{"id":702995,"date":"2024-12-19T17:14:23","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T01:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=702995"},"modified":"2024-12-19T17:14:23","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T01:14:23","slug":"cdt-2024-year-end-roundup-sensitive-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2024\/12\/cdt-2024-year-end-roundup-sensitive-words\/","title":{"rendered":"CDT 2024 Year-End Roundup: Sensitive Words"},"content":{"rendered":"
As 2024 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content<\/a> (Chinese<\/a>) from across the Chinese internet over the past year. Topics include this year\u2019s most outstanding quotes, reports, podcasts and videos, sensitive words, censored articles and essays, \u201cPeople of the Year,\u201d and CDT\u2019s \u201c2024 Editors\u2019 Picks.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Another year gone by, another heap of terms censored from the Chinese internet. The following themes are not the \u201cmost censored\u201d words of 2024, but rather a retrospective of topics, chosen by CDT Chinese editors, that the Party-state deemed too sensitive and thus subject to various forms of censorship. These themes touch on economic anxiety, Xi Jinping\u2019s leadership, the Two Sessions, the proposed national Internet ID system, the i-Soon data leak, and Chinese emigrants\u2019 attempts to flee China for greener pastures abroad. For more censored and popular terms on the Chinese Internet, see our CDT Lexicon: 20th Anniversary edition<\/strong><\/a>, published last winter.<\/p>\n Sensitive words<\/strong>: The whole country is filled with an air of optimism (\u6574\u4e2a\u56fd\u5bb6\u90fd\u6d0b\u6ea2\u7740\u4e50\u89c2\u5411\u4e0a\u7684\u6c1b\u56f4)<\/em><\/p>\n Attempting to reassure the masses about China\u2019s economic vitality, The People\u2019s Daily Online published an article in February titled \u201cThe Whole Country Is Filled With an Air of Optimism\u201d\u2014on the same day that China\u2019s stock market took a major tumble. Netizens voiced their frustrations<\/a> on Weibo using a hashtag by the same title, leading the hashtag to eventually be blocked<\/a>. Undeterred netizens then flocked to an innocuous post by the U.S. Embassy in China about wild giraffes and left hundreds of thousands<\/a> of comments criticizing China\u2019s poor financial management<\/a>. Many of these comments were later censored. While the Chinese government has increased censorship of critical articles and commentary about the economy, many netizens expressed their economic anxiety about living through the \u201cgarbage time of history<\/a>,\u201d a term that was also censored.<\/p>\n Sensitive words<\/strong>: China\u2019s economy + total collapse (\u4e2d\u56fd\u7ecf\u6d4e + \u5f7b\u5e95\u5d29\u6e83); China + beset on all sides (\u4e2d\u56fd + \u8179\u80cc\u53d7\u654c); economy + beset on all sides (\u7ecf\u6d4e + \u8179\u80cc\u53d7\u654c); fading prosperity (\u7e41\u534e\u6e10\u901d); China\u2019s economy + slump + balance sheet (\u4e2d\u56fd\u7ecf\u6d4e + \u9677\u5165 + \u8d44\u4ea7\u8d1f\u503a\u8868); Third Plenum + no cure for China\u2019s economy (\u4e09\u4e2d\u5168\u4f1a + \u4e2d\u56fd\u7ecf\u6d4e\u65e0\u89e3\u836f)<\/em><\/p>\n In June, President Joe Biden stated in an interview with Time Magazine<\/a> that China\u2019s economy was \u201con the brink\u201d of collapse. In July, a 30,000-character article titled \u201cFading Prosperity: The Chinese Economy is Beset on All Sides<\/a>\u201d was widely circulated on the Chinese internet for two days before being censored. Other notable posts critical of the Chinese economy were censored this year. In late February, a post by Tsinghua University sociologist Sun Liping about reviving the Chinese economy was deleted from WeChat<\/a>. In March, Weibo censors deleted an essay<\/a> blaming China\u2019s stagnating economic growth on \u201ca failure of political reform\u201d that also compared the Party-state to gangsters and \u201cunderworld bosses.\u201d In December, viral video and transcripts of two unusually critical speeches about the state of the Chinese economy by economists Gao Shanwen and Fu Peng were deleted from multiple platforms<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sensitive words<\/strong>: Quangang District smashing pots to sell for scrap (\u6cc9\u6e2f\u533a\u7838\u9505\u5356\u94c1); local government + smashing pots to sell for scrap (\u5730\u65b9\u653f\u5e9c + \u7838\u9505\u5356\u94c1); Bishan + smashing pots to sell for scrap (\u74a7\u5c71 + \u7838\u9505\u5356\u94c1); Chongqing + smashing pots to sell for scrap (\u91cd\u5e86 + \u7838\u9505\u5356\u94c1); smashing pots to sell for scrap + special working group (\u7838\u9505\u5356\u94c1 + \u5de5\u4f5c\u4e13\u73ed); Haidong City, Qinghai + smashing pots to sell for scrap (\u9752\u6d77\u6d77\u4e1c\u5e02 + \u7838\u9505\u5356\u94c1)<\/em><\/p>\n In August, the term \u201csmashing pots to sell for scrap<\/a>\u201d began to appear frequently in local government documents. The idiom refers to local governments trying to do everything in their power to reduce debt levels, even if it means selling off state assets or potentially curtailing local public services. A village in Jinan city, Shandong province, for example, reportedly sold off 30-year usage rights to the village\u2019s \u201clow-altitude economy<\/a>.\u201d Reacting to the news, one netizen lamented that these measures would not improve people\u2019s livelihoods<\/a> and instead would only serve to further enrich real-estate developers and other corporations. <\/p>\n Sensitive words<\/strong>: pancreas (\u80f0\u817a); pancreatic cancer (\u80f0\u817a\u764c); Xi Jinping rules China (\u4e60\u8fd1\u5e73\u7edf\u6cbb\u4e2d\u56fd); Xi Jinping + the Emperor is pleased (\u4e60\u8fd1\u5e73 + \u9f99\u989c\u5927\u60a6); Jinping + destined to fail (\u8fd1\u5e73 + \u6ce8\u5b9a\u5931\u8d25); freedom of speech + Xi Jinping (\u8a00\u8ad6\u81ea\u7531 + \u7fd2\u8fd1\u5e73)<\/em><\/p>\n In January, as the stock market continued to fall, Xi Jinping gave a speech on financial supervision that only further accelerated the plunge. Days later, an unconfirmed rumor circulated on X (formerly Twitter) that Xi was suffering from pancreatic cancer. Netizens joked<\/a> that the only way for the Chinese stock market to survive would be for Xi to die. At around the same time, internet celebrity Wang Dajuan revealed that her husband Gao Bo had died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 32, and many netizens \u201cmaliciously\u201d forwarded the news to draw parallels with the rumors about Xi. The hashtag \u201cInternet celebrity Wang Dajuan’s husband died of pancreatic cancer\u201d became a hot search topic on Weibo, and was then officially banned. Searching for the term \u201cpancreatic cancer\u201d on Weibo yielded only results from verified users, and on Douyin, only results from medical doctors.<\/p>\n Sensitive words<\/strong>: Xi Jinping + Minjiang New Army [a rumored political faction] (\u4e60\u8fd1\u5e73 + \u95fd\u6c5f\u65b0\u519b); disaster + Xi Jin (\u707d\u96e3 + \u7fd2\u8fd1); Xi Jinping + personal centralization of power (\u4e60\u8fd1\u5e73 + \u4e2a\u4eba\u96c6\u6743); press conference (\u8a18\u8005\u6703\/\u8bb0\u8005\u4f1a); journalists\u2019 questions (\u8a18\u8005\u554f\/\u8bb0\u8005\u95ee); government work report (\u653f\u5e9c\u5de5\u4f5c\u5831\u544a\/\u653f\u5e9c\u5de5\u4f5c\u62a5\u544a); speech + thematic education (\u8bb2\u8bdd + \u4e3b\u9898\u6559\u80b2); premier + driving in reverse (\u603b\u7406 + \u5012\u8f66; \u603b\u7406 + \u5012\u9000)<\/em><\/p>\n During the Two Sessions annual meeting in early March, authorities stepped up censorship of terms related to Xi Jinping, his re-appointment as China\u2019s leader, freedom of speech, and China\u2019s economic downturn. Official reports during the Two Sessions mentioned varieties of \u201cXi Jinping Thought\u201d and the phrase \u201cwith Xi Jinping as the core\u201d many more times<\/a> than in previous years. Also during the Two Sessions, a spokesperson for the National People\u2019s Congress (NPC) announced that Premier Li Qiang would not hold a press conference<\/a>, thereby ending a 30-year NPC tradition of the premier taking questions from the press. Many observers interpreted the move as another sign of China\u2019s receding transparency and its leadership \u201cdriving in reverse<\/a>.\u201d After the announcement, a NetEase news feature on the history of the premier\u2019s post-NPC press conference was deleted<\/a>, and several official accounts that had shared the news on Weibo also hid a large number of netizen comments. <\/p>\n Sensitive words<\/strong>: Internet IDs, credentials coming soon (\u7f51\u53f7\u7f51\u8bc1\u8981\u6765\u4e86); Internet IDs coming soon (\u7f51\u7edc\u8eab\u4efd\u8bc1\u8981\u6765\u4e86); national Internet ID system (\u56fd\u5bb6\u7f51\u7edc\u8eab\u4efd\u8ba4\u8bc1); national internet ID system signals increased online standardization (\u63a8\u884c\u7f51\u8bc1\u662f\u4e92\u8054\u7f51\u8d70\u5411\u89c4\u8303\u91cd\u8981\u6807\u5fd7)<\/em><\/p>\n Over the summer, various government agencies drafted new regulations for a national Internet ID system and solicited feedback from the public. During the consultation period, at least 67 apps<\/a> had already rolled out beta tests of the system, and tests by CDT found that censors had restricted online discussion<\/a> of the system to contain the public backlash. Weibo hashtags about the system were blocked, and the comment function was disabled under nearly all posts by verified accounts that wrote about the topic. At least eight articles published on social media by Chinese academics, legal experts, and commentators expressing serious concern about the proposed system were censored<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sensitive words<\/strong>: i-Soon + hacker (ISoon + \u9ed1\u5ba2); i-Soon + leak (ISoon + \u6cc4\u9732); Anxun + hacker (\u5b89\u6d35 + \u9ed1\u5ba2); Anxun + leak (\u6cc4\u5bc6 + \u5b89\u6d35); cybersecurity + Anxun (\u7db2\u7d61\u5b89\u5168 + \u5b89\u6d35)<\/em><\/p>\n In February, a major data leak of internal documents from Chinese cybersecurity firm i-Soon<\/a>, also known as Anxun, spotlighted the secretive world of Chinese state-backed hackers for hire. The documents referenced operations targeting a range of actors in over 20 countries. They also included promotional materials about technology that could ostensibly monitor public sentiment on social media inside China and hack accounts on X (formerly Twitter), as well as data that could pinpoint mobile phone users\u2019 locations in real time. Targets included Uyghur, Tibetan, and Hong Kong rights groups in exile; a British think tank; a French university; Amnesty International; and NATO. The documents also shed light on China\u2019s messy ecosystem of \u201cpatriotic\u201d hackers who at times work for low pay, get caught up in financial disputes with other cybersecurity firms, and hustle to win contracts with state security agencies.<\/p>\n Sensitive words<\/strong>: zouxian (\u8d70\u7ebf); zouxian guide (\u8d70\u7ebf\u653b\u7565)<\/em>; zouxian + U.S. (\u8d70\u7ebf + \u7f8e\u56fd); zouxian + Ecuador (\u5384\u74dc\u591a\u5c14 + \u8d70\u7ebf); China + illegal emigration (\u4e2d\u56fd + \u5077\u6e21); Ecuador + U.S. (\u5384\u74dc\u591a\u5c14 + \u7f8e\u56fd); zouxian + run to the U.S. (\u8d70\u7ebf + \u6da6\u7f8e)<\/em><\/p>\n In early February, American broadcaster CBS produced a special program<\/a> on \u201c60 Minutes\u201d about Chinese migrants crossing into the U.S. from Mexico. The rise of Chinese migrants emigrating through Latin America to the southern border of the U.S., largely for political or economic reasons, has been referred to as zouxian<\/em><\/a>, or the \u201cwalking route.\u201d Some migrants interviewed by CBS said they learned about the route from the video-sharing platform Douyin. After the program aired, searches for \u201czouxian<\/em>\u201d and \u201czouxian<\/em> guide\u201d on Douyin yielded results unrelated to immigration, and searches for those terms on TikTok were banned for \u201cviolating community rules.\u201d <\/p>\n In June, Ecuador suspended its visa-free entry<\/a> policy for Chinese citizens, citing a worrying increase in Chinese illegal immigration to other countries. As one of only two countries in Latin America that offered visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, Ecuador was a popular starting point for those attempting to ultimately reach the U.S. Tens of thousands of Chinese migrants have embarked on perilous months-long journeys<\/a> through jungles and gang-controlled territories in search of better opportunities abroad. Other Chinese migrants seeking to escape China, or run<\/em><\/a>, have tried to enter the E.U. and use the Balkans as a runxue<\/em> waypoint<\/a> after more popular routes were cut off. The Chinese government has also increasingly forced certain citizens to hand in their passports<\/a> to prevent this sort of emigration. And an October poll by the Pew Research Center<\/a> found that 75 percent of Chinese immigrants cited the absence of state censorship as a benefit of life in the U.S. versus China.<\/p>\n Cindy Carter contributed to this post<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As 2024 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese) from across the Chinese internet over the past year. Topics include this year\u2019s most outstanding quotes, reports, podcasts and videos, sensitive words, censored articles and essays, \u201cPeople of the Year,\u201d and CDT\u2019s \u201c2024 Editors\u2019 Picks.\u201d Another year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1099,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","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":[2,14744,100,6,5,4202],"tags":[18533,15349,14683,14722,134,7800,1911,15690,596,6300,6304,6329,17622,6863,17906,17919,8208,4614,4674,17496,14983],"class_list":["post-702995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","category-level-2-article","category-politics","category-sci-tech","category-society","category-translation","tag-2024-year-end","tag-ccp-leadership","tag-cybersecurity","tag-debt","tag-economic-growth","tag-economic-slowdown","tag-emigrants","tag-emigration","tag-hackers","tag-internet-censorship","tag-internet-control","tag-internet-surveillance","tag-online-censorship","tag-rumors","tag-sensitive-words","tag-social-media-censorship","tag-translation-excerpt","tag-two-sessions","tag-xi-jinping","tag-xi-jinping-thought","tag-year-in-review","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nOptimism and Pessimism About China\u2019s Economy<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Xi Jinping’s Leadership Team<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Growing Online Surveillance<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Zouxian<\/em>: Walking to the U.S.<\/strong><\/h2>\n