The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online.
Do not reprint or hype The Paper’s article “Hundreds of Millions of Yuan in Unrefrigerated Vaccines Flow into 18 Provinces: Possibly Affect Human Life.” (March 22, 2016) [Chinese]
China’s state-owned new media venture The Paper (Pengpai 澎湃) last week reported on the illegal distribution of over US$88 million in improperly stored vaccines since 2010, sparking public outrage in a country often plagued by food and drug scandals. The original article from The Paper has been taken offline, but is available in the archives of CDT Chinese. Resident cartoonist Badiucao commented on the recently revealed scandal with his most recent contribution to CDT.
The Paper, operated by state-owned Shanghai United Media Group, launched in 2014 amid a call from President Xi Jinping for a digital upgrade to traditional propaganda. This is not the first time the new media outlet has found its content censored by authorities.
Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. 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. See CDT’s collection of Directives from the Ministry of Truth since 2011.
