{"id":137864,"date":"2012-06-08T23:57:27","date_gmt":"2012-06-09T06:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=137864"},"modified":"2012-06-09T00:02:51","modified_gmt":"2012-06-09T07:02:51","slug":"chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/","title":{"rendered":"China’s Lies, Damn Lies and Secret Statistics"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Beijing tries to stifle independent monitoring of its air quality<\/a> and seals up previously public financial data<\/a>, Trefor Moss surveys the various types of controlled information<\/strong><\/a> at Foreign Policy.<\/p>\n

\n

Beijing makes no secret of its secrecy. While the government has become much less controlling than it used to be, information that doesn\u2019t suit Beijing\u2019s larger purposes still gets withheld, while information that doesn\u2019t quite suit its purposes is often polished until it does. Only last month, an op-ed in the state-run newspaper Beijing Daily exposed local reporters displaying a shameful inclination towards balanced journalism. \u201cChinese media interested in negative news have been seduced into wrongdoing by Western concepts,\u201d it fumed.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s sensitivity about its control of the bad-news agenda was highlighted once again this week when Beijing publicly chided the U.S. embassy for measuring Beijing\u2019s sometimes \u201ccrazy bad\u201d air pollution and publishing the data on Twitter. The damage is limited: although many expats and web savvy Chinese can still access it, Twitter is blocked in China. Nonetheless, the U.S. embassy smog readings are embarrassing for the Chinese government, whose own pollution measures tend to be much more favourable.<\/p>\n

But pollution is just one of the items on the propaganda hit list. Anything that might shed some light on policy failures, social ills, or even the personalities of the country\u2019s leaders is liable to be altered or suppressed. Here, then, are six of Beijing\u2019s bad-news taboos<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Beijing tries to stifle independent monitoring of its air quality and seals up previously public financial data, Trefor Moss surveys the various types of controlled information at Foreign Policy. Beijing makes no secret of its secrecy. While the government has become much less controlling than it used to be, information that doesn\u2019t suit Beijing\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":962,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,14744,14745,14746,100,5],"tags":[348,5311,15349,7489,144,976,4782,7966,455,294,2378],"class_list":["post-137864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","category-level-2-article","category-level-3-article","category-level-4-article","category-politics","category-society","tag-air-pollution","tag-air-quality","tag-ccp-leadership","tag-construction-project","tag-crime","tag-history","tag-information-control","tag-social-unrest","tag-statistics","tag-three-gorges-dam","tag-transparency","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nChina's Lies, Damn Lies and Secret Statistics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China's Lies, Damn Lies and Secret Statistics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Beijing tries to stifle independent monitoring of its air quality and seals up previously public financial data, Trefor Moss surveys the various types of controlled information at Foreign Policy. Beijing makes no secret of its secrecy. While the government has become much less controlling than it used to be, information that doesn\u2019t suit Beijing\u2019s […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"China Digital Times (CDT)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-09T06:57:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-06-09T07:02:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"186\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"177\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Samuel Wade\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cdt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cdt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Samuel Wade\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Samuel Wade\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/4b33a6e88a49d3a6787f02f798de0d8e\"},\"headline\":\"China’s Lies, Damn Lies and Secret Statistics\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-09T06:57:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-06-09T07:02:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/\"},\"wordCount\":252,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"air pollution\",\"air quality\",\"ccp leadership\",\"construction project\",\"crime\",\"history\",\"information control\",\"social unrest\",\"statistics\",\"Three Gorges Dam\",\"transparency\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Economy\",\"Level 2 Article\",\"Level 3 Article\",\"Level 4 Article\",\"Politics\",\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/\",\"name\":\"China's Lies, Damn Lies and Secret Statistics\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-09T06:57:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-06-09T07:02:51+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"China’s Lies, Damn Lies and Secret Statistics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/\",\"name\":\"China Digital Times (CDT)\",\"description\":\"Covering China from Cyberspace\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization\",\"name\":\"China Digital Times\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg\",\"width\":186,\"height\":177,\"caption\":\"China Digital Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/cdt\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/4b33a6e88a49d3a6787f02f798de0d8e\",\"name\":\"Samuel Wade\",\"description\":\"Samuel Wade (@samuel_wade@mstdn.ca) is Executive Editor for CDT English, and is based in Vancouver.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/samuelwa.de\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/author\/samuelwade\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"China's Lies, Damn Lies and Secret Statistics","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"China's Lies, Damn Lies and Secret Statistics","og_description":"As Beijing tries to stifle independent monitoring of its air quality and seals up previously public financial data, Trefor Moss surveys the various types of controlled information at Foreign Policy. Beijing makes no secret of its secrecy. While the government has become much less controlling than it used to be, information that doesn\u2019t suit Beijing\u2019s […]","og_url":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/","og_site_name":"China Digital Times (CDT)","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes","article_published_time":"2012-06-09T06:57:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-06-09T07:02:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":186,"height":177,"url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Samuel Wade","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cdt","twitter_site":"@cdt","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Samuel Wade","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/"},"author":{"name":"Samuel Wade","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/4b33a6e88a49d3a6787f02f798de0d8e"},"headline":"China’s Lies, Damn Lies and Secret Statistics","datePublished":"2012-06-09T06:57:27+00:00","dateModified":"2012-06-09T07:02:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/"},"wordCount":252,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization"},"keywords":["air pollution","air quality","ccp leadership","construction project","crime","history","information control","social unrest","statistics","Three Gorges Dam","transparency"],"articleSection":["Economy","Level 2 Article","Level 3 Article","Level 4 Article","Politics","Society"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/","url":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/","name":"China's Lies, Damn Lies and Secret Statistics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-06-09T06:57:27+00:00","dateModified":"2012-06-09T07:02:51+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2012\/06\/chinas-lies-damn-lies-and-secret-statistics\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"China’s Lies, Damn Lies and Secret Statistics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/","name":"China Digital Times (CDT)","description":"Covering China from Cyberspace","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization","name":"China Digital Times","url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg","width":186,"height":177,"caption":"China Digital Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes","https:\/\/x.com\/cdt"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/4b33a6e88a49d3a6787f02f798de0d8e","name":"Samuel Wade","description":"Samuel Wade (@samuel_wade@mstdn.ca) is Executive Editor for CDT English, and is based in Vancouver.","sameAs":["http:\/\/samuelwa.de"],"url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/author\/samuelwade\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137864"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/962"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}