Monday, January 5, 2015

State Media Censors Child's Suggestion that President Xi Jinping Lose Weight

On December 17, 2014, the Zhengzhou Evening News published a story entitled “What Would Your Child Say if You Let Him Write a Letter to Uncle Xi?” (让你孩子给习大大写信,会写啥?). Some excerpts:
The author of the letter to the General Secretary was an elementary school student by the name of Niu Ziru, a fourth grader at the Best International School on Hangmu Road. . .  .
During last month's APEC meeting convened in Beijing, Niu Ziru saw Uncle Xi photographed together with all the other economic leaders, "I felt that Uncle Xi carried himself like a Chairman, and did credit to his countrymen, it was just that he was a bit fat." Therefore, at the end of the letter he wrote: "Ok, so lets talk about something a bit lighter. Uncle Xi, you could stand to lose some weight. You don't have to be as thin as Obama. It would be ok to just look like Putin."
给总书记写信的小学生名叫牛孜儒,今年9岁半,现在航海路贝斯特上小学四年级。
. . . .
上个月,APEC会议在北京召开,牛孜儒从电视上看到习大大和各经济体领导人集体合影,“感觉习大大很有主席范儿,为咱国人露脸了,就是有些胖了。”所以,在信的结尾,牛孜儒写道:“好了,我们谈点轻松的话题,习大大,您可以减减肥了。不用像奥巴马那么瘦,像普京一样就可以了。”
These screenshots were taken on December 18, 2014, and show that the article, which appeared on page A12 of the print addition and which was originally available here - http://zzwb.zynews.com/html/2014-12/17/content_622386.htm - was deleted from the Zhengzhou Evening News website.


This screen video shows that the article was reposted on many China-based news portals under the title “Elementary School Student Writes to Chairman Xi Encouraging Uncle Xi to Lose Weight” (小学生欲致信习总书记打趣建议习大大减肥), and that those websites also deleted it.


Translation: Xu Zhiyong's Statement in His Own Defense

 Source: https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/694913.html China Digital Times: On April 10, 2023, Xu Zhiyong, a well-known human rights de...