According to a report by the Central News Agency (CNA) in Taiwan, the photos that the U.S. Embassy in Beijing posted showing Chen Guangcheng leaving the U.S. Embassy were removed shortly after they were posted on the Embassy’s official sina weibo (sina microblog), a popular Chinese blog website similar to twitter and facebook.
The U.S. Embassy released two photos on its official sina weibo at 11:30 pm Beijing time on May 2. One showed Chen leaving the Embassy with Ambassador Locke and State Department Assistant Secretary Kurt Campbell. The other showed Chen in a wheelchair entering a Beijing Hospital with Ambassador Locke and State Department Legal Advisor Harold Koh. Within six minutes of the posting, sina weibo removed the two photos. The reason given on sina weibo was, “This photo is not appropriate for public display.”
The CNA report said that, on the U.S. State Department website, there are several photos that show Chen and his family at a Beijing hospital, “but one cannot view these photos from inside China.”
Source: Central News Agency, May 3, 2012
http://www.cna.com.tw/News/FirstNews/201205030059.aspx