China Internet Censors Create Theme Song, Then Censor Themselves?

Chinese Internet censors created and performed a rousing tribute to themselves earlier this week during a New Year celebration talent show, although efforts to remove the videos from the Internet prompted questions as to whether the censors are attempting to censor their own song.

The Chinese Cyberspace Administration choral group performed the song, titled “Cyberspace Spirit,” clad in red dresses and black tuxedoes in front of a live audience on Tuesday, reports the Register.

The song’s lyrics include righteous references to the censors’ work: “Keeping faithful watch under this sky, the Sun and the Moon,” the group sings. “Creating, embracing everyday clarity and brightness; Like a beam of incorruptible sunlight, touching our hearts.”

The chorus: “Internet power! The Web is where glorious dreams are; Internet power! From the distant cosmos to the home we long for.”

According to the New York Times, the lyrics were written by Wang Pingju, who penned the Beijing Olympics anthem, and the music was arranged by Zhao Jialin, a Chinese pop producer.

The performance came before new efforts announced Thursday by the Cyberspace Administration to crack down on Chinese dating websites ahead of Valentine’s Day, reports Vocativ.

“Fraud on dating websites has become a public nuisance to millions of users, especially young people, who use such services,” the administration said in a statement.

In an ironic twist, the Times speculates that Internet censors in China may be attempting to censor their own song. Several videos of the performance have been taken off the Internet, prompting the Times‘ Paul Mozur to ask, “Can China now claim to have censored the online celebration of its own Internet censorship agency?”

The full lyrics of the song are presented below, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:

在这片天空日月忠诚的守望
Keeping faithful watch under this sky, the Sun and the Moon

为日出东方使命担当
Undertaking this mission for the break of dawn [in the East]

创新每个日子拥抱着清朗
Creating, embracing everyday clarity and brightness

像一束廉洁阳光感动在心上
Like a beam of incorruptible sunlight, touching our hearts

团结万物生长的力量
Uniting the powers of life from all creation

奉献地球村成为最美的风光
Offerings to the global village become the most beautiful of scenery

网络强国　网在哪光荣梦想在哪
Internet Power! The Web is where glorious dreams are

网络强国　从遥远的宇宙到思念的家
Internet Power! From the distant cosmos to the home we long for

网络强国　告诉世界中国梦在崛起大中华
Internet Power! Tell the world that the China Dream is lifting Greater China to prominence

网络强国　一个我在世界代表着国家
Internet Power! One self represents the nation to the world

在这个世界百川忠诚寻归海洋
In this world, all rivers loyally seek to return to the sea

担当中华文明的丈量
Bearing the measure of Chinese civilization

五千年沉淀点亮创新思想
5,000 years settle and give light to creative new thinking

廉洁就是一个民族清澈荡漾
Incorruptibility is the clear rippling of a nation

我们团结在天地中央
We unite at the center of Heaven and Earth

信仰奉献流淌万里黄河长江
Belief and giving flow for thousands of miles down the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers

网络强国　网在哪光荣梦想在哪
Internet Power! The Web is where glorious dreams are

网络强国　从遥远的宇宙到思念的家
Internet Power! From the distant cosmos to the home we long for

网络强国　告诉世界中国梦在崛起大中华
Internet Power! Tell the world that the China Dream is lifting Greater China to prominence

网络强国　一个我在世界代表着国家
Internet Power! One self represents the nation to the world