As of August 21, 2014, the following search terms were blocked on Sina Weibo (not including the “search for user” function).
More Blocks on Alibaba Shareholders: Last month, the New York Times reported that investment firms with ties to the families of China’s leadership are shareholders in the e-commerce giant Alibaba, which is set to IPO in September. Among those firms are Boyu Capital, one of whose partners is Jiang Zemin‘s grandson Alvin Jiang (Jiang Zhicheng). For more related sensitive words, see our July 22 Sensitive Words post.
- 陈元＋阿里巴巴 : Chen Yuan + Alibaba–Chen Yuan headed the China Development Bank until last year. His father, Chen Yun, was one of the “Eight Immortals” of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
- 王军＋阿里: Wang Jun + Ali–Wang Jun is a former chairman of Citic Capital Holdings, one of the investment firms Alibaba sold shares to in 2012. His father, Wang Zhen, was Chinese vice president from 1988 until his death in 1993.
- 国开行＋阿里巴巴 : China Development Bank + Alibaba–The bank’s investment company also purchased Alibaba stock in 2012.
- （刘）云山＋阿里巴巴: [Liu] Yunshan + Alibaba–Liu Lefei, vice chair of CITIC Securities Co. Ltd., is the son of Politburo Standing Committee member Liu Yunshan.
- yunshan＋阿里 : [Liu] yunshan + Ali
- 孙子＋阿里巴巴 : grandson + Alibaba
- 纽约时报＋阿里巴巴: New York Times + Alibaba
- 江志成＋路透社: Jiang Zhicheng + Reuters: Reuters published a special report on Jiang’s company, Boyu Capital, on April 9.
- 江志成＋孙子: Jiang Zhicheng + grandson
- 江志成＋私募 : Jiang Zhicheng + private equity
Deng Xiaoping: The 110th birthday of the former “paramount leader” is on August 22. CCTV is airing a 48-episode TV drama about Deng’s career from 1976 to 1984.
- 邓卓棣: Deng Zhuodi–Deng Xiaoping’s only grandson, was named deputy county chief of Pingguo, Guangxi last year. Boolean searches with his name were blocked on May 9, 2013.
- 邓屠夫: Deng the Butcher–a.k.a. Deng Xiaoping, who ordered troops to clear protesters from Tiananmen Square on the night of June 3-4, 1989. First blocked on June 4, 2014.
Also Blocked:
- 万润南: Wan Runnan–Radio France Internationale Chinese published an interview with Wan Runnan [Chinese] on August 15. Wan was a rising star in China’s hi-tech world in the 1980s, but was also active in the student movement which spurred pro-democracy protests in 1989. He has been living in exile since, and currently resides in France.
- 当今皇上: reigning emperor–i.e. Xi Jinping
- 反腐＋体制 团系: anti-corruption + system
- 团系: tuanxi–Another name for tuanpai 团派, or the Youth League Faction of the CCP.
Sina Weibo often readjusts its censorship strategy regarding popular topics. The blocking of search results for sensitive words, therefore, can also change.This list only reflects the situation at the time of posting. For test screenshots, see our Google+ page [Chinese].
All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results.
Our Grass-Mud Horse List includes blocked Weibo search terms from April 2011 to the present.
CDT Chinese crowd-sources search terms filtered from Weibo search results. We welcome readers to contribute to this project so that we can include the most up-to-date information.
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