Saturday, November 30, 2013

Qingdao Pipeline Explodes, Sina Weibo Censors "Qingdao Mayor"

On November 23, 2013, the state-sponsored China Daily posted an article entitled "44 Die in Oil Pipe Blast." Some excerpts:
At least 35 people were killed and 166 others injured in an oil pipeline explosion in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Friday — one of the deadliest industrial accidents in China this year.
The leaking underground pipeline caught fire and exploded at about 10:30 am in the city's Huangdao district.
. . . .
President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang urged rescuers to make every effort to search for and save those injured or missing.
State Councilor Wang Yong arrived at the scene to guide the rescue work and comfort the injured.
These screenshots were taken on November 27, and show that Sina Weibo was not censoring "Qingdao" or "Mayor," but was censoring "Qingdao Mayor" (青岛 市长).

Translation: Sun Daluo's Court Judgment for Sharing Books and Articles

The PRC government sentenced Sun Zhiming (孙志明, who wrote under the alias Sun Daluo (孙大骆)) to one year imprisonment for the crime of "di...