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Shifting the blame

This post poking fun at the way blame for ills in China has often been shouldered by scapegoats without thought to deeper causes was deleted from Sina Weibo.

The following post by Weibo user “Single, Free and Unfettered” (独俏逍遥) was deleted sometime before 7:26AM today, March 18, 2015. The post, a tongue-in-cheek summary of how the Chinese Communist Party has (according to the user) never shouldered responsibility for historical failures, was live for just over two hours. [Explore more deleted posts by using the Weiboscope, created by the Journalism & Media Studies Centre.]

After 1949, everything bad in China was left behind by Chiang Kai-shek; in the midst of the Cultural Revolution, everything bad in China was caused by Lin Biao (林彪) and Confucius (孔老二); after the Cultural Revolution, everything bad in China was caused by the Gang of Four; since economic reform and opening, everything bad that happens in China is a conspiracy by Western hostile forces . . .

The original Chinese-language post follows:

49年之后，中国的一切坏东西都是老蒋留下的；文革中，中国的一切坏东西都是林彪、孔老二造成的；文革后，中国的一切坏东西都是四人帮搞得；改革开放后，中国的一切坏东西都是西方反动势力的阴谋……

David Bandurski

CMP Director

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