Yesterday I wrote about the government-deleted online survey in which too many respondents said they’d rather their nationality not be Chinese. That was too much for the sensitive souls in the censorship office, so, as well all know, the whole thing got zapped and two editors lost their jobs.

Now CDT offers a translation of how the story was described over at wenxuecity.com. It’s quite revealing:

The survey, started on Sept. 4 and ended on Sept. 10, registered 10,234 votes with 64% saying ‘don’t want to be a Chinese in the next life.’ Unfortunately but not surprisingly, the poll was whitewashed well before its original plan to run through October 11. (Note: the poll page is now pure white, unlike most deleted pages where visitors can see an automated error message.)

Someone says in a posting, ‘I want to answer below, like Albert Einstein: If I have a choice, I hope to be a Chinese in a China where there are civil liberties, rights protection, promoted citizenry welfare, freedom from poverty and fear. If possible, I would like to pay my due to help bring about the reality of such a China…’

Commenting on the survey, columnist Wang Yifeng says it ammounts to a satirical swipe at the Chinese Communist Party, which has always touted itself as ‘great and glorious.’ Under the evil-spirit rule of a foreign Marx-Leninism, people in this ancient, historically glorious nation have to depend on human trafficking for freedom, Wang observes. But for the vast majority who cannot get out of the country via the illegal means, they can only pin their hopes on the next life, which is a tragedy for the Chinese people.

Imagine, the CCP being incapable of tolerating a “satirical sweep.” Every year the president of the US gets up in front of the National Press Club to get roasted, and makes fun of himself. Can you imagine Hu and his colleagues ever actually laughing at themselves? (Although, to be fair, it’s hard to imagine any Asian leader getting up in public and laughing at himself.) There were lots of little lessons in this story, not only from the poll results (which, as with all Internet surveys, is questionable) but from the reactions to it from all sides. One of the best single posts I’ve read on the event and why it’s so interesting is over here.