A few (edited) words on Chinese censorship

It is one thing to write about censorship (as anyone who seeks to explain how China works must), quite another to have your own words gutted of their meaning on nationally broadcast television.

This was my fate earlier this year when I took part in a discussion about China’s future on Shenzhen Satellite TV’s Reform Dialogue programme.

China can’t block bad news

To love the Party, to accept its controls over one’s life, to downplay China’s problems, is to be mainstream, part of society, to be, in fact, Chinese.