by rewriting Southern Weekly’s traditional New Year greeting, without so much as informing the newspaper’s editors. The original article, Dai Zhiyong’s strident call for fulfilling “the dream of constitutionalism in China”, was replaced with anodyne sentiments about how close to fulfilling its dreams China had come. From David Bandurski at China Media Project:

Only if constitutionalism is realized and power effectively checked can citizens voice their criticisms of power loudly and confidently, and only then can every person believe in their hearts that they are free to live their own lives. Only then can we build a truly free and strong nation. . .

According to chatter on Weibo, there were three versions of the letter. The first was the original by Dai Zhiyong, from which the above translation comes. The second was the draft from editors at the newspaper. The third, the version that eventually went to print, contains further changes now being attributed to Tuo Zhen (庹震), Guangdong’s provincial propaganda chief, as well as an introductory message from Tuo Zhen.

[…] The full story here is not yet clear. But it looks as though two egregious violations of propaganda protocol are involved here. First, Tuo Zhen seems to have single-handedly made changes to the second version of the “New Year’s Greeting” after editors responded to his objections to the original. The result is Tuo Zhen’s version three. Second, Tuo Zhen seems to have added his own separate text unilaterally to the paper by penning the “Pursuing Our Dreams” message.

While the original editorial is strongly worded, voicing the hope that China’s Constitution will “cut its teeth” and become the real foundation of freedom in the country, the final version is entirely toothless.

A reference to legendary ruler Yu the Great added insult to injury, suggesting that he tamed disastrous floods not 4,000 but 2,000 years ago. A group of former Southern Weekly journalists expressed their anger in an open letter, accusing Tuo of undermining the central government’s credibility and urging his forced resignation. From a translation at China Media Project:

It is our view that Minister Tuo Zhen’s actions overstep the bounds (越界之举), that they are dictatorial (擅权之举), that they are ignorant and excessive.

It is our view that in this era in which hope is necessary, he is obliterating hope; in this era in which equality is yearned for, his actions are haughty and condescending; in this era of growing open-mindedness, his actions are foolish and careless; in this era that cares for learning and refinement, his actions are crude and thoughtless.

In recent days, the general attitude at home and overseas following the 18th National Congress has been one of optimism over China’s prospects. This optimism is grounded in the outlook and policy direction of the new leadership. That policy direction includes: Unswervingly pushing ahead with reform and opening, persevering in exercising power under the sunlight [i.e., in an open manner], firmly insisting on the basic principles of the Constitution, and resolutely opposing corruption and bureaucratism (官僚主义).

The actions of Minister Tuo Zhen, in Guangzhou and on the very front lines of reform and opening, are entirely contrary to this policy orientation.

By Saturday, South China Morning Post’s Teddy Ng reported, similar letters and statements had come from Southern Weekly’s editorial staff, more than fifty former interns, and Nanjing University’s journalism school. From Keith Richburg at The Washington Post:

Media experts said the demands for Tuo’s ouster set up a challenge that will be difficult for the government to ignore. “There is little room for the two sides to negotiate,” Zhang Lifan, a political commentator, wrote on his weibo account Friday. “The incident will testify to the direction of political reform.”

[…] Asked about the Southern Weekly controversy Friday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she did not know the specifics of the situation, which she noted did not pertain to foreign affairs. But she added: “In China, no so-called news censorship system exists. The Chinese government protects journalistic freedom according to the law.”

Discussion of the case on Weibo has been suppressed by blocks on relevant search terms already documented at CDT. In addition, some current Southern Weekly staff have seen their Weibo accounts suspended, according to the former employees’ letter. Both central and local authorities have sought to rein in media coverage of the issue: a Central Propaganda Department directive obtained by CDT ordered:

Urgent notice: Upon receipt of this message, controlling departments in all locales must immediately inform all reporters and editors that they may not discuss the Southern Weekend New Year’s greeting on any public platforms. (January 3, 2013)

The Chinese-language Global Times did comment on Thursday, urging cool heads. From a translation at Fei Chang Dao:

The truth be told, many media outlets have had the experience of taking certain opinions from the government on important reports. Having the government provide certain specific instructions on important reports is one device that is woven into the fabric of China’s news management. Overall, China’s reporting is increasingly open, and the general trend is a gradual reduction in the specific instructions from the government, but at the same time, there has been no change in the larger structure of media management.

The Chinese-language editorial was swiftly deleted, but a similar one remains on the English edition’s site:

The reality is that old media regulatory policies cannot go on as they are now. The society is progressing, and the management should evolve. Traditional media is integrating intimately with new media in China, resulting in frequent migration of professionals and different ways for them to pursue their personal interests. All these means the traditional regulation mechanisms no longer fit the new environment

But no matter how the Chinese media is regulated, they will never become the same as their Western counterparts. This should be the basic judgment of Chinese media professionals. China’s political system differs from the West’s, and the media cannot separate itself from a country’s political reality. The only way that fits the development of Chinese media is one that can suit the country’s development path.

While the controversy continued to rage, The Economist’s James Miles commented on its Analects blog on the constitutionalist current to which the original New Year greeting was intended to contribute.

The appeals for the party to respect the constitution’s provisions are part of what appears to be a new tactic by Chinese liberals to push for faster political change. On November 16th, a day after the party’s new leadership was installed, Yanhuang Chunqiu and academics from Peking University jointly organised a meeting in Beijing of around 100 intellectuals as well as a sprinkling of retired officials to discuss the constitution and the importance of upholding it […]. At the meeting a draft was circulated of what was called a “Proposal for a Consensus on Reform”. The thrust of its message was that if only the constitution were to be respected, China would become far more democratic. The document was made public on December 25th, with the names of 72 academics and lawyers attached.

The liberals’ decision to appeal to the constitution is likely to gather wide support among intellectuals, many of whom fear that any more overt challenge to the party could provoke a backlash. A petition for radical political reform issued four years ago resulted in police harassment of many of the thousands of people who signed it, as well as the sentencing of its chief author, Liu Xiaobo, to 11 years in prison. This time the authorities will find it harder to crack down. Thanks to the rapid growth of social media, especially microblogs, in the last couple of years, the liberals’ message is likely to spread.

© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 18th party congress, Chang Ping, constitution, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, Global Times, Guangdong, Guangdong Model, Liu Xiaobo, media censorship, media conditions, Peking University, political reform, Southern Media Group, Southern Weekly, southern weekly protest 2013, Tuo Zhen, Wang Yang, Xinhua, Yanhuang Chunqiu, Zhang Lifan
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Tuo the Great Controls the Waters (Dashix)

In an unusual expression of outrage, Southern Weekly writers, editors, and former interns signed an open letter expressing their anger over the rewriting of their New Year’s message and the “rape” of their paper. The paper’s original editorial, “China’s Dream, the Dream of Constitutionalism,” succumbed to a bland propagandist piece complete with an egregious factual error.

As of January 4, the following search terms are blocked on Sina Weibo (not including the “search for user” function):

- Tuo (庹)
- Lump (坨): “Lump” (tuó) sounds like the surname of Tuo Zhen (Tuǒ). Tuo is the head of the Guangdong Propaganda Department, and is suspected of penning the sycophantic Party message which replaced the original New Year’s piece.
- Southern Weekly (南方周末)
- Nan Zhou (南周): abbreviation for Southern Weekly.
- open letter (公开信)
- 2000 + Yu the Great Controls the Waters (2000+大禹治水): The open letter notes that the final version of the editorial stated that legendary emperor Yu the Great devised innovative new flood management 2000 years ago. In fact, Yu is said to have founded the Xia Dynasty, and lived from about 2200 to 2100 B.C.E.–at least 4200 years ago.
- New Year’s greeting (新年献词)

See also the list of censored search results from yesterday.

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

Browse all of CDT’s collected sensitive words in this bilingual Google spreadsheet.

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), 2013. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: censorship, filtered keywords, Internet censorship, media censorship, Ministry of Truth, press freedom, Sensitive Words Series, sina weibo, Southern Weekly, southern weekly protest 2013, Tuo Zhen, weibo
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“We Are Closer to Our Dream Than Ever Before.” Journalists are pointing fingers at Guangdong Propaganda Department Head Tuo Zhen for turning a call for constitutionalism into a paean to the status quo.

Southern Weekly’s annual New Year’s greeting was utterly mangled this year. A rousing argument for China’s “dream of constitutionalism” was excised by the censors, and it seems that the new head of Guangdong’s Propaganda Department, former Xinhua News Agency Deputy Head Tuo Zhen, held the knife himself. Now three versions of the editorial are available online, including the original, a draft checked by the censors, and the final version attributed to Tuo. China Media Project has an in-depth look at the emerging story.

The text of the original, uncensored editorial is available from CDT Chinese here [zh].

As of January 3, the following search terms are blocked on Sina Weibo (not including the “search for user” function):

- Tuo Zhen (庹震)
- Lump Zhen (坨震): “Lump” (坨 tuó) sounds like Tuo (庹 Tuǒ).
- measure (尺度): These two characters “spell” out Tuo (庹): the first character in “measure” (尺) is a component of Tuo’s surname, while the second character (度) includes some of the same component parts as Tuo. “Measure” also implies the “scale of censorship” (审查尺度) imposed by Tuo. He has, in fact, earned the online nickname “Minister of Measure” (尺度部长).
- China dream + dream of constitutionalism (中国梦+宪政梦): The title of the original article was “China’s Dream, the Dream of Constitutionalism.”
- Guangdong + Propaganda Department (广东+宣传部)
- Southern Weekly + New Year’s greeting (南方周末+新年献词)
- Nan Zhou + New Year’s greeting (南周+新年献词): “Nan Zhou” is an abbreviation for Southern Weekly (南方周末 Nánfāng Zhōumò).
- minister (部长): e.g. Minister Tuo. Re-tested.

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

Browse all of CDT’s collected sensitive words in this bilingual Google spreadsheet.

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), 2013. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: censorship, filtered keywords, Guangdong, Internet censorship, Ministry of Truth, Sensitive Words Series, sina weibo, Southern Weekly, Tuo Zhen, weibo
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