Fei Chang Dao

Hu Xijin (胡锡进), former editor of the state-sponsored media outlet "Global Times," is no stranger to censorship. Here are some examples of his own editorials and articles being censored: Global Times Deletes Own Article About June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Incident   Global Times Deletes Chinese (But Not English) Language Article About Great Firewall Hu also has experience with self-censorship, as evidenced by the time he acknowledged he had to delete a series of Weibo posts he made contending that without those such as Liu, Ai, & Pu, China would be North Korea ("没有刘、艾、浦等，中国就是朝鲜。").  And Hu has been clear that he thinks there is such a thing as "Western" free speech, and that its not right for China: Some people argue that it is acceptable in the Western world that people can launch verbal attacks on their government and even their presidents, so why is this not allowed in China? The argument seems ostensibly reasonable, but the same activities are usually reg

PRC based websites are once again censoring discussion of a matter relating to public health and government accountability. Past examples can be found here: Examples of Censorship and Sanctions of Speech About Public Events in China , which discusses the censorship of: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) The 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake Babies Poisoned by Melamine in Milk Formula Babies Poisoned by Mercury in Milk Formula The 2011 Wenzhou Train Collision The 2012 Beijing Floods The 2013 Mass Suicide Attempt in Beijing The 2013 Lushan Earthquake Chai Jing's 2015 Anti-Pollution Video "Under the Dome" This time, the target of censorship is a video. On April 22, 2022, a video began circulating on the Internet titled "Sounds of April" (四月之声, or "Voices of April"). What's On Weibo described it as "a compilation of real audio snippets from conversations recorded in Shanghai throughout April, providing an emotional and heart-wrenching account of wha

Shortly after midnight on April 19, 2022, the PRC government news service Xinhua published an article titled "Scientifically Implement 'Dynamic Zeroing' To Win the Initiative for China's Development." ( 科学精准落实“动态清零”，为中国发展赢得主动 ). Some excerpts: Despite facing the most severe epidemic prevention and control situation since 2020, China adhered to the general policy of "dynamic zeroing" and won the tough battles one by one. . . . . Adhering to the "dynamic zeroing" is to race against the virus, to create a safe and stable development environment for China's economy, and to fight for the time and space for the follow-on science-based and orderly opening up. . . . . China has made it clear to the world that by striving to achieve the greatest prevention and control effect at the least cost, and to minimize the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development, great things can be accomplished that are beneficial to the people. 尽管面临2020年以来

A Plea For Help On April 8, 2022, a Weixin user posting as "Stormzhang" posted an essay on Weixin titled "Plea for Help!!!" (求救！！！). Some excerpts: Hello everyone, my name is stormzhang, I live in Pudong, Shanghai, today is the 22nd day of being locked down, I am an Internet blogger, but today I want to use this article to let everyone see that under the epidemic, the real living conditions of the people of Shanghai, and also here plea to everyone for help, I hope you will read patiently to the end. . . . . [T]he basic living security of Shanghai people is currently facing great problems, and most of the people of Shanghai spend their whole life every day looking for ways to find and get a hold of food. For a long time many people around me have relied on porridge and instant noodles every day to survive. I know that many people don’t believe it. If I were not personally experiencing it, then to tell the truth I wouldn't believe it either that today in 2022, pe

On March 31, 2022, the Zhengzhou Lawyers Association (郑州市律师协会) and the Henan Lawyer's Association Local Branch (河南省律师协会直属分会) jointly issued a notice titled "Notice on Strict Professional Disciplinary Norms for Lawyers' Online Speech Conduct" (关于严肃执业纪律规范律师网络言论行为的通知) on the Zhengzhou Lawyers Association website http://www.zhengzhoulawyers.com/article/2666.html (archived here: https://web.archive.org/web/20220413224405/http://www.zhengzhoulawyers.com/article/2666.html ).  Parts of the Notice appear directed at the kinds of civil-rights actions that led to subversion charges for the "7.09" rights defense lawyers - and in fact several of those prosecutions related to actions that occurred in Zhengzhou. For more on that see Section 6 of "State Prosecutions of Speech in the People's Republic of China" available at www.feichangdao.com . Some excerpts from the Notice: Individual lawyers are keen to use online self-publishing platforms to make inappropr

Between April 9 and 11, 2022, an article titled "Epidemic Prevention Strategies to Minimize Loss of Life"  (生命损失最小化的防疫策略) by Liang Jianzhang (梁建章) was deleted from the following PRC-based news outlets: Caixin, Phoenix, and Sina:   Caixin : https://web.archive.org/web/20220408071721/https://opinion.caixin.com/2022-04-08/101867209.html   Phoenix : https://web.archive.org/web/20220409165217/https://news.ifeng.com/c/8F45EVlqK1j Sina : https://k.sina.com.cn/article_1946109133_73ff44cd01900xqcp.html Liang originally posted the article on his Tencent Weixin account on April 8, 2022 at https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/LdaMgSMrY2YcqZ5w3jaIhA . As of April 11, however, that essay had been replaced with a notice reading: "Upon Receipt of Relevant Complaints, This Content Violates the 'Administrative Provisions on Internet User Public Account Information Services'" (接相关投诉，此内容违反《互联网用户公众账号信息服务管理规定》). The original post is archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20220409095426/ht