Report: China Bans Letter ‘N’ From the Internet to Stop Xi Dissent

You can’t spell dissent without an N—and that was literally the case in China, which temporarily banned the letter from internet searches in a mysterious move to squash complaints about President Xi. Examples of dissent have been spotted on Chinese social media since the announcement that Beijing will drop presidential term limits, meaning that Xi Jinping could rule indefinitely. According to a list published by the China Digital Times, there’s been a crackdown on certain words, phrases, and letters on Chinese social-media searches including the letter N, references to George Orwell’s novel 1984, and mentions of the friendly cartoon bear who Xi has previously and unflatteringly been compared to: Winnie-the-Pooh. Victor Mair, a University of Pennsylvania China expert, speculated that N was banned “out of fear on the part of the government that ‘N’ = ‘n terms in office,’ where possibly n > 2.” The letter has since been restored, but Weibo searches for terms such as “shameless,” “I oppose,” and “incapable ruler” are still reportedly banned.