Censorship in the People's Republic of China is the limiting or suppressing of the publishing, dissemination, and viewing of certain information in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The majority of such censorship is implemented or mandated by the PRC's ruling party, the Communist Party of China (CPC). The special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau have their own legal systems, and Taiwan is not controlled by the PRC government, so censorship does not apply in these regions. The Communist Party of China (CPC) (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), also known as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the ruling political party of the Peoples Republic of China, a position guaranteed by the countrys constitution. ... A Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the Peoples Republic of China is an administrative division of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... Lady Justice or Justitia is a personification of the moral force that underlies the legal system (particularly in Western art). ...

Censored content often includes information that relates to Falun Gong, Tibetan independence, Taiwan independence, police brutality, anarchism, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, freedom of speech, democracy, pornography, certain news sources, certain religious content, and many websites. Falun Gong, (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; literally Practice of the Wheel of Law) also known as Falun Dafa, (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; lit. ... The Tibetan Independence Movement is a movement to establish historical Tibet, comprising the three traditional provinces of Ü-Tsang, Amdo, and Kham, as an independent country. ... Taiwan independence (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: , Pe̍h-oē-jī: Tâi-oân To̍k-li̍p ūn-tōng; abbreviated to 台獨, Táidú, Tâi-to̍k) is a political movement whose goal is primarily to create an independent and sovereign Republic of Taiwan out of the... David Kirkwood on the ground after being struck by police batons Police brutality is a term used to describe the excessive use of physical force, assault, verbal attacks, and threats by police officers and other law enforcement officers. ... Anarchism is a political philosophy or group of philosophies and attitudes which reject any form of compulsory government[1] and support its elimination,[2] often because of a wider rejection of involuntary authority. ... The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 were a series of demonstrations led by students, intellectuals, and labour activists in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) between April 15, 1989 and June 4, 1989. ... Freedom of speech is the concept of being able to speak freely without censorship. ... Porn redirects here. ...

Censored media include essentially all capable of reaching a wide audience including television, print media, radio, film, text messaging, video games, and the Internet.

Reporters Without Borders ranks China's press situation as "Very serious", the worst ranking on their five-point scale.^[1] China's Internet censorship policy is labeled as "Pervasive" by the OpenNet Initiative's global Internet filtering map, also the worst ranking used.^[2] Reporters Without Borders, or RWB (French: Reporters sans frontières, Spanish: Reporteros Sin Fronteras, or RSF) is a French origin international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press, founded by its current general-secretary, Robert Menard. ... The OpenNet Initiative is a joint project of three academic institutions: the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto, Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, and the Advanced Network Research Group at the Cambridge Security Programme, University of Cambridge. ...

Subject matter and agenda

Censorship in the PRC encompasses a wide range of subject matter. The agendas behind such censorship are varied; some are stated outright by the Chinese government itself and some are surmised by observers inside and out of the country.

Political

Censorship in China is largely seen as a measure to maintain the rule of the Communist Party of China. Censorship helps prevent unapproved reformist, separatist, "counterrevolutionary," or religious ideas, peaceful or otherwise, from organizing themselves and spreading. Additionally, censorship prevents Chinese citizens from discovering or learning more about past and current failures of the Communist Party that could create or inflame anti-government sentiment. Measures such as the blocking of foreign governments' websites may also be intended to prevent citizens from learning about alternative systems of governance and demanding similar systems. The Communist Party of China (CPC) (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), also known as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the ruling political party of the Peoples Republic of China, a position guaranteed by the countrys constitution. ... Socialist Reformism is the belief that gradual democratic changes in a society can ultimately change a societys fundamental economic relations and political structures. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Separatism is a term usually applied to describe the attitudes or motivations of those seeking independence or separation of their land or region from the country that governs them. ... A counterrevolutionary is anyone who opposes a revolution, particularly those who act after a revolution to try to overturn or reverse it, in full or in part. ... This is a list of notable websites blocked in the Peoples Republic of China. ...

Cultural

The PRC has historically sought to use censorship to mold or protect the country's culture. During the Cultural Revolution, foreign literature and art forms, religious works and symbols, and even artifacts of ancient Chinese culture were deemed "reactionary" and became targets for destruction by teams of Red Guard. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; literally Proletarian Cultural Great Revolution; often abbreviated to 文化大革命 wénhuà dà gémìng, literally Great Cultural Revolution, or even simpler, to 文革 wéngé, Cultural Revolution) in the Peoples Republic of China was a struggle for power within the... Cover of the Little Red Book containing the doctrines of the Red Guards In the Peoples Republic of China, Red Guards (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) were a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people, who were mobilized by Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution, between...

Although much greater cultural freedom exists in China today, continuing crackdowns on pornography, the 2006 banning of foreign cartoons from Chinese prime time TV,^[3] and limits on screenings for foreign films could be seen as a continuation of cultural-minded censorship. An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn (or made with computers or type writers to look similar to something hand-drawn) film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot (even if it is a very short one). ... Prime time is the block of programming on television during the middle of the evening. ...

Moral

Some censorship in China has been justified as upholding proper morals. This includes limitations on pornography^[4] and violence in films.^[5]

Religious

Though government tolerance of religion has improved since the end of the Cultural Revolution, a number of religious texts, publications, and materials are still banned or have their distributions artificially limited in the PRC. Foreign citizens are also prohibited from proselytizing in China.^[6] The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; literally Proletarian Cultural Great Revolution; often abbreviated to 文化大革命 wénhuà dà gémìng, literally Great Cultural Revolution, or even simpler, to 文革 wéngé, Cultural Revolution) in the Peoples Republic of China was a struggle for power within the... Proselytism is the practice of attempting to convert people to another opinion, usually another religion. ...

The Falun Gong spiritual movement has been labeled an "evil cult" in China and virtually all religious texts, publications, and websites relating to the group have been banned. Falun Gong, (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; literally Practice of the Wheel of Law) also known as Falun Dafa, (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; lit. ...

Christian Bibles are allowed to be printed in China but only in limited numbers and through a single press.^[7] This has resulted in unauthorized printing, smuggling, and sales of Bibles in China in an attempt to meet demand for the texts. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      A Christian () is a person who... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ...

In 2007, anticipating the coming "Year of the Pig" in the Chinese calendar, depictions of pigs were banned from CCTV "to avoid conflicts with ethnic minorities".^[8] This is believed to refer to China's population of 20 million Muslims (to whom pigs are considered "unclean"). The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, akin to the Hebrew calendar & Hindu Calendar, incorporating elements of a lunar calendar with those of a solar calendar. ... China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV (Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) is the major broadcast television network in Mainland China. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... It has been suggested that Clean animals be merged into this article or section. ...

Economic

In recent years, censorship in China has been accused of being used not only for political protectionism but also for economic protectionism. Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between nations, through methods such as high tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, a variety of restrictive government regulations designed to discourage imports, and anti-dumping laws in an attempt to protect domestic industries in a particular nation from foreign take-over...

In February 2007, the website of the French organization Observatoire International des Crises was banned in the PRC after it posted an article on the risks of trading with China.

"How do you assess an investment opportunity if no reliable information about social tension, corruption or local trade unions is available? This case of censorship, affecting a very specialised site with solely French-language content, shows the [Chinese] government attaches as much importance to the censorship of economic data as political content," the organization was quoted as saying.^[9]

Furthermore, while the majority of foreign films are banned from screening in China, such films can easily be acquired in pirated formats by Chinese citizens. This, in effect, allows Chinese to view such films while keeping their money within the domestic economy. The Cathach of St. ...

Additionally, while the rise of Wikipedia has marginalized most online encyclopedias, the blocking of Wikipedia in China has created a climate in which for-profit services such as Baidu Baike can operate. Brockhaus Konversations-Lexikon, 1902 An encyclopedia, encyclopaedia or (traditionally) encyclopædia[1] is a comprehensive written compendium that contains information on all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Baidu Baike (Chinese: 百度百科; Pinyin: bǎidù bǎikē) is a Chinese collaborative online encyclopedia hosted by the major Chinese search engine Baidu. ...

Internet

A comparison of image search results on the term "Tiananmen" between Google France and Google China (February 15, 2006). The Google China results have omitted images from the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Main article: Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China

China's Internet censorship is regarded by many as the most pervasive and sophisticated in the world. Just recently, it has spent billions of RMB on Golden Shield Project. According to a Harvard study, at least 18,000 websites are blocked from within the country.^[10] Certain search engine terms are blocked as well, and 52 cyber dissidents are reportedly imprisoned in China for their online communications.^[11] Chinese language Wikipedia is also blocked, some say that the English language Wikipedia is blocked as well. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 788 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1279 × 973 pixel, file size: 643 KB, MIME type: image/png) Fair use because no freely replaceable version exists. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 788 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1279 × 973 pixel, file size: 643 KB, MIME type: image/png) Fair use because no freely replaceable version exists. ... The Google China logo Google China (è°·æ­Œ, pinyin: gÇ” gÄ“, lit. ... The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 were a series of demonstrations led by students, intellectuals, and labour activists in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) between April 15, 1989 and June 4, 1989. ... Internet censorship in the Peoples Republic of China is conducted under a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. ... The renminbi (Traditional Chinese: 人民幣, Simplified Chinese: 人民币, literally means peoples currency) is the official currency of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Golden Shield Project (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is owned by Ministry of Public Security of the Peoples Republic of China(MPS). ... This is a list of notable websites blocked in the Peoples Republic of China. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... The Chinese Wikipedia logo The Chinese Wikipedia is the Chinese language edition of Wikipedia, run by the Wikimedia Foundation. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

Education

Educational institutions within China have been accused of whitewashing PRC history by downplaying or avoiding mention of controversial historical events such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. This article is for the meaning of censorship. ... The Great Leap Forward (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) was an economic and social plan used from 1958 to 1960 which aimed to use Chinas vast population to rapidly transform mainland China from a primarily agrarian economy dominated by peasant farmers... The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; literally Proletarian Cultural Great Revolution; often abbreviated to 文化大革命 wénhuà dà gémìng, literally Great Cultural Revolution, or even simpler, to 文革 wéngé, Cultural Revolution) in the Peoples Republic of China was a struggle for power within the...

In 2005, customs officials in China seized a shipment of textbooks intended for a Japanese school in the country because maps in the books depicted mainland China and Taiwan using different colors.^[12] Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In a January 2006 issue of Freezing Point, a weekly supplement to the China Youth Daily, Zhongshan University professor Yuan Weishi published an article entitled "Modernization and History Textbooks" in which he criticized several middle school textbooks used in mainland China.^[13][14] In particular, he felt that depictions in the books of the Second Opium War avoided mention of Chinese diplomatic failures leading up to the war and that depictions of the Boxer Rebellion glossed over atrocities committed by the Boxer rebels. As a result of Yuan's article, Freezing Point was temporarily shut down and its editors were fired.^[15][16] Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The China Youth Daily (中國青年報) is one of the most important daily official newspapers and is the first independently operated central government news media portal in the Peoples Republic of China. ... Sun Yet-sen University or Zhongshan University (中山大学, pinyin: Zhōngshān Dàxué) is a prominent university in Guangdong, China. ... Yuan Weishi (Chinese: 袁伟时), is a Professor of Philosophy at Zhongshan University in Guangzhou, China. ... Middle school (also known as intermediate school or junior high school) covers a period of education that straddles primary education and secondary education, serving as a bridge between the two. ... Combatants Qing China United Kingdom French Empire Commanders Unknown Michael Seymour James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros The Second Opium War or Arrow War was a war of the United Kingdom and France against the Qing Dynasty of China from 1856 to 1860. ... Combatants Eight-Nation Alliance (ordered by contribution): Empire of Japan Russian Empire British Empire France United States German Empire Kingdom of Italy Austro-Hungarian Empire Righteous Harmony Society Chinese Empire Commanders Edward Seymour Alfred Graf von Waldersee Ci Xi Strength 20,000 initially 49,000 total 50,000-100,000...

A new standard world history textbook introduced in Shanghai high schools in 2006 supposedly omits several wars and mentions Mao Zedong only once.^[16] Shanghai (Chinese: ; pinyin:  ; Wu (Long-short): ZÃ¥nhae; Shanghainese (IPA): ), situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta in East China, is the largest city of the Peoples Republic of China and the seventh largest in the world. ... “Mao” redirects here. ...

Zhang Ming, the dean of political sciences at Renmin University of China, was fired on March 16 of 2007 after complaining about academic freedom in China among other issues.^[17] Renmin University of China (RUC), previously known as Peoples University of China (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), colloquially Renda (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is a university in Beijing, China. ...

In the FRONTLINE documentary "The Tank Man", four students from Peking University are seemingly unable to identify the context of the infamous Tank Man photo from the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 which were sparked by Peking University students.^[18] The segment implies that the subject is not addressed in Chinese schools. FRONTLINE is a public affairs television program of varying length produced at WGBH in Boston, Massachusetts, and distributed through the Public Broadcasting Service network in the United States. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Tank Man stops the advance of a column of tanks on 5 June 1989 in Beijing. ... The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 were a series of demonstrations led by students, intellectuals, and labour activists in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) between April 15, 1989 and June 4, 1989. ...

Indeed, On June 4, 2007, the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, a small ad reading "Paying tribute to the strong(-willed) mothers of June 4 victims" was allowed to run in a newspaper in southwest China. The clerk who approved the ad had never heard of the protests and had been told by the placer of the ad that June 4th was the date of a mining disaster.^[19] A mining accident is a dangerous and often deadly accident that occurs in the process of mining minerals from underneath the surface of the planet. ...

Film

See also: Banned films, mainland China

Currently, Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television only allows twenty foreign films a year for screening within the mainland China in order to protect Chinese film industry.^[5][20] Those films that are allowed to play in Chinese cinemas may be re-edited to remove controversial material. Examples include the deletion of scenes showing hanging laundry in Shanghai during Mission: Impossible III, the removal of a reference to the Cold War in Casino Royale,^[21] and the omission of footage containing Chow Yun-Fat that "vilifies and humiliates the Chinese" in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.^[22] This article does not cite its references or sources. ... State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT, 国家广播电影电视总局令) is an executive branch under Chinas States Council. ... ... Shanghai (Chinese: ; pinyin:  ; Wu (Long-short): ZÃ¥nhae; Shanghainese (IPA): ), situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta in East China, is the largest city of the Peoples Republic of China and the seventh largest in the world. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Casino Royale, released in 2006, is the 21st film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Daniel Craig as MI6 agent James Bond. ... Chow Yun-Fat (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) (born May 18, 1955) is a Hong Kong actor. ...

All audio visual works dealing with "serious topics" such as the Cultural Revolution must be registered before distribution on the mainland.^[23] Films by PRC nationals cannot be submitted to foreign film festivals without government approval.^[24] The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; literally Proletarian Cultural Great Revolution; often abbreviated to 文化大革命 wénhuà dà gémìng, literally Great Cultural Revolution, or even simpler, to 文革 wéngé, Cultural Revolution) in the Peoples Republic of China was a struggle for power within the...

Short Message Service

According to Reporters without Borders, China has over 2,800 Short Message Service (text messaging) surveillance centers. During the SARS outbreak of May 2003, a dozen Chinese were reportedly arrested for sending text messages about SARS.^[25] During protests over a proposed chemical plant in Xiamen during the summer of 2007, text messaging was blocked to prevent the recruitment of more protesters by SMS.^[26] This article describes the technical methods for providing the text messaging service. ... Severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS is a respiratory disease in humans which is caused by the SARS coronavirus. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December - → A timeline of events in the news for May, 2003. ... A view of the Xiamen University campus Xiamen (Simplified Chinese: 厦门; Traditional Chinese: 廈門; Hanyu Pinyin: ) is a coastal sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian province, Peoples Republic of China. ...

Video games

A fictional terrorist group destroys a highly-stylized version of China's Three Gorges Dam in the video game Command & Conquer: Generals. This and other controversial depictions of China in the game may have contributed to the series' ban in the PRC.

See also: Video games in the People's Republic of China and Video game controversy, China

In 2004, the Ministry of Culture set up a committee to screen imported online video games before they entered the Chinese market. It was stated that games with any of the following violations would be banned from importation:^[27] Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 230 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) The fictional GLA forces destroying a highly-stylized depiction of the Three Gorges Dam in the video game Command & Conquer: Generals. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 230 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) The fictional GLA forces destroying a highly-stylized depiction of the Three Gorges Dam in the video game Command & Conquer: Generals. ... Relative position of the Three Gorges Dam . ... Video games in the Peoples Republic of China is a massive industry and pastime in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) that includes the production, sales, import and export, and playing of video games. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about computer and video games. ...

• Violating basic principles of the Constitution
• Threatening national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity
• Divulging state secrets
• Threatening state security
• Damaging the nation's glory
• Disturbing social order
• Infringing on others' legitimate rights

The State General Administration of Press and Publication and anti-porn and illegal publication offices have also played a role in screening games.^[28]

Examples of banned games have included:

• Hearts of Iron (for "distorting history and damaging China's sovereignty and territorial integrity")^[29]
• I.G.I.-2: Covert Strike (for "intentionally blackening China and the Chinese army's image")^[30]
• Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour (for "smearing the image of China and the Chinese army")^[29]

As with films, piracy makes acquiring banned video games in China still possible. Hearts of Iron (HoI) is a grand strategy computer game developed by Paradox Entertainment and Strategy First, set in the years 1936-1948. ...

Self-censorship

Hong Kong media, though not subject to the mainland's censorship laws, have been accused of practicing self-censorship so as to be allowed into mainland media markets and to be granted fuller journalistic access to the mainland.^[31]

International corporations such as Yahoo!, Microsoft, and Google willingly censor their content for Chinese markets in order to be allowed to do business in the country.^[18] Yahoo! Inc. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ... Not to be confused with googol or Barney Google. ...

See also

• Government control of the media in the People's Republic of China
• Propaganda in the People's Republic of China
• Human rights in the People's Republic of China

Within the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), there is heavy government involvement in the media, with many of the largest media organizations (namely CCTV, the Peoples Daily, and Xinhua) being agencies of the government of the PRC. There are certain taboos and red lines within the media in... Chinese poster saying: Chairman Mao is the Red sun in our hearts. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

References