Last week, writer Lang Yaoyuan wrote on his verified Sina Weibo account that not a single publication in Liaoning Province dared publish a citizen-produced “protect the islands” advertisement. The Liaoning Daily explained that it “must thoroughly adhere to Xianhua News Agency’s manuscripts.” Many netizens complained, “Even patriots have to be examined and approved.” Others joked that “the facts prove the Diaoyu Islands belong to Xinhua.”
LangYaoyuan: Liaoning Papers Censor Ad: The Chinese government objected and the Chinese people protested after Japan brazenly announced its purchase of the Diaoyu Islands. Kowloon Harbor, a business on Shenyang’s Middle Road, invested over 500,000 yuan in seven print media journals in the city to publicize that “the Diaoyu Islands belong to China!” Yet not a single Liaoning newspaper published the advertisement. The Liaoning Daily explained that it “must thoroughly adhere to Xianhua News Agency’s manuscripts.” If the people publicize the message to protect the islands, the government must examine and approve that message.
Other Weibo users took Lang’s complaint further:
DiYa: The facts prove the Diaoyu Islands belong to Xinhua and to the Party. They have nothing to do with the rabble.
狄崖：事实证明，钓鱼岛是新华社的，是党的，跟屁民们没关系
GuilinDailyLaoNa: Even patriots have to be examined and approved…
桂林日报老那：爱国也需要审批……
tigerfishhome: P people should get out of the way and let Party members go first. At the critical moment, 80 million Party members will boldly move forward.
虎鱼生活家：P民退后，让党员先上。关键时间，8000万党员会挺身而出的。
insider_outsider: Whether that ad gets published or not, they still get off. Did you see that full-page spread in a Russian paper declaring “the Kuril Islands are Russia’s?” They printed a photo of their president standing on one of the islands. Actually, my biggest question is, who in China owns the Diaoyu? It certainly isn’t me, and it certainly isn’t you. Maybe it’s “the people.” Seeing people who don’t have any property rights get this worked up makes me think they’re a little sick in the head.
局 中者_局外人：登与不登，意淫都在那里。你见过俄罗斯哪家报纸登一个整版“北方四岛是俄罗斯的！”？人家登的是自家总统直接上岛的照片。其实我最大的疑问 是钓鱼岛是中国谁的？反正肯定不是我的，也肯定不是你的，也许是”人民“的吧。对于自己没有任何产权的地产如此激动的人，我觉得他脑子是有毛病的。
anqieluodi: Idiots! Go publish your ad in the U.S. Go say the entire Asian continent has been China’s since time immemorial. Find something cheap so you can print more copies, heh! Don’t lose your pretty little face…
按切落地: 笨蛋！去美国登报啊。就说全亚洲自古都是中国领土。价格便宜量又足，嘿！还真对得起这张脸…
Via CDT Chinese. Translation by Irene Hsiao.
“Netizen Voices” is an original CDT series. If you would like to reuse this content, please follow the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 agreement.
