The Jordan Harbinger Show

Episode 1299: Laowhy86 | Decoding the Secret Slang of China's Censored Internet
Release Date: March 17, 2026
Guest: Matthew Tye (aka Laowhy86 / C-Milk), Host of The China Show on YouTube

Overview

This episode delves into the hidden language and evolving survival codes of the Chinese internet under intense government censorship. Host Jordan Harbinger and guest Matthew Tye discuss how Chinese netizens develop ingenious, often humorous, and sometimes chilling slang to skirt online censorship—an ever-tightening linguistic cat-and-mouse game with real-world risks. From mythical beast memes to blank-sheet protests and AI-powered censors, the episode examines the interplay between language, repression, and resistance in China’s unique digital landscape.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. China’s Internet: The Intranet Model

• Centralization through Apps:
  • In China, almost all life is run through “super apps” like WeChat, tightly controlled by the government. This app combines messaging, payment, booking, and more.
  • “It’s kind of like WhatsApp, but if WhatsApp did everything—including handling your bills and keeping track of your credit. And the government can see it all.” — Matthew (05:54)
• No Anonymity:
  • Posting online is never anonymous; real names and IDs are linked to posts.
  • Western apps and websites are mostly blocked—communication with mainland China requires use of government-approved platforms. (07:18)

2. The Stakes of Online Speech

• Legal Risks for Expression:
  • “Rumors” = up to 3 years in prison
  • “Picking quarrels” (creating debate) = 5 years
  • “Inciting subversion” (criticizing the government) = up to 15 years in prison
  • “People are literally risking their freedom and lives to post these things and get their worries out into the world.” — Matthew (12:17)
• Self-Censorship:
  • Many enforce silence upon themselves due to fear, sometimes reinforced by real-time internet disruptions during “unsafe” conversations. (13:14–13:55)

3. Origins and Evolution of Chinese Internet Slang

• Early Days: Mythical Creatures and Wordplay
  • Playful code words used to mock censorship (e.g., “grass mud horse” or 草泥马 (cǎo ní mǎ), which, with tone changes, sounds like “f*** your mother” in Chinese—05:35, 13:55–16:46).
  • “Fakuyo” as a play on the F-word, turned into “French Croatian squid”—used for subversion through humor.
  • “There was a playful time for censorship... It morphed into a very serious crime under the current leadership.” — Matthew (17:06)
• River Crab (和谐, héxié):
  • Because “harmonize” is the government’s euphemism for censorship, “river crab” (héxié) became slang for a post being deleted/censored.

4. The Escalating Cat-and-Mouse Game

• Censors Catch Up:
  • Once the censors catch onto code words, users must shift again (“River crabbed” gets banned, so another term is invented—26:04).
  • Dates get coded (e.g., Tiananmen’s massacre date, 1989-06-04, becomes “8964”), then numeric phrases are also banned (26:56).
• COVID Era Censorship:
  • Euphemisms for discussing lockdown and pandemic suffering, e.g., “I want a COVID test” means “I’m fed up with lockdown.”
  • “Glowing” was code for having a fever, since reporting a fever could result in being taken away (29:16).
  • Emojis and images were used once even innocent words became censored—city lock, padlock emoji, etc. (31:47).
• White Paper Protests:
  • Protesters held up blank white sheets (forbidden to write explicit messages), spawning the “white paper protest” as a symbol for suppressed speech (49:00).

5. Notable Euphemisms and Secret Codes

• Invitations from the Police:
  • “Invited to tea” or “inspect the water meter” = a police warning or visit for stepping out of line (32:03).
• Talking About Leadership & Politics:
  • Even obliquely naming Xi Jinping triggers high risk of detention (33:50–35:17).
  • Previously affectionate nicknames like “Xi Baozi” (“Steamed Bun Xi”) for Xi Jinping shifted to slander as disillusionment grew (35:17).
• Economic Complaints:
  • “Talking about egg prices” = complaining about economic hardship under the guise of discussing food inflation (41:22).
• Describing Protest or Dissent:
  • “Milk Tea Alliance”: international solidarity networks among countries with a milk tea culture (e.g., Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand)—milk tea as freedom/democracy symbol (45:39).
  • For democracy/freedom, use “eagle” (for US) or “milk tea” (for Taiwan, democracy-friendly states).
• Profanity:
  • Swearing is censored. Workarounds include numbers (250 = idiot), initials (SB = “sha bi”), and clever hybrids (46:36–47:15).

6. Government Countermeasures: AI and The “Clear and Bright” Campaign

• AI-Powered Censorship:
  • The state now uses large language models to predict and intercept emerging slang, ban phrases before they catch on (40:32).
  • “They’re using AI to hunt for future words that will be used in censorship... Human ingenuity can’t be matched, but they’re getting good.” — Matthew (41:03)
• Shift in Tactics:
  • Expressing economic woes (“egg prices”) now triggers arrests; formerly low-risk topics become off-limits (41:22).
  • Mainland government now aggressively targets dissent even abroad, using hacking, propaganda, and threats (69:22–71:27).

7. Oppression vs Apathy: The Social Contract Breaking

• The “Lay Flat” Movement:
  • Young people, disillusioned by economic conditions and political repression, drop out of the work race.
  • “The social contract was: you give up your rights, we give you a better quality of life. Now people are hungry and broke—without rights or money.” — Jordan (80:16)
• Factory Fires, Economic Decline:
  • Workers burn factories after going unpaid for months—the extent of apathy and unrest beneath the censored surface (79:13).
• Crime and Social Unrest:
  • Noted spike in violence, e.g., mass assaults with vehicles due to lack of access to firearms—“China’s equivalent of mass shootings” (83:45).

8. Global Propaganda, Influence, and the 50-Cent Army

• Trolls and Disinformation:
  • “50-cent army” (wu mao dang): paid and volunteer pro-CCP commenters online, originally for pennies per post, now amplified by bots and paid campaigns (65:05–66:54).
  • State effectively shifts even overseas discourse (e.g., Reddit subreddits, YouTube, X/Twitter botnets) through moderator purchase and pressure (69:22–73:53).
• Expat “Shills”:
  • Westerners courted, paid, or coerced to produce government-scripted propaganda, especially about “cyberpunk” cities like Chongqing, using identical wording (74:43).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Self-Censorship:
  • “It’s almost like they don’t even need to enforce this. People are enforcing it on themselves.” — Jordan (13:14)
• On Coded Slang:
  • “This isn’t just internet slang... it’s a living, constantly mutating survival code.” — Jordan (Intro, 02:04)
• On White Paper Protests:
  • “They’d hold up a blank A4 sheet in the street. It was completely blank... China started banning the sale of A4 paper in the area so people couldn’t protest.” — Matthew (50:58)
• On Slang for Authority Visits:
  • “The police invited me to drink tea” or “inspect my water meter” both mean: the authorities paid me a visit. — Matthew (32:03)
• On Government Countermeasures:
  • “Clear and Bright campaign: the government uses AI algorithms to hunt for future words that will be used in censorship.” — Matthew (41:03)
• On the Breaking Social Contract:
  • “The contract was: give up your rights, you get rich. Now they took the rights, didn't give money, and people are noticing.” — Matthew (80:16)
• Comparing China and North Korea:
  • “The objective freedoms are now approaching North Korea... it just looks flashier.” — Matthew (34:26)

Noteworthy Timestamps

• 05:54 – Explaining WeChat as China’s “everything app”; government ties
• 09:45 – Social credit system: control via apps
• 13:55 – Grass mud horse & other playful early censorship subversions
• 26:04 – Censors catching up, coding Tiananmen, and ever-shifting wordplay
• 29:16 – COVID slang: “glowing” for fever, sarcastic COVID test slogans
• 32:03 – “Invited to tea”/“Inspect the water meter” as police euphemisms
• 35:17 – Steamed buns, how innocent nicknames for leaders become taboo
• 41:03 – “Clear and Bright” AI campaign prediction and crackdown
• 45:39 – “Milk Tea Alliance” as code for democratic freedom
• 49:00 – The White Paper Protest explained
• 55:56 – VPN usage: risk, illegality, and euphemisms (“fan qiang,” or “hopping the wall”)
• 62:08 – The contradiction: government encourages screen time, but massive online subculture adapts to censorship
• 65:05 – The “50-cent army” origins and evolution
• 69:22 – Chinese propaganda/disinformation campaigns on Western platforms
• 79:13 – Factory fires and China's faltering economic bargain
• 83:45 – Car attacks replacing gun violence; social contract unraveling
• 84:17 – “Bollard Report”: absurd responses to spike in public attacks
• 86:37 – Episode closes with observations on the creativity of suppressed language

Memorable, Darkly Humorous Exchanges

• On buying COVID quarantine trailers:
  • “I collect some weird stuff... but my pride and joy is this used trailer that was a prison hospital cell. God knows how many people croaked in here. Anyway, wanna see it?” — Jordan (30:19)
• On factory fires and unpaid wages:
  • “If you have the minister of Youth unemployment figures is laid off and then it becomes illegal to report on youth unemployment rate in China, then you know something’s wrong.” — Matthew (79:13)

Conclusion & Big Ideas

• Language Under Pressure:
  When censorship intensifies, language doesn’t vanish—it becomes sideways, playful, desperate, and sometimes tragically mute.
• Linguistic Adaptation as Resistance:
  The evolution of Internet slang in China is creative resistance, a survival tool as well as a protest in itself.
• Risks Are Real:
  Every new phrase emerges at personal risk. The game is never just semantics—it’s people’s lives, families, and futures at stake.
• Global Relevance:
  Even if you never set foot on the Chinese web, the patterns—repression begets creativity, power meets memes as protest—show how language adapts everywhere.

Quote for Reflection:

“When people feel pressure, language adapts. When power tightens its grip, creativity finds cracks. And when you can’t say the thing directly, you just say it sideways.” — Jordan Harbinger (88:23)

Further Exploration:

• Matthew Tye: The China Show
• Previous relevant episodes:
  • Social Credit System (Ep. 643)
  • Pig Butchering Scams (Ep. 737: Winston Sturzel, excerpt at 86:41)

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