The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online.
Central Propaganda Department: The media are not to report or comment on the Central Discipline and Inspection Committee dealing with former Jilin Executive Vice Governor Zhu Yanfeng. (April 3, 2013)
中宣部：关于中央纪律检查委员会对吉林省原常务副省长竺延风的处理， 媒体不报道不评论。
Zhu Yanfeng is the former chairman of the board of China FAW Group, a state-owned automobile manufacturer based in Jilin Province. Zhu has since left FAW and took his current government post in May 2012. Caixin reported on March 31 that Zhu is under investigation [zh]. Sources referencing the journal China Policy Observer (中国政策观察) say that senior FAW executives were called in to “assist in investigation” just before the National People’s Congress opened last month [zh].
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.
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.
