China Loves That Paranoia

China has blocked internet references to retired leader Jiang Zemin after rumours circulated that he had died.

Jiang also means river and internet searches for that word have returned a warning the search is illegal.

Rumours that 84-year-old Jiang Zemin was dead or dying resurfaced after he failed to appear at a key Communist Party event on Friday.

The censorship has prompted people to create cryptic postings about the man who led China for a dozen years.

Web censors have deleted domestic blog posts about Mr Jiang, blocked foreign media reports about his state of health and removed references to him from the country's Weibo microblogging service.

Jiang Zemin Dead and Loving It

This just in Jiang Zemin is still dead