As of January 15, the following search terms are blocked on Sina Weibo (not including the “search for user” function).
Browse all of CDT’s collected sensitive words on our bilingual Google spreadsheet.
Chen Guangbiao with his “electronic illness probe.” (Huxiu)
Chen Guangbiao the Quack: The flamboyant businessman who once sold cans of fresh air to help denizens of smoggy cities, recently offered to buy the New York Times. (Times owner Arthur Sulzberger has expressly stated that the paper is not for sale.) His business cards–which enumerate such titles as “Most Influential Person of China”–made the rounds in Western and Chinese media last week.
A new report on Chen’s rise to riches calls his integrity into question. On Monday, the business news website Huxiu published “Original Sin Chen Guangbiao: Cheating and Tricking His Way to His First Pot of Gold (原罪陈光标：靠欺骗与忽悠赚取第一桶金), reporting that Chen patented an “electronic illness probe” in the mid-1990s that lit up when it “detected” the area of a patient’s body which was diseased.
Zhou Yongkang: A widening circle of former allies are reportedly under investigation as part of the corruption probe of the former chief of security. See related Sensitive Words posts from October 10, December 18, December 26, January 9, and January 14.
- Li Ming+Galloping Horse [Film] (李明＋小马奔腾): Li Ming, head of the Beijing Galloping Horse Film Co. Ltd., died of a heart attack on Jan. 2 after he was taken in for investigation. Overseas Chinese newspapers have suggested that the sedative administered when he resisted law enforcement lead to his death. Li Ming knew Li Dongsheng, who was close to Zhou.
- Li Ming+Public Security Bureau (李明＋公安部)
- Galloping Horse [Film]+tycoon case (小马奔腾＋大亨案)
- Galloping Horse [Film]+chairman of the board (小马奔腾＋董事长)
- Li Ming+Li Dongsheng (李明＋李东生)
- Li Ming+investigation (李明＋调查)
- Hong Kong Commercial Daily+Central Discipline Commission (香港商报＋中纪委): The newspaper, produced by the Chinese government, quoted a senior official in the Central Discipline Commission on January 3 saying that Zhou Yongkang’s situation will be made public “when the time is right.”
- Central Discipline Commission+big tiger (中纪委＋大老虎): The Hong Kong Commercial Daily referred to Zhou as the “big tiger,” or a big-time economic criminal. If put on trial and convicted, Zhou would be the biggest “tiger” Xi Jinping catches in his anti-corruption sweep of “tigers and flies.”
- instant noodles+grab (方便面＋抓): Zhou is nicknamed “instant noodles” after a popular brand sharing one character in common with his name.
- Xi+nice guy (习＋老好人)
- Standing Committee member+assets (常委＋财产)
- Fu Zhenghua (傅政华): Retested. The Beijing police chief and deputy minister of the city’s Public Security Bureau is in charge of a special unit investigating Zhou.
- Beijing Public Security Bureau Director (北京公安局长)
Via CDT Chinese.
All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results.
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 to CDT through this form:
