Head in the Sand

The Chinese government is taking the attitude that if you can't talk about a problem, then the problem won't exist any more.

The Asahi Shimbun reports that China has banned reporting on 18 subjects.

The banned subjects include: foreign criticism of China, in particular currency issues; the difficulties faced by university students in finding jobs after graduation, food safety and rising prices of cooking oil, problems with vaccines stored at the Ministry of Health, high medical fees; disparity of wealth; reform of the registration system separating urban dwellers from rural residents (Hukou); forecasts of appointments for Communist Party leaders; expansion of autonomy at universities; the collapse of school buildings in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and delays in reconstruction; the beating death of a steel plant president in Jilin province; collusion between police and gangsters in Chongqing; rising real estate prices and the housing shortage; real estate developers trying to increase land prices.

"Most of the subjects that people are interested in have been banned. We don't know what to report on," said an official at a Chinese newspaper.