In this issue: Censors bar news of activist Cao Shunli's death, WeChat news accounts shuttered, and Alibaba and Weibo tackle problems ahead of U.S. IPO.

In this issue:  State media works to improve image of National People’s Congress, Xi Jinping to lead new security committee, public reaction to Kunming knife rampage, and more.

In this issue: Party criminal investigations hailed by official outlets, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Chinese bloggers, and Microsoft’s Bing accused of internationalizing Chinese censorship.

In this issue:  Liberal media group sells Beijing paper, censors suppress information on Xu Zhiyong trial, Ilham Tohti held incommunicado, and more news.

In celebration of the Lunar New Year, the editors of the China Media Bulletin have compiled a few of our favorite CMB “Photos of the Week” from the Year of the Snake.

Freedom House’s biweekly update of press freedom and censorship news related to the People’s Republic of China

HIGHLIGHTS

* Many U.S. reporters face expulsion at year’s end

* State media tout ‘benefits’ of smog

* Activist Xu Zhiyong indicted for ‘disturbing order’ online

* Anticensorship tools removed by Apple, infiltrated by censors

* Singers, poet jailed for works addressing repression, Tibetan identity

Freedom House’s biweekly update of press freedom and censorship news related to the People’s Republic of China



HIGHLIGHTS

* Fired CCTV producer denounces station’s practices

* Despite reported self-censorship, Bloomberg stays in Beijing’s doghouse

* Censors limit coverage of Qingdao pipeline blast

* Netizens wary of plans for new national security committee

* Zimbabwe’s ruling party sends team to China for media cooperation

Freedom House’s biweekly update of press freedom and censorship news related to the People’s Republic of China



HIGHLIGHTS

* News outlets hype vague reform plans during closed party plenum 

* Chinese journalist wins Transparency International prize

* Tencent seeks U.S. app stake as Chinese competition heats up

* Bloomberg halts articles on Chinese leadership, self-censorship alleged

* Reuters journalist denied visa to reenter China

Freedom House’s biweekly update of press freedom and censorship news related to the People’s Republic of China

HIGHLIGHTS

* Paper forced to retreat after bold defense of detained journalist

* Peking University fires dissident scholar Xia Yeliang

* Social media mum on Yuyao flooding, blogger crackdown cited

* Overlooking censorship, foreign media leaders flock to Chinese summit

* Beijing blocks criticism at UN rights review

Freedom House’s biweekly update of press freedom and censorship news related to the People’s Republic of China



HIGHLIGHTS

* Party’s TV ‘self-criticism’ and militant rhetoric raise specter of Maoism

* Chinese state media, netizens take mild view of U.S. government shutdown

* Teenage netizen released after outcry amid social-media crackdown

* Apple removes circumvention tool as state reins in mobile news apps

* Prominent Japan-based Chinese scholar detained, editor missing