In the run-up to March 8 International Women’s Day, a comedian known as Xiao Pa (full name Paziliyaer Paerhati) had her Weibo account suspended for posting this joke: “I’ve been bedridden for... Read more »

“Bitterfeld, Bitterfeld, where dirt falls from the sky,” went a popular saying. Located in the intensely industrialised Chemical Triangle of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), in the 1980s Bitterfeld became known as... Read more »

CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the... Read more »

While American TikTok users find themselves in a “very Chinese time” of their lives, Chinese netizens are fixated on the American “kill line.” Beyond the apparent digital divide, both trends reflect shared... Read more »

Did you drink ice water today? If you did, that was “not very Chinese of you”, according to Sherry Zhu, a 23-year-old Chinese American creator based in New Jersey. If you were... Read more »

A pair of recent publications sheds light on different aspects of generative AI’s use in PRC information control activities and, in one case, on how that can backfire. A paper from Stanford’s... Read more »

The Chinese government has called for vessels passing through the strait of Hormuz to be protected by all sides in the escalating Iran conflict, as shipping freight rates soared. Maritime traffic through... Read more »

The US-Israeli war on Iran has been condemned as illegal across much of the global south, with China saying it was unacceptable to “blatantly kill the leader of a sovereign state”. Many... Read more »

As the US and Israel opened a new chapter of chaos in the Middle East, China stands to benefit from a Washington establishment that does not have the political or physical resources... Read more »