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.
Media must not follow-up on or hype the Qing’an shooting incident. All related reports follow authoritative news media as the standard. Take note and delete negative, harmful Internet commentary. (May 13, 2015) [Chinese]
Early this month, 45-year-old Xu Chunhe was shot dead by police at a train station in Qing’an, Heilongjiang. Initial official media reports claimed that Xu had attacked an officer, attempted to steal his gun, and thrown his young daughter toward the officer, only after which the officer responded with fire. Netizens, however, have commented on the questions this raises about police accountability and reliability, and the persecution of those on the lower rungs of society. More recent state media reports have called for a full investigation into the Qing’an shooting.
Amid a nationwide crackdown on terrorism following an increase in deadly attacks throughout China, many ordinary officers have been newly armed for the first time in PRC history—a policy that has raised much public concern.
Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. 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.
