Cesored! China bans letter N (briefly) from internet as Xi Jinping extends grip on power
Amid fallout from the decision to allow Xi to be president for life, censors also crack down on letters, phrases and George Orwell’s Animal Farm
It is the 14th letter in the English alphabet and, in Scrabble, the springboard for more than 600 8-letter words.
But for the Communist party of China it is also subversive and intolerable character that was this week banished from the internet as Chinese censors battled to silence criticism of Xi Jinping’s bid to set himself up as ruler for life.
The contravening consonant was perhaps the most unusual victim of a crackdown targeting words, phrases and even solitary letters censors feared might be used to attack Beijing’s controversial decision to abolish constitutional term limits for China’s president.
The Communist party h...