As of October 15, the following search terms are blocked on Weibo (not including the “search for user” function).
Guo Yushan: A scholar and reformer living in Beijing, Guo was detained last week on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles,” a charge often used as a pretext for political detention and arrest. Guo helped Chen Guangcheng escape house arrest in 2012.
Hong Kong Protests: Police have taken down barricades this week, pushing back protesters with pepper spray. 45 people were arrested early on Wednesday. Video of a man apparently being beaten by police (later identified as Ken Tsang Kin-chiu of the Civic Party) has sparked outrage. See also Sensitive Words posts from September 23, September 29, October 1, and October 8.
- 撑＋学生: support + students
- zhanzhong: Pinyin for “Occupy Central” (占中 Zhàn Zhōng).
- 香港＋黑衣: Hong Kong + black clothes
- 香港＋平反: Hong Kong + redress
- 香港＋防暴警察: Hong Kong + riot police
- 习近平＋武力清场: Xi Jinping + clear space with armed force
Guizhou Protest: Thousands of residents of Sansui County, Guizhou have been protesting the merger of their county with two others since the weekend. Two people are reported dead and many injured after armored vehicles and police in riot gear were sent to Sansui on Monday.
- 三穗＋武警: Sansui + armed police
- 三穗＋警察: Sansui + police
- 三穗＋游行: Sansui + march
People of Interest:
- 邓＋女婿: Deng [Xiaoping] + son-in-law–Wu Xiaohui is the chairman of Anbang Insurance Group and the husband of Deng Xiaoping’s granddaughter. Anbang purchased the Waldorf Astoria on October 7 for $1.95 billion. The U.S. government is reviewing the purchase because of security concerns.
- 成钢＋岐山: [Rui] Chenggang + [Wang] Qishan–CCTV anchor Rui Chenggang was detained in July on suspicion of graft. Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Qishan is the architect of President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign.
- 蔡明照: Cai Mingzhao–Deputy director of the Central Propaganda Department. His name may be blocked in connection to Rui Chenggang’s case.
Also Blocked:
- 毒菜政府: poisoned vegetable government–This phrase (毒菜政府 dú cài zhèngfǔ) sounds similar to “dictatorship” (独裁政府 dúcái zhèngfǔ).
- 告别央视＋这个时代的一些真话: farewell to CCTV + some true words for this era–Title and subtitle of an open letter former CCTV producer Wang Qinglei wrote last year upon his dismissal from the state broadcaster. Wang wrote Weibo posts objecting to the crackdown on online rumors and Weibo “Big Vs.”
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.
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