On July 8, 2011, the state-sponsored China.org.cn website published an article entitled “ATV Apologizes Over False Report of Jiang Zemin's Death.” Some excerpts:
These screenshots were taken the same day and show that Sina Weibo was also censoring searches for “River” (江), “Brain Dead” (脑死亡), and passed away (去世).
These screenshots show that on July 6 the Youdao search engine returned over 300 results for "Jiang Zemin Died" (江泽民 死了), but by July 7 Youdao said that it was unable to find any results for the same search terms.
Hong Kong broadcaster Asia Television Limited (ATV) has apologized for broadcasting an erroneous report of the death of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin on Wednesday night.These screenshots were taken on July 6, 2011, and show that searches on Sina's Weibo microblogging platform for several numbers associated with Jiang returned no results, just a notice saying that in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and policies, search results have not been displayed:
. . . .
ATV withdrew its report about the death of the former president after China's official Xinhua News Agency dismissed the report at midday, quoting "authoritative sources".
It said recent reports of some overseas media organizations about Jiang Zemin's death from illness are "pure rumor".
About one hour after Xinhua's clarification, the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong voiced "great indignation" through Hong Kong China News Agency.
- 84: Jiang's age.
- 301: a reference to the People’s Liberation Army General 301 Hospital in Beijing where top leaders are often treated.
- 1926: the year Jiang was born.
These screenshots were taken the same day and show that Sina Weibo was also censoring searches for “River” (江), “Brain Dead” (脑死亡), and passed away (去世).
These screenshots show that on July 6 the Youdao search engine returned over 300 results for "Jiang Zemin Died" (江泽民 死了), but by July 7 Youdao said that it was unable to find any results for the same search terms.
