The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to these instructions as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.”
Central Propaganda Department: Regarding coverage of Bo Xilai’s hearing, headlines cannot express anything of benefit to Bo, such as his “20 questions” questioning of Xu Ming in court. (August 23, 2013)
中宣部：关于薄熙来庭审的报道，标题不能出现对薄熙来有利的字样，如薄和徐明当庭对质连发二十问等。
In a string of questions during cross-examination, Dalian billionaire Xu Ming admitted that Bo may not have had direct knowledge of the expensive bribes with which Xu plied Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, and his son, Bo Guagua.
State Council Information Office: Web portals are requested to post the following two articles on both homepages (that of the portal itself and of its news center): “Scoundrelry and Sophistry: The Ultimate Insanity of Hypocrisy” from China.org.cn, and “Listening to the Wind: Opening Day of Bo Xilai Trial Shows Complexity and Difficulty of the Fight Against Corruption” from the CCTV website. Carry this out immediately. (August 23, 2013)
国新办：“中国网”《无赖与狡辩：虚伪最后的疯狂》，和央视网《听风者：从薄熙来案首日庭审看反腐斗争之复杂艰巨》两篇文章，请门户网站和主要新闻网站在双首页（首页和新闻中心首页）转载，立即执行。
China.org.cn is a government portal run jointly by the State Council Information Office and the China International Publishing Group.
Related propaganda directives: July 26, August 20, August 21, August 22.
Follow CDT’s Bo Xilai Trial liveblog for updates and background on the case.
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.
