Chinese are using Cantonese to criticise zero-Covid amid heavy censorship

Hong Kong, China

Chinese citizens in Guangzhou, a 19 million-person manufacturing powerhouse, are venting their frustration after their city became the centre of a widespread Covid outbreak, forcing yet another round of lockdown measures, but it is difficult to express open criticism on China's heavily censored internet. 

One resident wrote on Weibo, China's restricted version of Twitter, on Monday, "We had to lock down in April, and then again in November," before sprinkling the message with slurs, including references to the mothers of officials - â€œThe government hasn’t provided subsidies – do you think my rent doesn’t cost money?”

Such colourful posts are noteworthy not only because they reflect the mounting anger of the public at China's unyielding zero-Covid policy. 

The government's army of censors would often quickly remove such scathing criticisms of government policy, yet these posts have been left up for days. 

It's because these articles are written in Cantonese, a language that originated in Guangdong, a province that borders Guangzhou, and that tens of millions of people use throughout Southern China.

Speakers of Mandarin, China's official language and the one the government prefers, may find it challenging to understand, particularly in its written and frequently sophisticated colloquial forms. 

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Mass Covid testing procedures in Guangdong prompted a number of angry Cantonese remarks that managed to get past censors in September of this year, according to the US-based independent media monitoring group China Digital Times.

“Perhaps because Weibo’s content censorship system has difficulty recognizing the spelling of Cantonese characters, many posts in spicy, bold and straightforward language ​​still survive. But if the same content is written in Mandarin, it is likely to be blocked or deleted,” said the organization, which is affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley.

Cantonese now seems to be providing a channel for more subdued protests for individuals tired of China's ongoing zero-Covid lockdowns.

(with inputs from agencies)