The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online.

Central Propaganda Department: During this morning’s press conference at the Foreign Ministry, a reporter for Time Weekly mentioned that people are saying the issue of a large number of dead pigs in Zhejiang Province was caused by [farmers] being unable to pay cremation fees. The media are not to report or comment on the contents of this reporter’s question; with regards to the answers provided by the Minister of Civil Affairs [during the press conference], do not touch upon the question asked by this reporter. (March 13, 2013)

中宣部：本日上午外交部记者会上 时代周报 记者提出浙江省大规模死猪据说是因为付不起焚化费问题，对该记者提问内容各媒体不报不评；对民政部长据此问题进行回答的内容，报到时不要涉及记者提出的问题。

Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to these 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.

Central Propaganda Department: In reporting the election of new national leadership at the 12th National People’s Congress, follow Xinhua wire copy without exception. You may not change the order of the [list of] leaders. Check proofs and layout carefully. Prevent inconsistency between images and text, and between headlines and text. (March 14, 2013)

中宣部：关于十二届全国人大会议选举新一届国家领导人的报道，一律按新华社通稿刊播，不得改变领导人成员排列的顺序，要认真核对版面，防止出现图文不符、题文不符现象。

Guangdong Propaganda Department: With regards to the election of a new national chairman, vice chairman, chairman of the Central Committee Military Commission, and other high-level leadership, without exception do not independently select topics to cover. In particular, you cannot debate or pass judgement on the results of the election in your coverage. Do not produce any kind of Internet link about the results of the election. (March 14, 2013)

广东省委宣传部：关于十二届全国人大会议经选举确定新一届国家主席、副主席及军委主席等高层领导人一事，一律不自行选题报导，尤其不能在报道中议论评判选举结果，不对选举结果作任何形式的链接。

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 on CDT Chinese 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.