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China’s move to abolish presidential term limits is more unpopular than the government thought — so it’s turning to censorship http://ift.tt/2oxLd1V Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images
China's constitution restricts the president and vice-president to serving a maximum of two terms – 10 years – with President Xi Jinping's leadership due to end in 2023. While censoring social media is a regular occurrence in China, the latest incident may mean the Communist Party’s proposal to scrap presidential term limits, and essentially allow President Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely, was more unpopular than anticipated. After the proposed change was announcedon Sunday, critical posts began flooding both Weibo and WeChat. According to What's On Weibo, a website that tracks trending conversations on the Twitter-like service, many called the announcement "scary." "I've posted this before but it was censored within 13 minutes so I will post it again. I oppose to the amendment of the ‘no more than two consecutive terms of office’ as addressed in the third section of Article 79 of the Constitution," wrote a Weibo user. "Argh, we're going to become North Korea," wrote another, according to Reuters. "We're following the example of our neighbor," said another. But, Reuters reported, these posts were removed late Sunday evening. A number of phrases have also been censored on Weibo. Searching for "two term limit," "third consecutive term," "constitution," "Emperor Xi," and "continued rule" will return zero search results. Other censored phrases also reportedly include "heil," "ascended to throne," and "immortality." WeChat has also been affected. One New York Times reporter based in Beijing said he was unable to send a news report about the proposal to a family member on WeChat, but other messages were still able to be sent and received. China regularly censors phrases it disagrees that become popular on social media. But the government’s censoring of this language hours after the term limit proposal — which would have been planned for some time — indicates the government hadn't expected the level of criticism it ended up receiving. Pictures of Winnie the Pooh also flooded social mediaXiao Lu Chu/Getty Images There are also multiple reports that pictures of Winnie the Pooh are also being censored. Chinese netizens have used pictures of the character to poke fun at Xi in the past, who is thought to look similar in appearance to the bear. This weekend photos of Winnie wearing a crown, sitting in a throne, and hugging a honey pot spread on Weibo. Not only have some of these pictures been censored but, according to a tweet from cyber analyst Fergus Ryan, the phrases “Disney China” and “Winnie the Pooh” have also been banned. The proposal to remove China’s presidential term limit will be voted on in March and is expected to pass easily. NOW WATCH: How to make America great — according to one of the three cofounders of Black Lives Matter See Also:
Business via Business Insider http://ift.tt/eKERsB February 26, 2018 at 12:57AM
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