The deadly chemical blast in the Chinese port of Tianjin was a preventable catastrophe in which more than 100 people lost their lives thanks in part to what looks like the political connections of the warehouse’s owners and although an upfront, transparent investigation and honest assessment of the environmental impact is likely the only way to safeguard the public and ensure it doesn’t happen again, no one believes the Chinese government has the will to conduct such an investigation. 

But whatever you do, do not say any of the above if you live in China.

Similarly, China’s stock market collapse was an entirely preventable financial catastrophe caused by the unchecked accumulation of margin debt and the encouragement of speculation, and the bursting of the equity bubble which began in June has been nothing short of a debacle that’s led to international condemnation and accusations that, even in a centrally planned world, Beijing’s particular brand of intervention is so egregious as to stray outside the bounds of manipulated market decorum. 

But if you live in China, don’t say that either. 

Over the last two months there were signs that Beijing would soon resort to outright, sweeping censorship as it relates to both the stock market and the Tianjin blast. For instance, in July, phrases like “rescue the market” were reportedly banned and in the wake of the Tianjin disaster, hundreds of social media accounts were shut down for spreading “blast rumors.”

Now, ahead of a military parade that Xi Jinping will allegedly use to show the world that the Chinese lion “has woken up” (albeit with the amusing caveat that the lion is “peaceful, pleasant and civilized”), the Politburo apparently has seen just about enough criticism for its handling of the stock market collapse and the Tianjin blasts and as WSJ reports, more than 200 people have now been “punished” for their alleged role in “mislead[ing] society and the public, generat[ing] and spread[ing] fearful sentiment, and even us[ing] the opportunity to maliciously concoct rumors to attack [the] Party and national leaders.” Here’s more: