China Selectively Censors Obama’s Inauguration Speech

China censored multiple parts of Obama’s speech including the live footage of the speech, specifically during mentions of communism. 

According to the BBC, China’s leaders were saddened by mentions of silencing dissent and triumphing over communism. 

The version with the edits are in Chinese, the English language versions are believed to have been left untouched. 

For example, the line from President Obama: “Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism nt just with missiles and anks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions”  was kept as it is for the English language version on state-run Xinhua news, however the Chinese version saw the word “communism” removed.

Another example includes:

“To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history,” the president said.” Whilst the sentence was kept again for the English language version, the Chinese version saw the line removed.

In addition, China Central Television aired the speech live with a simultaneous Chinese translation however whenever communism was mentioned – the translators voice would fade out.