The following post from user “Xunyang Soprano” (浔阳女高音) was deleted from Weibo sometime before 8:56AM today, January 27, 2015, more than 12 hours after it was posted. The post pokes fun at how elites in the Chinese Communist Party attack intellectuals like He Weifang and Chen Danqing for speaking their conscience, while Party scoundrels are allowed to do everything and anything contrary to their words so long as those words are officially-endorsed falsehoods. [Explore more deleted posts by using the Weiboscope, created by the Journalism & Media Studies Centre.]
The post references a recent article in the Party’s Seeking Truth journal that sharply criticized the Chinese painter Chen Danqing after he “overly-praised” the United States in several writings. It also references former security czar Zhou Yongkang, who once spouted such high-minded ideals as “Deng Xiaoping Theory” and the “Chinese Dream,” but has now been jailed for corruption.

Concerning Chen Danqing (陈丹青), I really don’t understand him. But as for his words, I definitely must criticize them: always speaking the truth and exposing wickedness, that’s a terrible thing. Concerning Zhou Yongkang (周永康), I don’t understand him. But as for his words, I definitely must praise him: he spoke what he must, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Three Represents, the Scientific View of Development, the Chinese Dream — oh, so wonderful. And concerning the servants currently up on stage, I don’t understand them. But I raise both my hands in support of them: first they let their kids and grandkids head off to the West, and then they teach us that we can’t travel the crooked road of the West. So amazing!

The original Chinese-language post follows:

对于陈丹青,我不了解,但对于他的话,我一定要批评: 总讲真话,揭丑恶,很不好。对于周永康,我不了解,但对于他的话,我一定要表扬: 言必邓三科、中国梦,非常好;对于正在台上的仆人,我不了解,但对于他们讲的话,我举双手拥护: 他们先让子孙去了西方,然后教育我们不走西方的邪路,太棒了!转

The following image was posted with the above Weibo post. It depicts an imperial-style official holding up two government chops. One chop says, “Comrades, we will resolutely fight corruption!” The other chop says, “What is said in meetings is said for others — it can’t be taken at face value.”

cartoon weibo


David Bandurski

CMP Director

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