Jan 4, 2013

Xiao Qiang Details China's Anti-Government Internet Codes in the Wall Street Journal

From The Wall Street Journal

In China's Cyberspace, Dissent Speaks Code

By Xiao Qiang and Perry Link

The rise of online platforms in China has given the Chinese people an unprecedented capacity for self-publishing and communication. Because they speak in a heavily monitored environment, however, these "netizens" must often voice their demands for greater freedom in coded language and metaphors that allow them to avoid outright censorship. Chinese cyberspace has given rise to a surprising number of new terms for exposing, criticizing and ridiculing the Communist Party. Largely invented by young gadflies, this lively discourse has begun to spread widely.

Some of the new terms grow from temporary code words used in order to evade word filters. The term zhengfu (government), for example, counts as "sensitive," and efforts to skirt it have given rise to a number of new terms. One of these is tianchao (heavenly dynasty), which, besides avoiding filters, delivers the mischievous suggestion that the government is hardly modern. In a nod to George Orwell, the Party's Department of Propaganda is referred to as the zhenlibu (Ministry of Truth)....

Mr. Xiao is adjunct professor in the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, and chief editor of China Digital Times. Mr. Link is Chancellorial Chair for Teaching Across Disciplines at the University of California, Riverside. This piece is adapted from the January issue of the Journal of Democracy.

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Last updated:

October 4, 2016