Cindy Carter
@cindycarter.bsky.social
Deputy Editor, China Digital Times
Translator of Chinese film, fiction, non-fiction, poetry
Translator of Chinese film, fiction, non-fiction, poetry
Reposted by Cindy Carter
(That was actually his response to the second ban, when New Silence, formerly Silent Observer and now New New New Silence, became New New Silence.)
November 19, 2025 at 7:34 PM
(That was actually his response to the second ban, when New Silence, formerly Silent Observer and now New New New Silence, became New New Silence.)
Reposted by Cindy Carter
Editor of account recently revived after a third ban: "What would you do if years of painstaking effort were wiped out in an instant? Cry and wail and curse your fate? Sink into dejection and give up? No. The late Ming historian Tan Qian had an inspiring answer: count to four, and start again."
Words of the Week: WeChat Account "New New New Silence" and China's Online "Reincarnation Party"
"To rise above nihilism, we must build islands for ourselves. Perhaps [this account] can be one such island."
"To rise above nihilism, we must build islands for ourselves. Perhaps [this account] can be one such island."
Words of the Week: WeChat Account "New New New Silence" and China's Online "Reincarnation Party"
Last week’s CDT Chinese 404 Archives podcast highlighted the recent revival of the Silent Observer WeChat account. The account, which for several years has provided a platform for philosophically-incl...
chinadigitaltimes.net
November 19, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Editor of account recently revived after a third ban: "What would you do if years of painstaking effort were wiped out in an instant? Cry and wail and curse your fate? Sink into dejection and give up? No. The late Ming historian Tan Qian had an inspiring answer: count to four, and start again."
Reposted by Cindy Carter
Transnational repression at the IndieChina Film Festival: Transnational repression at the IndieChina Film Festival: open.substack.com/pub/donaldcl...
Transnational repression at the IndieChina Film Festival
Some distressing news from New York: a festival of independent Chinese films scheduled for November 2025 has been crippled by Chinese government threats against participants and others connected with ...
open.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Transnational repression at the IndieChina Film Festival: Transnational repression at the IndieChina Film Festival: open.substack.com/pub/donaldcl...
Reposted by Cindy Carter
Come for the zesty array of censorship evasion techniques, stay for the tiny thumbnail of an “I Took Part In The Reciprocal Tariff War of April, 2025 And All I Got Was This Lousy Mug” mug.
October 31, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Come for the zesty array of censorship evasion techniques, stay for the tiny thumbnail of an “I Took Part In The Reciprocal Tariff War of April, 2025 And All I Got Was This Lousy Mug” mug.
Reposted by Cindy Carter
“Q: What’s your opinion on public account posts getting shot down?
A: I have no opinion, and feel nothing but gratitude toward the public account platform.”
A: I have no opinion, and feel nothing but gratitude toward the public account platform.”
Translation: Q&A - What Should I Do if I’ve Accidentally Used a Sensitive Word in My WeChat Post?
"Don’t speak, don’t argue, just shut up and accept your fate."
"Don’t speak, don’t argue, just shut up and accept your fate."
Translation: What Should I Do if I’ve Accidentally Used a Sensitive Word in My WeChat Post?
The following translations are from a series of posts on WeChat public account 育知录 Yuzhilu—a reference to a quotation from the Great Learning, one of Confucianism’s "Four Books": 育人先育己，知世先知人 Yù rén xi...
chinadigitaltimes.net
October 30, 2025 at 5:33 AM
“Q: What’s your opinion on public account posts getting shot down?
A: I have no opinion, and feel nothing but gratitude toward the public account platform.”
A: I have no opinion, and feel nothing but gratitude toward the public account platform.”
Reposted by Cindy Carter
Netizen Voices: “Stop Complaining, Hu Xijin. You Played a Part in This.”
"Hu asking why everyone's so quiet is like the head palace eunuch asking a junior eunuch, 'Hey, how come your equipment is only good for taking a leak?'"
chinadigitaltimes.net/2025/10/neti...
"Hu asking why everyone's so quiet is like the head palace eunuch asking a junior eunuch, 'Hey, how come your equipment is only good for taking a leak?'"
chinadigitaltimes.net/2025/10/neti...
Netizen Voices: “Stop Complaining, Hu Xijin. You Played a Part in This.”
Two posts from nationalist pundit and former Global Times Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin criticizing what he describes as a “collective silence” on Chinese social media have sparked intense discussion on Ch...
chinadigitaltimes.net
October 24, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Netizen Voices: “Stop Complaining, Hu Xijin. You Played a Part in This.”
"Hu asking why everyone's so quiet is like the head palace eunuch asking a junior eunuch, 'Hey, how come your equipment is only good for taking a leak?'"
chinadigitaltimes.net/2025/10/neti...
"Hu asking why everyone's so quiet is like the head palace eunuch asking a junior eunuch, 'Hey, how come your equipment is only good for taking a leak?'"
chinadigitaltimes.net/2025/10/neti...
Reposted by Cindy Carter
Translations on Chikungunya and Mosquito Eradication in Guangdong: “Hand Over Your Keys or We'll Pick the Locks!”
"As Hu Shih once said: 'Maintain a high degree of vigilance against the phrase "at any price." Because one day, you or I might become that "price" they speak of.'"
"As Hu Shih once said: 'Maintain a high degree of vigilance against the phrase "at any price." Because one day, you or I might become that "price" they speak of.'"
Translations on Chikungunya and Mosquito Eradication in Guangdong: “Hand Over Your Keys or We'll Pick the Locks!”
Public backlash has forced local officials in Pengyuan—a community in the city of Jiangmen, Guangdong province—to rescind an order requiring residents to surrender their keys so that sanitation worker...
chinadigitaltimes.net
October 23, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Translations on Chikungunya and Mosquito Eradication in Guangdong: “Hand Over Your Keys or We'll Pick the Locks!”
"As Hu Shih once said: 'Maintain a high degree of vigilance against the phrase "at any price." Because one day, you or I might become that "price" they speak of.'"
"As Hu Shih once said: 'Maintain a high degree of vigilance against the phrase "at any price." Because one day, you or I might become that "price" they speak of.'"
Reposted by Cindy Carter
"We believe: Faith is not a crime. Worship is not a crime. Prayer is not a crime."—Zion Church on detention of dozens of members
"We Believe Faith Is Not a Crime"—Zion Church on Detention of Dozens of Members
We believe: Faith is not a crime. Worship is not a crime. Prayer is not a crime. [Chinese] This quote highlighted by CDT Chinese this week is drawn from a statement by the Zion (锡安 Xī’ān) Church follo...
chinadigitaltimes.net
October 17, 2025 at 11:32 PM
"We believe: Faith is not a crime. Worship is not a crime. Prayer is not a crime."—Zion Church on detention of dozens of members
Reposted by Cindy Carter
The Guardian Interviews Chinese Fighters for Ukraine. "Like many Chinese volunteers, Tim is motivated by a combination of sympathy for the Ukrainian cause and increasing despair at the direction of his own country."
The Guardian Interviews Chinese Fighters for Ukraine
The involvement of Chinese nationals in Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine received widespread media attention earlier this year. This included an extended interview by Chinese journalist Chai Jing ...
chinadigitaltimes.net
October 22, 2025 at 10:33 PM
The Guardian Interviews Chinese Fighters for Ukraine. "Like many Chinese volunteers, Tim is motivated by a combination of sympathy for the Ukrainian cause and increasing despair at the direction of his own country."
Reposted by Cindy Carter
Includes strong commentary from Bitter Winter: "The CCP isn’t just watching your prayers—it’s editing them … Religion isn’t just Sinicized. It’s sanitized, standardized, and subordinated. And if you’re wondering who’s really being worshipped, just look at the podium" bitterwinter.org/red-is-the-n...
"We believe: Faith is not a crime. Worship is not a crime. Prayer is not a crime."—Zion Church on detention of dozens of members
"We Believe Faith Is Not a Crime"—Zion Church on Detention of Dozens of Members
We believe: Faith is not a crime. Worship is not a crime. Prayer is not a crime. [Chinese] This quote highlighted by CDT Chinese this week is drawn from a statement by the Zion (锡安 Xī’ān) Church follo...
chinadigitaltimes.net
October 17, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Includes strong commentary from Bitter Winter: "The CCP isn’t just watching your prayers—it’s editing them … Religion isn’t just Sinicized. It’s sanitized, standardized, and subordinated. And if you’re wondering who’s really being worshipped, just look at the podium" bitterwinter.org/red-is-the-n...
Reposted by Cindy Carter
A lot of good stuff in here. One thing is that Chinese anxiety about how its education system compares with other countries feels strikingly parallel to other countries' anxieties about how their education systems compare with China's.
Translations: “How Can a Country That Blocks the Nobel Website Hope to Win a Nobel Prize?”
"To sum up: if the winner was backed by the Chinese government, it’s the correct decision; if not, it’s using the Nobel Prize to fan anti-China sentiment."
"To sum up: if the winner was backed by the Chinese government, it’s the correct decision; if not, it’s using the Nobel Prize to fan anti-China sentiment."
Translations: “How Can a Country That Blocks the Nobel Website Hope to Win a Nobel Prize?”
The news that two more Japanese scientists were awarded Nobel Prizes in the natural sciences has been met with considerable consternation on the Chinese internet. Shimon Sakaguchi of Osaka University ...
chinadigitaltimes.net
October 21, 2025 at 3:27 AM
A lot of good stuff in here. One thing is that Chinese anxiety about how its education system compares with other countries feels strikingly parallel to other countries' anxieties about how their education systems compare with China's.
Reposted by Cindy Carter
Translations: “How Can a Country That Blocks the Nobel Website Hope to Win a Nobel Prize?”
"To sum up: if the winner was backed by the Chinese government, it’s the correct decision; if not, it’s using the Nobel Prize to fan anti-China sentiment."
"To sum up: if the winner was backed by the Chinese government, it’s the correct decision; if not, it’s using the Nobel Prize to fan anti-China sentiment."
Translations: “How Can a Country That Blocks the Nobel Website Hope to Win a Nobel Prize?”
The news that two more Japanese scientists were awarded Nobel Prizes in the natural sciences has been met with considerable consternation on the Chinese internet. Shimon Sakaguchi of Osaka University ...
chinadigitaltimes.net
October 21, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Translations: “How Can a Country That Blocks the Nobel Website Hope to Win a Nobel Prize?”
"To sum up: if the winner was backed by the Chinese government, it’s the correct decision; if not, it’s using the Nobel Prize to fan anti-China sentiment."
"To sum up: if the winner was backed by the Chinese government, it’s the correct decision; if not, it’s using the Nobel Prize to fan anti-China sentiment."
Reposted by Cindy Carter
"I truly don’t know what kind of sentiment would lead certain people to compare the sight of a massive nighttime traffic jam at some highway toll gates with a 'galaxy of glittering stars.' All the scene really stirs in me is a headache, backache, and the sensation of an uncomfortably full bladder."
Netizen Voices: Backlash Against Supposed Beauty of Golden Week Traffic Jams
"They keep coming up with tricks for painting suffering as a virtue."
"They keep coming up with tricks for painting suffering as a virtue."
Netizen Voices: Backlash Against Supposed Beauty of Golden Week Traffic Jams
State media hailed the mass travel over this month’s "Super Golden Week" holiday as a sign of profound economic vigor. Xinhua, for example, reported that the "travel boom […] demonstrated the country’...
chinadigitaltimes.net
October 16, 2025 at 5:19 AM
"I truly don’t know what kind of sentiment would lead certain people to compare the sight of a massive nighttime traffic jam at some highway toll gates with a 'galaxy of glittering stars.' All the scene really stirs in me is a headache, backache, and the sensation of an uncomfortably full bladder."
Reposted by Cindy Carter
"Topics targeted included multiplatform bans on influencers; Nepal protests; labor rights for delivery riders; pressure on citizen journalism; problems in official news coverage; economic prospects and precarity; domestic violence; a hazardous waste accident; official misconduct; & patriotic cinema"
CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for September 2025
"CDT's new monthly series of censored content that has been added to our [free, open, and searchable] '404 Deleted Content Archive.'"
"CDT's new monthly series of censored content that has been added to our [free, open, and searchable] '404 Deleted Content Archive.'"
CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for September 2025
CDT presents a new monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we will publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the ...
chinadigitaltimes.net
October 15, 2025 at 2:38 AM
"Topics targeted included multiplatform bans on influencers; Nepal protests; labor rights for delivery riders; pressure on citizen journalism; problems in official news coverage; economic prospects and precarity; domestic violence; a hazardous waste accident; official misconduct; & patriotic cinema"
Reposted by Cindy Carter
China's online influencers are finding it harder than ever to navigate the "red lines":
"[Recent state-media] criticisms of Zhang Xuefeng [...are] no different from the Cultural Revolution-era practices of 'criticism for the sake of criticism' and 'elevating all issues to the level of politics.'"
"[Recent state-media] criticisms of Zhang Xuefeng [...are] no different from the Cultural Revolution-era practices of 'criticism for the sake of criticism' and 'elevating all issues to the level of politics.'"
Translations: As CAC Tackles “Malicious” Negativity Online, Popular Influencers Hit With Bans
"Hu and Zhang often danced on the red line, but they had a firm grasp of where the boundaries were. Now both have crashed and burned, because the line has begun moving higher. Whose turn will be next?"
"Hu and Zhang often danced on the red line, but they had a firm grasp of where the boundaries were. Now both have crashed and burned, because the line has begun moving higher. Whose turn will be next?"
Translations: As CAC Tackles “Malicious” Negativity Online, Popular Influencers Zhang Xuefeng, Hu Chenfeng, Lan Zhanfei Hit With Bans
Amid a new two-month “Clear and Bright” campaign by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) to clean up internet content that “maliciously incites” polarization, pessimism, anxiety, and other neg...
chinadigitaltimes.net
October 7, 2025 at 11:37 PM
China's online influencers are finding it harder than ever to navigate the "red lines":
"[Recent state-media] criticisms of Zhang Xuefeng [...are] no different from the Cultural Revolution-era practices of 'criticism for the sake of criticism' and 'elevating all issues to the level of politics.'"
"[Recent state-media] criticisms of Zhang Xuefeng [...are] no different from the Cultural Revolution-era practices of 'criticism for the sake of criticism' and 'elevating all issues to the level of politics.'"
Reposted by Cindy Carter
Streets are still closed off in front of the Portland ICE facility at 8:30pm. Protesters have gathered on a side street. Dance party in progress.
October 8, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Streets are still closed off in front of the Portland ICE facility at 8:30pm. Protesters have gathered on a side street. Dance party in progress.
China's online influencers are finding it harder than ever to navigate the "red lines":
"[Recent state-media] criticisms of Zhang Xuefeng [...are] no different from the Cultural Revolution-era practices of 'criticism for the sake of criticism' and 'elevating all issues to the level of politics.'"
"[Recent state-media] criticisms of Zhang Xuefeng [...are] no different from the Cultural Revolution-era practices of 'criticism for the sake of criticism' and 'elevating all issues to the level of politics.'"
Translations: As CAC Tackles “Malicious” Negativity Online, Popular Influencers Hit With Bans
"Hu and Zhang often danced on the red line, but they had a firm grasp of where the boundaries were. Now both have crashed and burned, because the line has begun moving higher. Whose turn will be next?"
"Hu and Zhang often danced on the red line, but they had a firm grasp of where the boundaries were. Now both have crashed and burned, because the line has begun moving higher. Whose turn will be next?"
Translations: As CAC Tackles “Malicious” Negativity Online, Popular Influencers Zhang Xuefeng, Hu Chenfeng, Lan Zhanfei Hit With Bans
Amid a new two-month “Clear and Bright” campaign by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) to clean up internet content that “maliciously incites” polarization, pessimism, anxiety, and other neg...
chinadigitaltimes.net
October 7, 2025 at 11:37 PM
China's online influencers are finding it harder than ever to navigate the "red lines":
"[Recent state-media] criticisms of Zhang Xuefeng [...are] no different from the Cultural Revolution-era practices of 'criticism for the sake of criticism' and 'elevating all issues to the level of politics.'"
"[Recent state-media] criticisms of Zhang Xuefeng [...are] no different from the Cultural Revolution-era practices of 'criticism for the sake of criticism' and 'elevating all issues to the level of politics.'"
Reposted by Cindy Carter
A nostalgic look back at the Chengfu Road (成府路) bookstalls and bookstores of Beijing's university district : chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/7214...
界面文化｜豆瓣书店，19年青春散场
“我们没有坚持，坚持是需要资本的，我们开不下去就立刻不开了。”邓雨虹坐在店内，一边说着话，一边忙着手里的活。在取悦自己和顺应潮流中间，夫妻俩似乎已做出最终的选择。近日，书店积压已久的困境走到了某种临界点。他们即将关店的消息也很快扩散开来。
chinadigitaltimes.net
September 26, 2025 at 10:14 PM
A nostalgic look back at the Chengfu Road (成府路) bookstalls and bookstores of Beijing's university district : chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/7214...
Reposted by Cindy Carter
Chinese internet users express frustration over the de-platforming of some frugal and very laid-back gamers. One online comment: "You can’t be a slacker, can’t be materialistic, you just have to keep working and grinding away. [...] All we can do is wait until they grind us down to nothing."
Translations: “Lying Down” Vloggers Banned for Espousing the Simple Life
"There might appear to be thousands of roads on the map, but the navigator always seems to point us in the direction of the same one."
"There might appear to be thousands of roads on the map, but the navigator always seems to point us in the direction of the same one."
Translations: “Lying Down” Vloggers Banned for Espousing the Simple Life
Some popular social media accounts that depict “lying down”—eschewing the rat race in favor of a more frugal, less ambitious, low-consumption lifestyle—have recently been deplatformed, to the dismay o...
chinadigitaltimes.net
September 26, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Chinese internet users express frustration over the de-platforming of some frugal and very laid-back gamers. One online comment: "You can’t be a slacker, can’t be materialistic, you just have to keep working and grinding away. [...] All we can do is wait until they grind us down to nothing."
Reposted by Cindy Carter
“I’m emotionally shellshocked right now,” said one professor in the Texas Tech system. “What does it say about academic freedom? It says we don’t have it.” The professor spoke by phone from the inside of a car to avoid being overheard by colleagues.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
Texas Tech Moves to Limit Academic Discussion to 2 Genders
www.nytimes.com
September 26, 2025 at 11:49 PM
“I’m emotionally shellshocked right now,” said one professor in the Texas Tech system. “What does it say about academic freedom? It says we don’t have it.” The professor spoke by phone from the inside of a car to avoid being overheard by colleagues.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
Chinese internet users express frustration over the de-platforming of some frugal and very laid-back gamers. One online comment: "You can’t be a slacker, can’t be materialistic, you just have to keep working and grinding away. [...] All we can do is wait until they grind us down to nothing."
Translations: “Lying Down” Vloggers Banned for Espousing the Simple Life
"There might appear to be thousands of roads on the map, but the navigator always seems to point us in the direction of the same one."
"There might appear to be thousands of roads on the map, but the navigator always seems to point us in the direction of the same one."
Translations: “Lying Down” Vloggers Banned for Espousing the Simple Life
Some popular social media accounts that depict “lying down”—eschewing the rat race in favor of a more frugal, less ambitious, low-consumption lifestyle—have recently been deplatformed, to the dismay o...
chinadigitaltimes.net
September 26, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Chinese internet users express frustration over the de-platforming of some frugal and very laid-back gamers. One online comment: "You can’t be a slacker, can’t be materialistic, you just have to keep working and grinding away. [...] All we can do is wait until they grind us down to nothing."
Reposted by Cindy Carter
Update, h/t @cindycarter.bsky.social:
September 25, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Update, h/t @cindycarter.bsky.social:
A nostalgic look back at the Chengfu Road (成府路) bookstalls and bookstores of Beijing's university district : chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/7214...
界面文化｜豆瓣书店，19年青春散场
“我们没有坚持，坚持是需要资本的，我们开不下去就立刻不开了。”邓雨虹坐在店内，一边说着话，一边忙着手里的活。在取悦自己和顺应潮流中间，夫妻俩似乎已做出最终的选择。近日，书店积压已久的困境走到了某种临界点。他们即将关店的消息也很快扩散开来。
chinadigitaltimes.net
September 26, 2025 at 10:14 PM
A nostalgic look back at the Chengfu Road (成府路) bookstalls and bookstores of Beijing's university district : chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/7214...
Reposted by Cindy Carter
Police in China detained a man for comments critical of President Xi Jinping’s military parade, highlighting the ruling Communist Party’s intolerance of dissent.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
China Detains Man for ‘Defamatory’ Remarks About Xi’s Parade
Police in China detained a man for comments critical of President Xi Jinping’s military parade, highlighting the ruling Communist Party’s intolerance of dissent.
www.bloomberg.com
September 5, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Police in China detained a man for comments critical of President Xi Jinping’s military parade, highlighting the ruling Communist Party’s intolerance of dissent.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...