As of February 23, the following search terms are blocked on Weibo (not including the “search for user” function).
Zhou Yongkang and Friends:
Former CCTV anchor Shen Bing’s “autobiography” details her romantic entanglement with Zhou Yongkang. (Source: Weibo)
- （周）永康＋沈冰: (Zhou) Yongkang + Shen Bing: Zhou Yongkang, the former security czar now under investigation for corruption, allegedly had dalliances with a string of CCTV news anchors. Among them is Shen Bing, whose “autobiography” has been selling well in Hong Kong since it was published in October. Shen has been in detention since December 2013, and her authorship of the book has not been verified.
- 港媒＋大老虎: Hong Kong media + big tiger—Zhou Yongkang is the biggest “tiger” caught in Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, which aims to reckon with powerful officials (tigers) and local cadres (flies) alike.
- 王敏＋山东帮总管: Wang Min + head of Shandong gang—The Party secretary of Jinan, the capital of Shandong, was expelled from the CCP and dismissed from office on February 17. Wang Min came under investigation for graft in December. He allegedly has ties to Bo Xilai.
- 永康＋儿子: Yongkang + son: Zhou Yongkang’s son Zhou Bin was close with Liu Han, the mining tycoon executed on February 9 for corruption and murder. Zhou Bin has been under investigation for over a year; the related search “Kang Shifu + son” has been blocked since at least October 10, 2013.
- 永康＋薄（熙来）: Yongkang + Bo (Xilai): Zhou Yongkang was a close ally of Bo Xilai, and reportedly Bo’s sole supporter when Bo was first investigated in 2012.
Jiang Zemin Rumors: Google search results for the following blocked keywords come most frequently from the websites of New Tang Dynasty Television, Aboluowang, and the Epoch Times.
- 二奸二（假）: two betrayals and two falsehoods—In 2009, historian Lü Jiaping published the article “About Jiang Zemin’s ‘Two Betrayals and Two Falsehoods’: Political Issues and a Request for Fraud Investigation.” In 2011, Lü was sentenced to ten years in prison for inciting subversion. Earlier this month, Lü was reportedly released from prison on bail for medical reasons [Chinese].
- 江＋苏俄奸细: Jiang + Soviet spy—Jiang Zemin allegedly had an affair with a Soviet spy during his time in Russia. “Carat Baby” (克拉娃), a reference to the supposed spy, is also frequently a sensitive search term.
- 江氏＋黑幕: Jiang clan + dirty secrets
Xi Jinping:
- 刁犬犬: Diao Quanquan—Visually similar to 习大大 Xi Dada (Daddy Xi).
- 习＋包子: Xi + steamed bun—Xi Jinping’s lunch at a steamed bun restaurant in December 2013 inspired both admiration and consternation.
- 习＋请求: Xi + request
- 黑黑习: a certain Xi
Also Blocked:
- 南充＋贿选: Nanchong + election bribery—Party secretary of Nanchong, Sichuan Yang Jianhua was fired last September, and in November the Southern Weekly reported that Yang had bribed the fifth Nanchong Party Congress delegates and committee to elect him to the office in 2011 [Chinese]. Last Friday, the overseas Chinese news site Boxun reported that Yang Jianhua was a close aide to Politburo member Liu Qibao when he was Party secretary of Sichuan [Chinese].
- 杨建华: Yang Jianhua
- 纳税人的钱哪去了: where has the taxpayer’s money gone—Title of an animated short by Ming’en Media the was banned from video sharing websites last May. Ming’en appears to have a hand in three new propaganda cartoons about Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign.
- 腐败＋震惊: corruption + shock
- 网特: Internet agent—Typically implies CIA or Western agents, the foreign equivalent of the Fifty Cent Party in China.
- 今年＋2015年: this year + 2015—Unclear why this keyword combination is blocked. Reader tips are welcome.
- 不雅: indecency
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 through this form:
