THE EAST IS RED-FACED: China Censors Its Own National Anthem amid Growing Unrest with Coronavirus Lockdowns.

Sina Weibo, the heavily censored Chinese alternative to banned Twitter, appears to have banned a hashtag that quotes the Chinese national anthem to criticize coronavirus lockdowns. It also appears to have blocked searches for the lyrics to the anthem.

The banned hashtag is based on the first line of the anthem: “Stand up! Those who refuse to be slaves!” The line is rendered with several variations in English such as, “Arise, you who refuse to be slaves!”

Slavery is the goal, now, and you don’t want to encourage resistance from the children of troubled times.