Give the people some tape

给人民一个胶带 (gěi rén mín yī ge jiāo dài): give the people some tape

This sounds the same as the phrase “give the people an explanation” (给人民一个交代). After the Wenzhou Train Accident, Wen Jiabao urged a speedy investigation in order to “give the people an explanation.” (See here).

Because the government had aggressively sought to limit the reporting of the accident, netizens joked that what the government really intended was to “give people some tape” to seal their lips and prevent them from talking about the accident and the government’s botched response.