The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source.
Regarding the handling of risk related to ‘Tomorrow Group,’ let information released by the government serve as the standard. Don’t report or reprint related information without permission. (January 31, 2019) [Chinese]
Canadian citizen and Hong Kong permanent resident Xiao Jianhua, the owner of the diversified investment company Tomorrow Group, was abducted from a luxury hotel in Hong Kong In January 2017, and was later confirmed to be in custody in the mainland. Last year, it was reported that Xiao was working with Chinese authorities to sell off Tomorrow Group’s assets to reduce accumulating financial risks. Xiao was one of several tycoons and finance officials detained in a 2017 financial sector crackdown by Xi Jinping; others included Anbang Insurance Group chairman Wu Xiaohui, former chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission Xiang Junbo, and assistant chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission Yang Jiacai. Last September, the South China Morning Post reported that Xiao could soon be facing trial for stock manipulation.
Numerous broken links from Google results for “明天系” (“Tomorrow Group”) suggest heavy censorship of related content.
Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. Some instructions are issued by local authorities or to specific sectors, and may not apply universally across China. 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.
