China Censors Part of Obama Speech

Barack Obama’s inaugural address had an international audience, hanging on every word to detect a new direction in American foreign policy. Some Chinese censors took offense at a comment on communism and in translations deleted the phrase, ”Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.” But censorship actually drew more attention to the missing words, setting of a flurry of internet exchanges, explain Edward Wong and Jonathan Ansfield for the New York Times. Some Chinese expressed disappointment about the criticism of communism and others about the deletions – but either way, the censorship underscored one short line of a long speech that was a measured call for Americans and the world to work together on serious global problems. – YaleGlobal