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butthurt [soylentnews.org] writes:

A Chinese entomologist discovered [doi.org] (open; DOI 10.11646/zootaxa.4126.2.9) a beetle on the island of Hainan [wikipedia.org] and named it Rhyzodiastes [wikipedia.org] (Temoana) xii. The name was intended to honour the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, for

[...] his controls on corruption (eating rot), which will allow Chinese corruption to gradually disappear.

The beetle feeds upon rotting wood. A writer on Global Voices notes that rot can be a metaphor for corruption in Chinese literature and says that

The word “bug” has a negative connotation in Chinese culture.

Information about the insect has been blocked on China's internet, with a search of Weibo producing the error

due to relevant laws and policies, results [...] cannot be shown.

According to the American Web site China Digital Times, an official directive was issued saying

All websites find and delete the article 'Entomologists Report: Scholars Use 'Daddy Xi' to Name a New Type of Beetle' and related information.

coverage:

• New York Times [nytimes.com]
• Straits Times [straitstimes.com]
• Hong Kong Free Press [hongkongfp.com] (Tor-friendly link [archive.is])
• China Digital Times [soylentnews.org] (English language)
• China Digital Times [chinadigitaltimes.net] (Chinese language)
• Global Voices [globalvoices.org]
• Wall Street Journal blog [wsj.com]
• Public Radio International [pri.org]

Original Submission