The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The government body issuing the instructions has been omitted to protect the source.
Concerning so-called rights defender Cao Shunli dying of illness while awaiting trial: the media must not report the story, and interactive [online] platforms must take care to thoroughly delete all related images and commentary. (March 15, 2014)
所谓维权人士曹顺利取保候审期间病亡事,媒体不报道,互动环节注意严格删除相关图片和评论。
Cao Shunli, who was detained last September after taking part in a two-month sit-in outside the Foreign Ministry calling on China to take part in a U.N.-mandated national human rights report, was denied medical treatment for tuberculosis and other diseases. She passed away on March 14.
CDT collects directives from a variety of sources and checks them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.
Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; 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.