From The Volokh Conspiracy blog:
The press guidance provided by China’s censors is so voluminous and detailed that leaked copies of the guidance are now available on a regular basis. … It’s a remarkable glimpse into the dark soul of Chinese bureaucracy, a guide to what really scares China’s rulers. But there’s irony there as well. I mean, why read Chinese papers when we can get all the juiciest bits from the censors themselves?
… my favorite in recent weeks is the guidance issued by the Central Propaganda Bureau about Liu Zhijun, 58, the recently disgraced transportation ministerwho ran up nearly $300 billion in debt creating China’s bullet train bubb…er…network. The propaganda bureau has issued this frustratingly brief guidance: “All media are not to report or hype the news that Liu Zhijun had 18 mistresses.”
Really? How can you not hype that news? He’s the same age as George Tenet, for God’s sake. I want to know what he was eating.
Heck, you could fill an entire week speculating just on the logistics of the thing. Is it any wonder the guy needed to travel between cities at 200 mph?
