Master Kang

康师傅 (Kāng Shīfu) Master Kang

This is a veiled reference to Zhou Yongkang, retired senior CCP leader, former public security chief, and close ally of fallen Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai. Despite media reports that began placing him at the center of a massive government corruption probe, the official government narrative still holds Zhou in good grace. As such, the nickname “Master Kang” is used by netizens to refer to the retired official in the midst of censorship directives forbidding such discussion.

The name “Master Kang” is simultaneously a historical, political, and pop cultural reference. “康师傅” (Kāng Shīfu) is the brand name used by packaged food company Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corporation, the largest instant noodle producer operating in mainland China—as such, the pseudonym “instant noodles” is also used by netizens to discuss Zhou when “Master Kang” becomes sensitive. The company markets their products with the English name “Master Kong” .

“Master Kang” also alludes to Kang Sheng (康生) Zhou's early predecessor as Party security chief. A first generation PRC official and close ally to Mao Zedong, Kang was posthumously disgraced and expelled from the Party for his role in the Cultural Revolution and his early criticism of Deng Xiaoping—a reference to both the ongoing corruption probe into Zhou and his close relationship with Bo Xilai.

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