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.
Find and delete “Broker Xu Sheng” from the internet. (June 21, 2020) [Chinese]
The article “Broker Xu Sheng” is a lengthy report on internal Party corruption involving an official named “Xu Sheng,” also known as Xu Kaimou, a former ranking leader at the Research Center for Strategy of Public Emotion. The report tells of the mysterious Xu, an alleged network of corruption involving provincial and national Party connections from the Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection, an embattled politician, and his brother. After deletion, the article text and accompanying images were republished on Matters, a blockchain-based Chinese-language forum that aims to give Chinese users a way to express themselves despite censorship. Other reports on the topic have also been widely censored.
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.
