Bird Anus

禽肛 (Qín Gāng): Bird Anus

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Official Qin Gang

Because the name of government leaders and officials often become sensitive words, netizens frequently invent creative (and pejorative) homonyms to sidestep scrutiny and censorship. An official at China’s Foreign Ministry since 1992, Qin Gang (秦刚) is currently a ministry spokesperson and head of the ministry's information department. The characters in his name are homophonic with those for “bird anus.” A netizen explains why this nickname fits Qin:

The anus is from where one farts and shits. In other words, if the bird wants to fart, the anus must let the fart pass; the anus cannot decide what kind of fart to fart. That is why he is called “Bird Anus.” [In Chinese “to fart” can also mean “to speak nonsense.”]

肛门就是放屁，拉屎的地方。总的来说，禽兽要放什么屁，肛门就得放；而肛门自己是无法决定要放什么屁的，所以被称为禽肛。

Sometimes a further play on words is used with Qin Gang’s name: “bird anus is inflamed” (禽肛发炎 qín'gāng fāyán) sounds the same as “Qin Gang made a statement” (秦刚发言 Qín Gāng fāyán).

On 9 June 2009, a BBC reporter asked Qin Gang about the justification for the compulsory installation of the Green Dam Youth Escort filtering software. Qin Gang replied:

Do you have children? If you have children or if you plan to have children, you will surely understand a parent’s concern about harmful information on the Internet. China’s Internet is open. The Chinese government plays an active role in promoting the healthy development of the Internet.

你有孩子吗？如果你有孩子或者你打算要孩子，你应该能理解作为家长对互联网传播有害信息的关切。中国的互联网是开放的，中国政府积极致力于推动互联网健康发展。

Qin Gang has been responsible for a number of other memorable quotations.

See also Stiff Fish.