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In the PRC, you'd best not say anything about COVID-19. It's more or less forbidden for citizens to talk about it, much less question the government's handling of the CRISIS (not a "dangerous opportunity"). Even the name and the very existence of the disease are highly problematic. Still, despite all the draconian censorship, people figure out various ways to circumvent the prohibitions and express their feelings and opinions.

"The coronavirus is inspiring memes, parodies and art in Asia as a way to cope", by David Pierson, Los Angeles Times (3/6/20)

"‘Noodles’ and ‘Pandas’: Chinese People Are Using Secret Code to Talk About Coronavirus Online". "'Vietnamese pho noodles,' anyone?", by David Gilbert, VICE (3/6/20)

Here are some examples of novel (!) usages:

zf — zhèngfǔ 政府 ("government")

jc — jǐngchá 警察 ("police")

guóbǎo 国宝 ("national treasure") or panda images — guóbǎo 国保 ("national security [bureau]")

Ministry of Truth (George Orwell novel 1984) — Communist Party’s Propaganda Department

Vietnamese pho noodles — VPNs (virtual private networks) for circumventing the Great Firewall

ladders — VPNs (for climbing over the Great Firewall

xìjǐng píng 细颈瓶 ("narrow neck bottle") — Xí Jìnpíng 习近平, e.g., “how to wash a narrow neck bottle?” (the censors caught it)

This is just a bare sampling.

Sometimes, though, the people speak out more openly, as when they eerily yelled "Jiǎ de! Quánbù shì jiǎ de! 假的！ 全部是假的！" ("Fake! It's all fake!"), while Sun Chunlan, Vice Premier of China, was inspecting a residential area in Wuhan with her entourage.

“Everything is faked!” #Wuhan resident shouting out loudly when Sun Chunlan, vice premier of #China inspecting a residential area during #CoronavirusOutbreak 近日，中共国务院副总理孙春兰视察#武汉 青山区中建开元公馆小区，封城后被困在家里40多天的业主们愤怒高喊：“全部都是假的!” pic.twitter.com/vjnGauhMG6 — 曾錚 Jennifer Zeng (@jenniferatntd) March 6, 2020

This tweet by Jennifer Zeng quickly went viral.

I've seen other videos of this same incident, and the way the screams of "fake, fake!" echo through the tall buildings is truly haunting.

Selected readings

[h.t. Edmund L. Luzine, Jr. and Don Keyser]

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