Posts

Showing posts from October, 2016

Man Jailed Five Days for "Misleading Subtitle" About Wugang Protests, Baidu Censors Social Media Posts About Wugang Protests

Image
On October 24, 2106, the state sponsored Global Times published an article entitled “ Police Detain Man for Spreading Wuhan Steel Firm Protest Rumor Online .” Some excerpts: Police in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province said Sunday they have detained a man for uploading a video claiming that lay-offs from the local steel giant had sparked a protest. A viral video, uploaded by the man surnamed Rong, showed hundreds of people gathered in a street with a subtitle saying employees from Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corporation (WISC) held a "procession," Changjiang Daily reported. Police said they detained Rong for five days, and they've concluded that his subtitle was misleading, local police said on its Sina Weibo account on Sunday. These screenshots show that on the same day the Global Times published the article, Baidu was censoring posts on its PostBar (Tieba 贴吧) and Knowledge (Zhidao 知道) forums.  These screenshots show that on October 23,

State Media: “Xi As Core Affirmed by Public Opinion,” Baidu Censors “Xi” on Forums of Public Opinion

Image
On October 28, 2016, the state sponsored Global Times published an article entitled “ Xi as Core Long Affirmed by Public Opinion .” Some excerpts: The Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee concluded on Thursday. For the first time "the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core" was written into the communiqué. "Xi as the core" in fact has long been in the minds of the Chinese people and among public opinion. . . . . All Chinese know clearly that the Xi's leadership has played a critical role in the changes in China in the past four years and the significance of the word "core" being written into the Party document. The sixth plenum is themed on strict Party governance. This is what the Chinese people are willing to see. These screenshots were taken on October 27, 2016, and show that users who searched for the single character “Xi“ (习 - Xi Jinping’s surname) on Baidu’s PostBar (Tieba 贴吧) forum are told “Apologies,

Explosion Kills 14, Sina Weibo Promotes State Media, Blocks User Posts

Image
On October 26, 2016, the state sponsored China Daily published an article entitled “ Death Toll From Explosion Rises to 14 .” Some excerpts: The death toll from a blast in a residential apartment block in Fugu county, Shaanxi province, on Monday has increased to 14, local authorities said. The local police said after a preliminary investigation that the cause of the accident was explosives. . . . . "Emergency rescue work has ended, as there have been no new reports of missing people from the blast," said Zhang Jiuping, director of Yulin city government's information office. . . . . Investigations showed that the five apartments that were completely destroyed in Monday's blast might have contained illegally stored explosives owned by a resident, surnamed Zhang, who is under police investigation. These screenshots were taken on October 27, 2016, and show that Sina Weibo was completely censoring search results for “Fugu Big Explosion” (府谷 大爆炸) and “Yulin Big Expl

Baidu, Sina, News Websites Censor Discussion of Retired Soldiers' Protest in Beijing

Image
On October 12, 2016, the state sponsored Global Times published an article entitled “ China Vows to Address ‘Challenges Facing Veterans' After Protest .” Some excerpts: China's military authorities on Wednesday pledged to continue addressing the difficulties facing some military veterans, after over 1,000 of them gathered outside a military building to protest their dismissal. China's Ministry of National Defense confirmed the gathering with the Global Times in a statement sent by its Information Bureau on Wednesday, saying that in recent years some veterans have been facing personal and employment problems, and that they have appealed with letters and calls. The statement said that the Communist Party of China, the State Council--China's Cabinet--and the Central Military Commission care about veterans and pay high attention to solving their problems. . . . . More than 1,000 protesters marched and chanted in front of China's defense ministry Tuesday, the