China’s Internet Censorship Anthem Is Revealed, Then Deleted

Nothing says innovation like a regimented choral performance.

At least that seems to have been the thought process at the Cyberspace Administration of China, the government agency in charge of Internet policies, and increasingly, censorship.

During the talent show portion of a Lunar New Year celebration held on Tuesday by the Beijing Internet Association and attended by many of the country’s leading media figures and Internet executives, the Cyberspace Administration debuted what can only be described as a semiofficial anthem.

A throwback to revolutionary songs glorifying the state, the piece uses rich, if mixed, metaphors to boast of China’s influence over the Internet and its innovative prowess. To a bombastic battuta that sounds a bit like a military march, employees at the Cyberspace Administration, who reportedly worked overtime to practice the song, belted out memorable lines like, “Unified with the strength of all living things, Devoted to turning the global village into the most beautiful scene” and “An Internet power: Tell the world that the Chinese Dream is uplifting China.”

Though other media organizations and companies gave their own performances, media reports of the event unanimously dubbed the Cyberspace Administration’s song the winner.

According to one Chinese media report, the agency tapped some serious talent to create the song. Lyrics were written by the author of the Beijing Olympics anthem, Wang Pingjiu, and the music was arranged by Zhao Jialin, who was part of the team behind the Chinese pop hit “Little Apple.”

For all the pride of the Cyberspace Administration, and the effort that went into what is undeniably a rousing ballad, many videos of the performance were quickly deleted after they were posted on the Internet. Can China now claim to have censored the online celebration of its own Internet censorship agency? The Beijing Internet Association did not respond to a request for comment.

Here is a translation of the lyrics, followed by the original Chinese:

Devotedly keeping watch over the space every day,
Taking up our mission as the sun rises in the east,
Innovating every day, embracing the clear and bright,
Like warm sunshine moving in our hearts.
Unified with the strength of all living things,
Devoted to turning the global village into the most beautiful scene.

An Internet power: Where the Internet is, so is the glorious dream.
An Internet power: From the distant cosmos to the missing home.
An Internet power: Tell the world that the Chinese Dream is uplifting China.
An Internet power: I represent my nation to the world.

In this world all rivers flow to the sea,
Assuming the measure of Chinese civilization.
Five thousand years of history condensed to illuminate innovation,
Integrity is the clear ripple of a nationality.
We are unified between heaven and earth,
Faith and devotion flow like the Yellow River and Yangtze.

An Internet power: Where the Internet is, so is the glorious dream.
An Internet power: Thinking of home from the distant cosmos.
An Internet power: Tell the world that the Chinese Dream is uplifting China.
An Internet power: I represent my nation to the world.

在这片天空日月忠诚的守望
为日出东方使命担当
创新每个日子拥抱着清朗
像一束廉洁阳光感动在心上
团结万物生长的力量
奉献地球村成为最美的风光

网络强国　网在哪光荣梦想在哪
网络强国　从遥远的宇宙到思念的家
网络强国　告诉世界中国梦在崛起大中华
网络强国　一个我在世界代表着国家

在这个世界百川忠诚寻归海洋
担当中华文明的丈量
五千年沉淀点亮创新思想
廉洁就是一个民族清澈荡漾
我们团结在天地中央
信仰奉献流淌万里黄河长江

网络强国　网在哪光荣梦想在哪
网络强国　从遥远的宇宙到思念的家
网络强国　告诉世界中国梦在崛起大中华
网络强国　一个我在世界代表着国家

The Beijing Internet Association did not respond to a request for comment about the song.