Protest banners in Haizhou, Guangdong.
The following examples of censorship instructions, issued to the media and/or Internet companies by various central (and sometimes local) government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those 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 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.
Guangdong Propaganda Department: Do not republish or comment on the China Business Journal report [zh] which states that Guangdong has chosen Hengqin, Nansha, and Shixing as the locations for a pilot program for the public disclosure of officials’ personal finances. Do not produce reports on related content. (December 11, 2012)
广东省委宣传部：对中国经营报有关广东试点官员财产公示地区敲定为横琴、南沙、始兴三地的报道不转载不评论，对相关内容也不作报道。
Guangdong Propaganda Department: With regards to the issue of of some of the masses assembling in Haizhou Village, Gu Township, Zhongshan City, except for what has been planned in concert, all media are without exception not to investigate or report without authorization. (December 12, 2012)
广东省委宣传部：中山古镇海州村部分群众聚集的问题，除统一安排外，各媒体一律不擅自采访报道。
According to a December 12 post on the BBS forum Tianya [zh], Haizhou villagers have been staging a sit-in in front of the local government building for several months to push for a thorough investigation into the disappearance of 3 billion yuan in compensation funds for the construction of a highway on their land. Local Party secretary Yuan Songfang apparently committed suicide by jumping off a building on the 12th. He was recently suspended from his post in the on-going investigation. Protests were ongoing as of the 12th.
