Pursue across provincial lines

跨省追捕 (kuā shěng zhuībǔ): captured across provincial lines

“You’re not permitted to post things on the internet that tarnish my reputation!”

This refers to the practice by local government agents of traveling to other provinces to arrest netizens for posting comments on the Internet.

The phrase became popular after Wang Shuai was arrested in Shanghai for posting pictures that mocked the illegal seizure of land by officials in Lingbao, Henan province.

Wang’s post implied that local official took measures to ruin the land so that they could buy it at a lower price, because the required compensation is higher for cultivated land than for abandoned land. Wang's arrest led to a public outcry, eventually resulting in the Henan provincial police chief apologizing to Wang, who was later compensated for his ordeal.

After this case and other incidents of cross-provincial arrests (such as the case of Wu Baoquan), the phrase “captured across provincial lines” became a popular internet meme. Many sensitive or borderline-sensitive posts end half-jokingly with, “Please do not capture me across provincial lines,” or, “I don’t really understand what I just wrote; I just copied it from someone else, so don’t capture me across provincial lines.”