China Censors Part of Obama's Speech

As is typical, when President Obama referred to communism in his inaugural address, Chinese censors went to work.

In his inauguration address, President Obama said: "Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions."

That entire passage was retained for an English-language version of the speech that appeared on the website of state-run Xinhua news agency.

But in the Chinese-language version, the word "communism" was taken out.

President Obama's comments addressed to world leaders who "blame their society's ills on the West" also fell foul of the censor's red pen.

"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history," the president said.

Once again, Xinhua included the passage in full in its English version, but the sentence was taken out of the Chinese translation.

Interestingly, Chinese officials have expressed some worry that President Obama won't be as friendly to China as President Bush. This is curious since I would contend that ideological underpinnings of the Chinese government and Obama are similar -- serfdom creates utopia.