Seven don't mentions

七不讲 (qī bù jiǎng): seven don't mentions

The seven don't mentions tie down the Statue of Liberty. (Artist: Badiucao 巴丢草)

Seven politically sensitive topics that the government has prohibited university professors and lecturers from discussing with students, ennumerated in a directive allegedly issued by the General Office of the Party Central Committee to institutes of higher education in May 2013. The directive, which was leaked on Weibo and subsequently censored, outlined seven topics that were forbidden to be raised with students: universal values, press freedom, civil society, civic rights, historical mistakes by the Communist Party, elite cronyism, and an independent judiciary.

Investigative journalist Gao Yu stated that the "seven don't mentions" were distilled from the "Communiqué on the Current State of the Ideological Sphere," also known as Document Number 9. Gao leaked Document No. 9 to the U.S.-based Mingjing News in July 2013, leading to a seven-year prison sentence for "leaking state secrets" in April 2015. Gao has appealed the conviction.

The Chinese Communist Party has sought to contain dissent in institutes of higher education. Student movements, such as the 1989 protests, have historically been major sources of unrest. A campaign against "Western values" in higher education began in January 2015.

"Seven don't mentions" was blocked from Weibo search results as early as May 10, 2013, and remains blocked as of April 23, 2015.

The seven don't mentions, shared as an image on Weibo. The post containing this image was deleted by Sina. (Source: FreeWeibo)