As of September 5, the following search terms were blocked on Sina Weibo (not including the “search for user” function).
No Poetic License: A satirical poem about corrupt officials has circulated online since at least June 2012. A Baidu search for the first line of the poem returns 63,900 results. Each individual line of the first two stanzas is now blocked from Weibo search results.
The poem and a translation:
The people have money–you steal,
The people have women–you rape,
The people have homes–you tear down,
The people have words–you delete!
The people have woes–you perform,
The people are wronged–you lock up,
The people have issues–you reject,
The people have doubts–you edit!
The people’s property–you take,
The people’s suffering–you flee,
The people’s pregnancies–you abort,
The people’s food stalls–you flip!
The people curse you as bastards,
But you call yourselves officials.
民有钱—你贪，
民有女—你奸，
民有房—你拆，
民有话—你删！
民有难—你演，
民有冤—你关，
民有事—你推，
民有疑—你编！
民有产—你搬，
民有苦—你窜，
民有孕—你流，
民有摊—你掀！
民骂你是王八蛋，
你却自称父母官。
Official Corruption: According to Chinese state media, such as the News Morning Post [Chinese], US Senior Official to APEC Robert Wang has said that “anti-corruption” will be a focal point of the APEC Summit, which will be held in Beijing in November. Want China Times reports that an anti-corruption network has been established under APEC to catch corrupt Chinese officials before they flee the country.
- APEC会议＋反腐: APEC Summit + anti-corruption
- 刘汉＋永康: Liu Han + [Zhou] Yongkang–Liu Han, a mining tycoon who was sentenced to death in May for illegal gang activities, is thought to have links to former security czar Zhou Yongkang.
- 薄＋红二代: Bo [Xilai] + red second generation
Xi Jinping: On September 1, Apple Daily reported that Beijing’s ruling on elections in Hong Kong is “directly connected” to President Xi Jinping’s tough stance on the special administrative region. See “To Save His Dignity, Xi Would Rather Go Left Than Right” (習為保威信寧左勿右).
- 苹果日报＋习: Apple Daily + Xi
- 新皇帝: new emperor
- 习＋上位: Xi + top seat
- 习＋首长: Xi + chief
Also Blocked:
- 地下刊物: underground publications
- 港共: Hong Kong Communists–First reported blocked on July 1, 2012.
All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results.
CDT Chinese runs a project that crowd-sources filtered keywords on Sina Weibo search. CDT independently tests the keywords before posting them, but some searches later become accessible again. We welcome readers to contribute to this project so that we can include the most up-to-date information.
Have a sensitive word tip? Submit it to CDT through this form:
