China Appears to Censor Any Online Discussion of an Ex-Leader’s Health

What do Jiangsu Province, the minor pop idol Jiang Yirong and Huadong Hospital in Shanghai have in common? Over the past day, these and scores of other words and expressions have been blocked on much of the Chinese Internet, a result of the government’s unrelenting attempt to quash widespread rumors that the former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin is dead or dying. Not surprisingly, the stepped-up effort to silence speculation about the well being of Jiang, 84, who officially retired as party chief in 2002 and as president in 2003, has generated even more rumors since July 1 after he failed to attend the 90th anniversary gala commemorating the birth of the Chinese Communist Party.

A Swiss gallery owner who represents Ai Weiwei, the dissident artist and international celebrity recently let out of detention, said that Ai was working on his art again, even though he could not do interviews or meet with journalists because of the conditions of his release.