As of September 11, the following search terms are blocked on Sina Weibo (not including the “search for user” function):
Xi Jinping: Hu Jintao’s presumed heir apparent has not been seen in 11 days, leading to wild speculation about his whereabouts.
- back injury (背伤): One rumor has it that Xi has disappeared to nurse a hurt back.
- crown prince (皇储): A netizen nickname for Xi.
- crown prince (储君)
- jinping: Pinyin Romanization.
- XJinping (X近平): A combination of pinyin and Chinese characters invented to get past the censors.
- Jinping + car accident (近平+车祸): Another rumor has spread that Xi and Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) member He Guoqiang were in a car accident on September 4. This has yet to be verified.
- Guoqiang + car accident (国强+车祸)
- HeGuoqiang: Pinyin.
Other:
- King of the Hundred Chickens (百鸡王): A nickname for Zhou Yongkang, domestic security chief and the only PSC member to have voiced support for Bo Xilai this spring. A rumor that he and Bo were plotting a coup circulated online in March. “Chicken” (jī 鸡) is a euphemism for prostitute (jì 妓); another rumor has it that Bo and Wang Lijun supplied Zhou with women.
Re-Tested Terms:
- Xi (习)
- XI: Pinyin.
- Vice Chairman (副主席): Xi’s current position.
- impose martial law (戒严)
Note: All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results.
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.
