Court’s Sina Weibo account promotes one-sided debate on disgraced Bo Xilai
Microblog comments on disgraced Chinese politician heavily censored
A Chinese court, where disgraced Communist Party leader Bo Xilai is due to stand trial on Thursday, has set up a microblog gathering thousands of followers within hours of its launch.
Comments on its weibo-only platform however remain heavily censored as the Chinese public struggles to come to terms over Bo’s controversial legacy.
The Jinan Intermediary People’s Court turned to Sina Weibo, China’s largest micro-blogging platform, to announce Bo’s trial date in what could be the most historic statement it has made in its 59-year history.
News spread fast, making Bo, whose name had been unblocked by the censors as a microblog search term, a hot topic on Sunday. But censors were quick to impose subtler ways of moderating the debate about one of the last moments of Chongqing’s former party secretary in the public limelight.