Give the people some tape

给人民一个胶带 (gěi rénmín yí ge jiāodài): give the people some tape

“Here, no one hears your scream! Give the people some tape.” (Luo Changping 罗昌平/Weibo)

Sounds the same as “give the people an explanation” (给人民一个交代). In July 2011, Premier Wen Jiabao called for a speedy investigation of the Wenzhou high-speed train crash in order to “give the people an explanation” [zh]. Meanwhile, the government aggressively limited reporting on the accident. Netizens joked that what the government really wanted was to “give people some tape” to seal their lips and prevent them from talking about both the accident and the government’s botched response.

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