Editor’s note for May 17, 2023
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn.
Dear reader:
The grins of the people are the nightmares of the dictators, wrote Liú Xiǎobō 刘晓波, the late Chinese dissident, in 2008 (人民的坏笑都是独裁者的梦魇 rénmín de huài xiào dōu shì dúcáizhě de mèngyǎn).
The Shanghai comedy troupe Xiaoguo found this out at the cost of a $2 million fine for a “severely insulting” joke about a Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 slogan, which you can read about in the News Briefing section in today’s newsletter.
The short form of the slogan is “an excellent work style that can fight to win” (作风优良，能打胜仗 zuòfēng yōuliáng, néng dǎ shèngzhàng).
Our Word of the Day is the original long form of the slogan:
Strive to build a people’s army that obeys the Party’s command, has an excellent work style and can fight and win wars
努力建设一支听党指挥能打胜仗作风优良的人民军队
nǔlì jiànshè yī zhī tīng dǎng zhǐhuī néng dǎ shèngzhàng zuòfēng yōuliáng de rénmín jūnduì
