When the Occupy Wall Street protests started in New York, the Chinese government was initially critical of U.S. media for a lack of coverage of the movement. However, now that the movement has spread globally, Chinese officials are changing their tune and cracking down on mentions of it, according to a report in the Financial Times:
…Now that the protests have spread around the world and appear to be morphing into a movements against many things including ruthless capitalism, corruption, inequality and the arrogance of power, China’s rulers have apparently decided that this is getting too close to home.
Media outlets have received a gag order on the topic, according to a prominent media expert. “A magazine to which I am a contributor has received a notice from regulators saying that it must not carry any content regarding Occupy Wall Street,” said Hu Yong, a journalism professor at Peking University and one of the foremost experts on social media in China, on Twitter.
In Shanghai, police have apparently been entering bars frequented by expats to ask who might be involved with organizing Occupy protests. From Shanghaiist:
Multiple sources have told Shanghaiist that the police have been going around bars — of all places! — asking foreigners if they’ve got anything to do with the Occupy Wall Street movement. Apparently, the powers that be are worried that intoxicated laowai’s might start to Occupy Shanghai?
See also a list of “Occupy” related keywords filtered by Sina Weibo.
