On January 15, non-governmental organization Human Rights in China (HRIC) reported that, for the first time, the Chinese government obstructed the annual New Year’s gathering of the Tiananmen Mothers. Formed in...
Demographic data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday revealed that in 2025, China’s population fell for a fourth consecutive year, and the annual birthrate plummeted below eight...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
It’s not that we’re not having kids, we’re just postponing parenthood, slowing reproduction, and reproducing in an orderly fashion. We must take into account our specific circumstances when reproducing, and we should not reproduce blindly: we must reproduce precisely, scientifically, efficiently, and strategically."
— In response to data showing that China's birthrate fell below eight million in 2025, fueling worries of a demographic crisis, some social media users responded with parodies of past CCP family-planning slogans.
Demographic data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday revealed that in 2025, China’s population fell for a fourth consecutive year, and the annual birthrate plummeted below eight million, a record low. The news prompted a flurry of online comments and articles, and some censorship of the topic on social media platforms. The topic appears to have been muted on Weibo where, despite intense public interest, it was not even among the top 50 trending topics. Chinese government efforts to halt the sliding birthrate have thus far proven ineffective, be they...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
The involvement of Chinese nationals in Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine received widespread media attention earlier this year. This included an extended interview by Chinese journalist Chai Jing with one such combatant, "Macaron," which was was subsequently translated in two parts by CDT. The much smaller number of Chinese fighters on the Ukrainian side has received less notice. One notable exception is Peng Chenliang, who was killed in 2024 and, before joining the war, had reportedly been detained for seven months in China over his anti-Russia, pro-Ukraine posts on X....
We believe: Faith is not a crime. Worship is not a crime. Prayer is not a crime. [Chinese] This...
The death of Jerome Cohen last week at the age of 95 prompted a wave of tributes to the legendary...
Citizen journalist and COVID-whistleblower Zhang Zhan, who spent four years in prison for her...
China’s National Bureau of Statistics published new data on Wednesday showing that urban youth...
On Monday, Reuters reported on the story of a man who tried to flee Gaza by crossing the border...
On January 15, non-governmental organization Human Rights in China (HRIC) reported that, for the first time, the Chinese government obstructed the annual New Year’s gathering of the Tiananmen Mothers. Formed in September 1989 by Ding Zilin and other parents whose children were killed in the military crackdown on the Tiananmen protests, the Tiananmen Mothers have continued to meet, provide mutual support, and pressure the Chinese government to reverse its position on the 1989 protests and subsequent massacre. The group has come under pressure before, with members having been arrested,...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
In the run-up to the Global Women’s Summit slated for October in Beijing, which will mark the 30th...
Citizen journalist and COVID-whistleblower Zhang Zhan, who spent four years in prison for her...
In 2021, Tibet Action Institute (TAI) published a groundbreaking report exposing the extensive use...
Following rare mass protests that broke out in the city of Jiangyou in Sichuan province earlier...
Demographic data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday revealed that in 2025, China’s population fell for a fourth consecutive year, and the annual birthrate plummeted below eight million, a record low. The news prompted a flurry of online comments and articles, and some censorship of the topic on social media platforms. The topic appears to have been muted on Weibo where, despite intense public interest, it was not even among the top 50 trending topics. Chinese government efforts to halt the sliding birthrate have thus far proven ineffective, be they...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
On January 15, non-governmental organization Human Rights in China (HRIC) reported that, for the first time, the Chinese government obstructed the annual New Year’s gathering of the Tiananmen Mothers. Formed in September 1989 by Ding Zilin and other parents whose children were killed in the military crackdown on the Tiananmen protests, the Tiananmen Mothers have continued to meet, provide mutual support, and pressure the Chinese government to reverse its position on the 1989 protests and subsequent massacre. The group has come under pressure before, with members having been arrested,...
Demographic data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday revealed...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
On January 15, non-governmental organization Human Rights in China (HRIC) reported that, for the first time, the Chinese government obstructed the annual New Year’s gathering of the Tiananmen Mothers. Formed in September 1989 by Ding Zilin and other parents whose children were killed in the military crackdown on the Tiananmen protests, the Tiananmen Mothers have continued to meet, provide mutual support, and pressure the Chinese government to reverse its position on the 1989 protests and subsequent massacre. The group has come under pressure before, with members having been arrested,...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
In June, ChinaFile published a new report, "The Locknet: How China Controls Its Internet and Why It Matters"—the product of 18 months’ work by Jessica Batke, ChinaFile’s senior editor for investigations, and Laura Edelson, assistant professor of computer science at Northeastern University. The report gives a concise but thorough overview of China’s online censorship system, including the motivations behind it and the mechanisms by which it is implemented. It expands on the familiar image of the "Great Firewall" as a perimeter barrier, adopting a broader...
In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central...
In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central...
In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central...
A recent WeChat post reveals that some Chinese schools and universities are using special software...
In the two weeks since the Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration of China...
You Must Take Part in Revolution is a graphic novel by Badiucao, political cartoonist and former CDT contributor, and Melissa Chan, a journalist who in 2012 became the first reporter to be expelled from China in more than a decade. The book was conceived in the wake of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, and follows the divergent paths of three friends in Hong Kong and Taiwan from their involvement in the protests through to 2035. CDT: I’m sure anyone reading CDT is familiar with each of you separately. How did the two of you come to join forces? Melissa Chan: I’d interviewed Badiucao for a...
On September 12, 2003, John Battelle published the first post on chinadigitaltimes.net: Here’s...
In 2014, Leta Hong Fincher published her first book, Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender...
Starting in March 2008, Tibetans across the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), Qinghai, Gansu, and...
Surveys have shown that Xi Jinping’s hardline foreign policy is increasingly unpopular abroad....
Jeremy Wallace, associate professor of Government at Cornell University, joined CDT to discuss his...
Demographic data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday revealed that in 2025, China’s population fell for a fourth consecutive year, and the annual birthrate plummeted below eight million, a record low. The news prompted a flurry of online comments and articles, and some censorship of the topic on social media platforms. The topic appears to have been muted on Weibo where, despite intense public interest, it was not even among the top 50 trending topics. Chinese government efforts to halt the sliding birthrate have thus far proven ineffective, be they...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
On January 15, non-governmental organization Human Rights in China (HRIC) reported that, for the first time, the Chinese government obstructed the annual New Year’s gathering of the Tiananmen Mothers. Formed in September 1989 by Ding Zilin and other parents whose children were killed in the military crackdown on the Tiananmen protests, the Tiananmen Mothers have continued to meet, provide mutual support, and pressure the Chinese government to reverse its position on the 1989 protests and subsequent massacre. The group has come under pressure before, with members having been arrested,...
Demographic data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday revealed...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese) from across the Chinese internet over the past year. Topics include this year’s most outstanding quotes, reports, podcasts and videos, sensitive words, censored articles and essays, “People of the Year,” and CDT’s “2025 Editors’ Picks.” This year-end video compiled by CDT Chinese editors offers a month-by-month look back on the major events of 2025, as illustrated by popular—and sometimes censored—viral video content from around the Chinese internet. The 2025 year-end feature draws on content...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
On January 15, non-governmental organization Human Rights in China (HRIC) reported that, for the first time, the Chinese government obstructed the annual New Year’s gathering of the Tiananmen Mothers. Formed in September 1989 by Ding Zilin and other parents whose children were killed in the military crackdown on the Tiananmen protests, the Tiananmen Mothers have continued to meet, provide mutual support, and pressure the Chinese government to reverse its position on the 1989 protests and subsequent massacre. The group has come under pressure before, with members having been arrested,...
Demographic data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday revealed...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
At The New York Times on Monday, columnist Li Yuan describes how, as "wages stagnate and jobs disappear, the promise of upward social mobility is eroding, especially for those from modest backgrounds. For many […], the Chinese Dream no longer feels achievable." Similar themes have featured prominently on CDT in recent months, from uproar over the "4+4" fast-track for medical qualifications to commentary on the decline of former "golden ticket" degrees like computer science and the resurgent appeal of official careers. Other examples include gallows humor...
In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central...
In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central...
On March 16, China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced that the Chinese economy was...
A recent WeChat post from oft-controversial entrepreneur, publicity hound, and philanthropist Chen...
Even before the lifting of China’s long-standing “zero-COVID” policy in early December of last...
On January 15, non-governmental organization Human Rights in China (HRIC) reported that, for the first time, the Chinese government obstructed the annual New Year’s gathering of the Tiananmen Mothers. Formed in September 1989 by Ding Zilin and other parents whose children were killed in the military crackdown on the Tiananmen protests, the Tiananmen Mothers have continued to meet, provide mutual support, and pressure the Chinese government to reverse its position on the 1989 protests and subsequent massacre. The group has come under pressure before, with members having been arrested,...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
In the run-up to the Global Women’s Summit slated for October in Beijing, which will mark the 30th...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese) from across the Chinese internet over the past year. Topics include this year’s most outstanding quotes, reports, podcasts and videos, sensitive words, censored articles and essays, “People of the Year,” and CDT’s “2025 Editors’ Picks.” The following quotes were selected by CDT Chinese editors as the most enduring and resonant of 2025. In an introductory essay—translated in full in Part One—they explain that these examples reflect an online environment in which “official narratives and public...
Ongoing Sino-Japanese diplomatic tensions—touched off last month by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae...
The New York Times’ Chris Buckley reports on the recent emergence of footage from the trial...
Last month, Southern Weekly reported on a policy at some hospitals in Shanxi requiring that ADHD patients get a "Class 1 Psychiatric Drug Prescribed" stamp in their hukou household registration booklet before receiving pharmaceutical treatment. Numerous patients reported similar experiences, with some finding that hospitals had added the stamp without telling them. Hospitals claimed they were following instructions "from above," but provincial health authorities told Southern Weekly that they are unaware of any such higher-level requirement. The report emphasized the...
Two recent WeChat posts express concern about mounting official interference in 相声 xiàngsheng, the...
Only hours after last week’s catastrophic Wang Fuk Court fire in Hong Kong—from which the...
The diplomatic crisis between China and Japan continues to intensify, following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s affirmation last month of Japan’s willingness to defend Taiwan in the event of Chinese naval blockade of the island, a situation she described as a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. Takaichi’s comments, made in response to a question from an opposition legislator in the Japanese Diet, were a marked departure from the Japanese government’s long-standing doctrine of “strategic ambiguity” regarding a potential conflict over Taiwan. Her remarks drew furious responses...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
On January 15, non-governmental organization Human Rights in China (HRIC) reported that, for the first time, the Chinese government obstructed the annual New Year’s gathering of the Tiananmen Mothers. Formed in September 1989 by Ding Zilin and other parents whose children were killed in the military crackdown on the Tiananmen protests, the Tiananmen Mothers have continued to meet, provide mutual support, and pressure the Chinese government to reverse its position on the 1989 protests and subsequent massacre. The group has come under pressure before, with members having been arrested,...
Demographic data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday revealed...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
A pair of recently surfaced screenshots appear to offer unusual detail about a special month-long operation, held in Beijing and involving over 40 Ministry of Public Security computer specialists from around the country, to combat “overseas cyber forces” in the battle for public opinion. The apparently leaked internal instructions from the Ministry of Public Security are likely to be the result of an email breach. They include the names and locations of many of the computer-specialist officers, as well as the name and contact information of the individual in charge of the operation. At some...
Over the past two weeks, the Biden administration has issued a series of regulations intended to...
Popular online writer Shen Maohua, who writes under the pen name Wei Zhou, is known for his...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese) from across the Chinese internet over the past year. Topics include this year’s most outstanding quotes, reports, podcasts and videos, sensitive words, censored articles and essays, “People of the Year,” and CDT’s “2025 Editors’ Picks.” This year-end video compiled by CDT Chinese editors offers a month-by-month look back on the major events of 2025, as illustrated by popular—and sometimes censored—viral video content from around the Chinese internet. The 2025 year-end feature draws on content...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
At The New York Times on Monday, columnist Li Yuan describes how, as "wages stagnate and jobs disappear, the promise of upward social mobility is eroding, especially for those from modest backgrounds. For many […], the Chinese Dream no longer feels achievable." Similar themes have featured prominently on CDT in recent months, from uproar over the "4+4" fast-track for medical qualifications to commentary on the decline of former "golden ticket" degrees like computer science and the resurgent appeal of official careers. Other examples include gallows humor...
In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central...
In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese) from across the Chinese internet over the past year. Topics include this year’s most outstanding quotes, reports, podcasts and videos, sensitive words, censored articles and essays, “People of the Year,” and CDT’s “2025 Editors’ Picks.” This year-end video compiled by CDT Chinese editors offers a month-by-month look back on the major events of 2025, as illustrated by popular—and sometimes censored—viral video content from around the Chinese internet. The 2025 year-end feature draws on content...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the message “404: content not found”) from Chinese platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin (TikTok’s counterpart in the Chinese market), Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Bilibili, Zhihu, Douban, and others. Although this content archived by CDT Chinese editors represents only a small fraction of the online content that disappears each day from the Chinese internet, it provides valuable insight into which topics are...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
After Beijing granted authorization in December, construction on what would be the world’s largest...
On January 15, non-governmental organization Human Rights in China (HRIC) reported that, for the first time, the Chinese government obstructed the annual New Year’s gathering of the Tiananmen Mothers. Formed in September 1989 by Ding Zilin and other parents whose children were killed in the military crackdown on the Tiananmen protests, the Tiananmen Mothers have continued to meet, provide mutual support, and pressure the Chinese government to reverse its position on the 1989 protests and subsequent massacre. The group has come under pressure before, with members having been arrested,...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese) from across the Chinese internet over the past year. Topics include this year’s most outstanding quotes, reports, podcasts and videos, sensitive words, censored articles and essays, “People of the Year,” and CDT’s “2025 Editors’ Picks.” These are CDT editors’ selections of their favorite posts from CDT and elsewhere around the web over the course of 2025: Samuel Wade, Executive Editor at CDT English CDT Pick: I was very happy that CDT was able to translate and publish Chai Jing’s interview with...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
Ongoing Sino-Japanese diplomatic tensions—touched off last month by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae...
Click on the image to download Firefly for circumvention
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