Why Chi*a banned the letter "n" and top 5 bizarre words censored by Xi Jinping's govt

President Xi Jinping's power grab in 2013 turned a lot of hes and paved way for what could only be described as a slow yet stey slip towards authoritarianism. Since his re-election in 2018, when he successfully got National People's Congress (NPC) and Communist Party of China (CPC)to abolish term limits for presidency, re has been looking back for Chinese premier. 

Xi Jinping, only days after CPC opened doorway for him to continue his rule indefinitely, laid down some of strongest censorship tools country has ever see, perhaps even world. It was so meticulous that China quickly started banning words in every langu that could be possible expressions of dissent. 

While his reign has been led government organisations to curate an extensive list of words popular on microblogging site Weibo (Twitter equivalent in China) and or print and digital media platforms, it is imperative to te that his regime has raked up some truly bizarre words that refer to Xi Jinping.

Re | From 'President for life' to 'Xi Da': How it's all gone downhill for China's Xi Jinping

In a truly astonishing yet bizarre move, China once banned, for a brief period, English alphabet 'N'. Imagine spelling China without "n". According to a professor of Chinese langu at University of Pennsylvania, banning individual alphabet was a part of a 'widespre censorship clampdown.' It extended to "N" because it also referred to number of terms Xi Jinping could stay in office, "n" meaning mamatical equation n>2.

Here are top 5 bizarre words and phrases banned by China under Xi's rule:

"Winnie Pooh" 
"Immortality
"Lifelong control" 
"Shameless"
"Xi Zedong"  - a hybrid of names Xi and Chairman

Ironically eugh, George Orwell's dystopian vels Animal Farm and 1984, which describe a fictional world where authoritarian leers in form of animals strictly control populations under m are also banned.

A somewhat unusual phrase "to board a place" was also banned in China, owing to its homophonic reference to Chinese term "to ascend throne". And in an entirely obxious yet blatant example of curbing free speech, word disagree is also illegal to post on social media. It will immediately be flagged and post will be taken down.

Re | Isolated At World Health Assembly, Xi Jinping's Bigger Challenge Is Coming At Home

Why were se words banned?

Students and general youth who were tired of Beijing's scrupulous watchdog methods of keeping its citizens under its oppressive thumb began voicing ir concerns on social media and it fell on government's rar as more and more people actively took to internet to express ir distraught with Xi's government and Communist leership.

censorship was put in place initially to monitor and block social media posts and searches that hinted towards any criticism of Xi Jinping's term limit anuncement. Shortly after NPC me anuncement, viral posts started flagging up on Weibo, which were n promptly deleted by censors and word bans were effectively put in place starting 2013.

Re | Sena talks up 'most important neighbour' China; blames US, absolves Nehru & questions Modi

When users attempted to publish banned terms, an error mess popped up: "Sorry, this content violates relevant laws and regulations on Weibo's terms of service."

As more and more words were banned, Chinese people kept finding new ways to mask ir dissent against Xi's oppressive regime. However, ir sense of humour, wit and zeal for freedom was ostensibly t shared by China's increasingly autocratic internet "tsars".

Re | LAC Faceoff: India rejects China's 'exaggerated and untenable' claim over Galwan Valley