View source for Chinese Wikipedia

{{Short description|Standard Chinese-language edition of Wikipedia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Self-reference cleanup}}
{{Circular|date=June 2025}}
}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Chinese Wikipedia
| logo = [[File:Wikipedia-logo-v2-zh.svg|155px]] [[File:Wikipedia-logo-v2-zh-hans-expected (standard ver).svg|155px]]
| logocaption = Website logo in [[Traditional Chinese]] and [[Simplified Chinese]]
| screenshot = [[File:Chinese Wikipedia's Main Page screenshot.png|border|312px|alt=Main Page of the Chinese Wikipedia]]
| collapsible = y
| native_name = {{lang|zh-Hant|維基百科}} / {{lang|zh-Hans|维基百科}}
| caption = Main page of the Chinese Wikipedia
| url = {{URL|https://zh.wikipedia.org}}
| commercial = No
| type = [[Online encyclopedia]]
| language = [[Written vernacular Chinese]], both [[Traditional Chinese characters|traditional]] and [[Simplified Chinese characters|simplified]] writing systems are available. Articles can be written in both of these systems, and displayed results are always in one of these, as it has a built-in character converter.
| registration = Optional
| owner = [[Wikimedia Foundation]]
| author = 
| current_status = Active but banned in [[mainland China]]
| launch_date = {{start date and age|df=yes|2001|5|11}}
| content_license = {{nobr|[[Creative Commons licenses|Creative Commons Attribution/<br/>Share-Alike]] 4.0}} (most text also dual-licensed under [[GFDL]])<br/>Media licensing varies
| module = {{Infobox Chinese
| child = yes
| showflag = stp
| s = 中文维基百科
| t = 中文維基百科
| l = Chinese-language Wiki-encyclopedia
| p = Zhōngwén Wéijī Bǎikē
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|zh|ong|1|wen|2|-|wei|2|j|i|1|-|b|ai|3|k|e|1}}
| tp = Jhong-wún Wéi-ji Bǎi-ke
| w = {{tone superscript|Chung1-wen2 Wei2-chi1 Pai3-k'o1}}
| gr = Jongwen Weiji Baeke
| j = Zung1man4 Wai4gei1 Baak3fo1
| y = Jūngmàhn Wàihgēi Baakfō
| gd = Zung¹men⁴ Wei⁴géi¹ Bag³fo¹
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|z|ong|1|.|m|an|4|-|w|ai|4|.|g|ei|1|-|b|aak|3|.|f|o|1}}
| h = Chûng-vùn Vì-kî Pak-khô
| bpmf = ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨㄣˊ ㄨㄟˊ ㄐㄧ ㄅㄞˇ ㄎㄜ
}}
}}


The '''Chinese Wikipedia''' ({{zh |first = t |t = 中文維基百科 |s = 中文维基百科 |p = Zhōngwén Wéijī Bǎikē}}) is the [[written vernacular Chinese]] edition of [[Wikipedia]]. It was created on 11 May 2001.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Richey|first=Jason|title=[Wikipedia-l] new language wikis|url=https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2001-May/000116.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106094154/https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2001-May/000116.html|archive-date=6 January 2016|website=List.Wikimedia|date=11 May 2001 }}</ref> It is one of multiple projects supported by the [[Wikimedia Foundation]].  

The Chinese Wikipedia currently has {{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|zh|N}} articles, {{NUMBEROF|USERS|zh|N}} registered users, and {{NUMBEROF|activeusers|zh|N}} active editors, of whom {{NUMBEROF|ADMINS|zh|N}} have administrative privileges.

The Chinese Wikipedia has been blocked in [[mainland China]] since May 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/9/4/9260981/jimmy-wales-wikipedia-china|title=Wikipedia founder defends decision to encrypt the site in China|access-date=17 April 2018|date=4 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141751/https://www.theverge.com/2015/9/4/9260981/jimmy-wales-wikipedia-china|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Nonetheless, the Chinese Wikipedia is still one of the top ten most active versions of Wikipedia by number of edits and number of editors, due to contributions from users from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, and the [[Chinese diaspora]]. Readers from [[Taiwan]] and [[Hong Kong]] contribute most of the page views of the Chinese Wikipedia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wikistats - Statistics For Wikimedia Projects |url=https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/zh.wikipedia.org/reading/page-views-by-country/normal%7Ctable%7Clast-month%7C(access)~desktop*mobile-app*mobile-web%7Cmonthly |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=Wikimedia Statistics}}</ref>

Despite being [[Censorship_of_Wikipedia#China|censored in mainland China]], and as [[VPN]]s are normally not allowed to edit Wikipedia, Wikipedia administrators from China have permitted [[m:IP block exempt|IP block exemption]] for a select number of mainland users. Such users are recruited to change the editorial content on Wikipedia in support of China's viewpoint and/or to support the election of pro-Chinese government administrators on Wikipedia, with the aim of gaining control of Wikipedia as part of the Chinese Communist Party's coordinated efforts to push their preferred narrative on platforms that have respected worldwide credibility.<ref name="Harrison">{{Cite web |last=Harrison |first=Stephen |date=2021-10-26 |title=Why Wikipedia Banned Several Chinese Admins |url=https://slate.com/technology/2021/10/wikipedia-mainland-china-admins-banned.html |access-date=2022-08-11 |website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]}}</ref><ref name="BBCNewsBans"/> There has also been an exodus of volunteer editors leaving [[Baidu Baike]], a domestic competitor beset by problems of self-censorship and commercialization, to join Chinese Wikipedia because the "contributors wanted the privilege of working on a higher-quality internet encyclopedia" that also "carries a great deal of international power".<ref name="Harrison"/><ref name="BBCNewsCT">{{Cite news |date=2019-10-04 |title=China and Taiwan clash over Wikipedia edits |last=Miller |first=Carl |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49921173 |access-date=2022-08-11}}</ref> Observers have suggested that such moves are not just due to patriotic mainlanders but a "larger structural coordinated strategy the government has to manipulate these platforms" beside Wikipedia, such as [[Twitter]] and [[Facebook]].<ref name="BBCNewsCT"/> 

The resulting pro-Beijing Wikipedia community, the Wikimedians of Mainland China (WMC), has clashed with Wikipedia editors from [[Taiwan]] and [[Hong Kong]], not only over content disputes on Wikipedia articles, but also made death threats against their Wikimedian communities. In particular, the WMC has threatened to report Wikipedia editors to [[Hong Kong Police Force|Hong Kong's national security police]] hotline over the disputed article "[[2019–2020 Hong Kong protests]]" characterized by edit warring.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cheng |first=Selina |date=2021-07-11 |title=Wikipedia wars: How Hongkongers and mainland Chinese are battling to set the narrative |url=https://hongkongfp.com/2021/07/11/wikipedia-wars-how-hongkongers-and-mainland-chinese-are-battling-to-set-the-narrative/ |access-date=2022-08-11 |website=Hong Kong Free Press HKFP |language=en-GB}}</ref> The Foundation's investigation also found that "infiltrators had tried to promote "the aims of China, as interpreted through whatever filters they may bring to bear" and that the WMC had been involved in vote-stacking and manipulation of administrative elections.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mehta|first=Ivan|date=2021-09-16 |title=Why Wikimedia banned seven Chinese based editors for 'infiltration'|website=TNW {{!}} World |url=https://thenextweb.com/news/wikipedia-banned-china-infiltration-analysis|access-date=2021-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916134038/https://thenextweb.com/news/wikipedia-banned-china-infiltration-analysis|archive-date=16 September 2021|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="TimesUK">{{Cite news|last=Tobin |first=Sam|title=Wikipedia infiltrators banned for pushing China propaganda|newspaper=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/wikipedia-infiltrators-banned-for-pushing-china-propaganda-w2brbw7tt |access-date=2021-09-17}}</ref>

Due to such threats to volunteer safety, as well as the manipulation of administrative elections by Mainland editors, Wikimedia revoked access of seven editors and downgraded the privileges of 12 Mainland-based administrators on 16 September 2021 over "infiltration concerns."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mehta|first=Ivan|date=2021-09-16 |title=Why Wikimedia banned seven Chinese based editors for 'infiltration'|website=TNW {{!}} World |url=https://thenextweb.com/news/wikipedia-banned-china-infiltration-analysis|access-date=2021-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916134038/https://thenextweb.com/news/wikipedia-banned-china-infiltration-analysis|archive-date=16 September 2021|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="TimesUK"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Dent |first1=S. |title=Wikipedia banned seven users after reported 'infiltration' by a Chinese group |website=www.engadget.com |date=17 September 2021 |url=https://www.engadget.com/wikipedia-banned-seven-users-after-reported-infiltration-by-a-chinese-group-104143971.html |access-date=19 September 2021}}</ref><ref name="Pasternack 2021">{{cite web |last=Pasternack |first=Alex |title=The war over Chinese Wikipedia is a warning for the open internet |website=Fast Company |date=18 December 2021 |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90692176/chinese-wikipedia |access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref> The affair caused significant controversy on Chinese Wikipedia, and also drew critical commentary from Chinese media, where Wikipedia is rarely discussed.<ref name="Pasternack 2021"/>

== History ==
[[File:ZH Wikipedia Recent Changes.JPG|thumb|right|Browsing the Chinese Wikipedia on an [[iPad]]]]
The Chinese Wikipedia was established along with 12 other Wikipedias in May 2001. At the beginning, however, the Chinese Wikipedia did not support [[Chinese character]]s, and had no encyclopedic content.

In October 2002, the first Chinese-language page was written, the [[:zh:|Main Page]]. A [[software update]] on 27 October 2002 allowed Chinese language input. The domain was set to be [[:zh:|zh.wikipedia.org]], with ''zh'' based on the [[ISO 639-1|ISO code]] for the Chinese language. On 17 November 2002, the user Mountain translated the [[Computer science]] article into [[:zh:计算机科学]], thus creating its first real encyclopedic article.

In order to accommodate the orthographic differences between [[simplified Chinese characters]] and [[traditional Chinese characters]] (or Orthodox Chinese), from 2002 to 2003, the Chinese Wikipedia community gradually decided to combine the two originally separate versions of the Chinese Wikipedia. The first running automatic conversion between the two orthographic representations started on 23 December 2004, with the MediaWiki 1.4 release. The needs from Hong Kong and Singapore were taken into account in the MediaWiki 1.4.2 release, which made the conversion table for zh-sg default to zh-cn, and zh-hk default to zh-tw.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://sourceforge.net/project/shownotes.php?release_id=322146 |title = Files |publisher = SourceForge.net |date = 20 April 2005 |access-date = 29 May 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121105201847/http://sourceforge.net/project/shownotes.php?release_id=322146 |archive-date = 5 November 2012 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

In its early days, most articles on the Chinese Wikipedia were translated from the English version. The first five sysops, or [[administrators (wikipedia)|administrators]], were promoted on 14 June 2003.

Wikipedia was first introduced by the mainland Chinese media in the newspaper ''[[China Computer Education]]'' on 20 October 2003, in the article, "I join to write an encyclopedia" ({{Lang|zh-hans|我也来写百科全书}}).<ref>"[http://media.ccidnet.com/media/cce/540/04602.htm 我也来写百科全书]." ([https://web.archive.org/web/20130131095348/http://media.ccidnet.com/media/cce/540/04602.htm Archive])</ref> On 16 May 2004, Wikipedia was first reported by Taiwanese media in the newspaper ''[[China Times]]''. Since then, many newspapers have published articles about the Chinese Wikipedia, and several sysops have been interviewed by journalists.

Ivan Zhai of the ''[[South China Morning Post]]'' wrote that the blocks from the mainland authorities in the 2000s stifled the growth of the Chinese Wikipedia, and that by 2013 there was a new generation of users originating from the Mainland who were taking efforts to make the Chinese Wikipedia grow. In 2024, there were 3.6 million registered users on the Chinese Wikipedia, and in July 2013 7,500 of these users were active, with most of them originating from Hong Kong and Taiwan.<ref name=ZhaiWikiReboot>Zhai, Ivan. "[http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1293878/wiki-reboot-chinese-wikipedia-makes-comeback-after-early Wiki reboot: Chinese Wikipedia makes comeback after early censorship] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924152217/http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1293878/wiki-reboot-chinese-wikipedia-makes-comeback-after-early |date=24 September 2015 }}." ''[[South China Morning Post]]''. Monday 5 August 2013. Retrieved on 9 March 2014.</ref>

== Naming ==
[[File:WikipediaMainpageZhtwFirefox99x64Ubuntu2004date20220504.webm|thumb|Opening the Chinese Wikipedia main page with Mozilla Firefox on Ubuntu 20.04]]
The [[Chinese language|Chinese]] name of Wikipedia was decided on 21 October 2003, following a vote.<ref>[[:zh:维基百科:Wikipedia的中文名]]</ref> The name ({{zh|t=維基百科|p=Wéijī Bǎikē|c=}}) means "Wiki Encyclopedia". The [[Chinese character|Chinese transcription]] of "Wiki" is composed of two characters: {{Lang|zh-hant|維}}, whose ancient sense refers to 'ropes or webs connecting objects', and alludes to the 'Internet'; and {{Lang|zh-hant|基}}, meaning the 'foundations of a building', or 'fundamental aspects of things in general'. The name can be interpreted as 'the encyclopedia that connects the fundamental knowledge of humanity'.

The most common Chinese translation for [[wiki]] technology is {{Lang|zh-hant|維基}}; however, it can be {{Lang|zh-hant|維客}} (literally "dimension visitor" or similar) or {{Lang|zh-hant|圍紀}} (literally "circle/enclose period/record" or similar), which are also transcriptions of the word "wiki". As a result, the term {{Lang|zh-hant|維基}} has become associated exclusively with Wikimedia projects.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddictbasic&wdqb=%E7%BB%B4%E5%9F%BA%E7%99%BE%E7%A7%91&wdrst=0&go=Search |title=MDBG.net |publisher=MDBG.net |access-date=29 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205052408/http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddictbasic&wdqb=%E7%BB%B4%E5%9F%BA%E7%99%BE%E7%A7%91&wdrst=0&go=Search |archive-date=5 February 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Chinese Wikipedia also has a sub header: {{Lang|zh-hant|海納百川，有容乃大}}, which means, "The sea encompasses hundreds of rivers/all rivers will eventually flow into the sea; it has capacity i.e. is willing to accept all and is thus great." The sub header originated from the first half of a couplet composed by the [[Qing Dynasty]] official [[Lin Zexu]].

== Community ==
[[File:Wikipedia zh - Page views by country over time.png|thumb|right|upright=1.35|Origin of viewers by country over time on the Chinese Wikipedia]]
[[File:中文维基百科浏览量统计.PNG|thumb|upright=1.35|Page view statistics as of July 2012]]

According to Wikimedia Statistics, in January 2021, the majority of viewers and editors on the Chinese Wikipedia were from Taiwan and Hong Kong.<ref>[https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/zh.wikipedia.org/contributing/active-editors-by-country/normal|table|last-month|(activity-level)~5..99-edits|monthly Chinese Wikipedia, Active editors by country] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711051858/https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/zh.wikipedia.org/contributing/active-editors-by-country/normal{{!}}table{{!}}last-month{{!}}(activity-level)~5..99-edits{{!}}monthly |date=11 July 2020 }}, Wikimedia Statistics</ref><ref>[https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/zh.wikipedia.org/reading/page-views-by-country/normal|table|last-month|(access)~desktop*mobile-app*mobile-web|monthly Chinese Wikipedia, Page views by country] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711051858/https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/zh.wikipedia.org/reading/page-views-by-country/normal{{!}}table{{!}}last-month{{!}}(access)~desktop*mobile-app*mobile-web{{!}}monthly |date=11 July 2020 }}, Wikimedia Statistics</ref> Numerous viewers and users are from Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, United States and other countries with a high Chinese diaspora; but there are some viewers from China as well.

In April 2016, the project had 2,127 active editors who made at least five edits in that month.

The most discussed and debated topics on the Chinese Wikipedia are political issues in Chinese modern history. For example, the six most edited articles as of August 2007 were [[Taiwan]], [[Chinese culture]], [[China]], [[Mao Zedong]], [[Chiang Kai-shek]], and [[Hong Kong]], in that order. In contrast, issues such as the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]] are much less contentious.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

Due to the audience base, Wikipedians from China, Taiwan, and other regions had engaged in editing conflicts over political topics related to [[Cross-Straits relations]].<ref>Tsoi, Grace. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/28/technology/wikipedia-china-becomes-front-line-for-views-on-language-and-culture.html?_r=0 Wikipedia China Becomes Front Line for Views on Language and Culture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128124154/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/28/technology/wikipedia-china-becomes-front-line-for-views-on-language-and-culture.html?_r=0 |date=28 November 2018 }}." ''[[The New York Times]]''. 27 October 2013. Retrieved on 29 October 2013.</ref> Due to the censorship in mainland China, Chinese Wikipedia's audience comes primarily from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and the diasporas in Malaysia, the United States, Canada, Australia, South Korea (including Koreans from China), totaling approximately 60 million people. Chinese Wikipedia has more than 9,100 active editors as of July 2021, and this number is increasing.<ref>[https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Wikipedias/Table&oldid=21802916 List of Wikipedias as of 29 July 2021]. meta.wikimedia.org, retrieved in 29 July 2021.</ref>

Approximately half of Chinese Wikipedia's 610 million pageviews monthly come from Taiwan, with approximately 20% coming from Hong Kong,  8% from United States, 4% from Malaysia and the rest from Singapore, Macau, mainland China and the Chinese diaspora. In 2021, the monthly pageviews of Chinese Wikipedia underwent a spike in growth from around 380 million to 620 million pageviews in six months.

=== Administrators ===
As of June 2019, there are 78 administrators, or sysops. They are all elected by Chinese Wikipedians. Most of them come from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. There are also a few who come from the United States, Singapore, and Japan.

=== Meetings ===
[[File:2013大连寒假聚会合影.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|2013 Winter-Break-Meetup, [[Dalian]], [[Liaoning]], China]]

The first Chinese Wikipedian meeting was held in [[Beijing]] on 25 July 2004. Since then, Chinese Wikipedians from different regions have held many gatherings in [[Beijing]], [[Shanghai]], [[Dalian]], [[Shenyang]], [[Guangdong]], [[Hong Kong]], and [[Taiwan]]. Currently, a regular meetup is held once every two weeks in Shanghai, [[Taipei]] and Hong Kong, and once every month in [[Tainan City]], Taiwan. In July 2006, Taiwanese Wikipedians also held a "travelling meetup", travelling by train through four Taiwanese cities over a period of two days. In August 2006, Hong Kong hosted the first annual [[m:CWMC 2006|Chinese Wikimedia Conference]].

Chinese Wikipedians advertise Wikipedia in different ways. Many of them use [[Microblogging in China|Weibo]], a Chinese socializing website similar to [[Twitter]]. Several Chinese Wikipedians created the Wikipedia monthly magazine, or journal, called "'''The Wikipedians'''" in December 2012, which is currently{{As of?|date=July 2021}} published once a month.

=== State persecution of volunteers ===
Chinese Wikipedia volunteers who edit on topics considered controversial by the state authorities, such as about [[2019–2020 Hong Kong protests|Hong Kong protests]], can face harassment and persecution.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cheng |first=Selina|date=2021-07-11|title=Wikipedia wars: How Hongkongers and mainland Chinese are battling to set the narrative|url=https://hongkongfp.com/2021/07/11/wikipedia-wars-how-hongkongers-and-mainland-chinese-are-battling-to-set-the-narrative/|access-date=2021-07-26|website=Hong Kong Free Press HKFP}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Cheng|first=Selina|date=2021-07-14|title=Hong Kong Wikipedia editors take precautions amid fears mainland peers may report users to national security police |url=https://hongkongfp.com/2021/07/14/hong-kong-wikipedia-editors-take-precautions-amid-fears-mainland-peers-may-report-users-to-national-security-police/|access-date=2021-07-26|website=Hong Kong Free Press HKFP}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|title=On Chinese Wikipedia, a bitter battle rages to define the Hong Kong protests|magazine=Wired UK|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/hong-kong-protests-wikipedia|access-date=2021-07-26|issn=1357-0978|url-status=live|archive-date=26 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726045253/https://www.wired.co.uk/article/hong-kong-protests-wikipedia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|author1=Manas Sharma |author2=Simon Scarr|date=2019-11-28|title=How Hong Kong's keyboard warriors have besieged Wikipedia|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-wikipedia-idUSKBN1Y212K|access-date=2021-07-26|archive-date=1 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191201152602/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-wikipedia-idUSKBN1Y212K|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Automatic conversion between traditional and simplified Chinese characters ==
{{anchor|Automatic conversion between traditional and simplified Chinese}}

=== Original situation ===
Originally, there were virtually two Chinese Wikipedias under the names of "zh" (or "zh-cn") and "zh-tw". Generally, users from regions that used [[Traditional Chinese characters]] (such as [[Taiwan]], [[Hong Kong]], and [[Macau]]) wrote and edited articles using Traditional Chinese characters whereas those from regions that used [[Simplified Chinese characters]] (such as [[mainland China]], [[Singapore]], and [[Malaysia]]) wrote using Simplified Chinese characters. Many articles had two uncoordinated versions; for example, there was both a Traditional ({{Plain link|url=https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E6%B3%95%E5%9B%BD|name=法國}}) and Simplified ({{Plain link|url=https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B3%95%E5%9B%BD|name=法国}}) article on [[France]]. Further exacerbating the problem were differences in vocabulary (particularly nouns) and writing systems, between mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. For example, a [[pineapple]] is called {{lang|zh-Hans|[[:zh:菠萝|菠萝]]}} in mainland China and {{lang|zh-Hant|[[:zh:菠蘿|菠蘿]]}} in Hong Kong and Macau, but {{lang|zh-SG|[[:zh:黄梨|黄梨]]}} in Singapore and Malaysia and {{lang|zh-TW|[[:zh:鳳梨|鳳梨]]}} in Taiwan.

=== Solution ===
To avoid this near-[[fork (software development)|forking]] of the project, starting around January 2005, the Chinese Wikipedia began providing a [[Server (computing)|server]]-side mechanism to automatically convert different characters and vocabulary items into the user's local ones, according to the user's preference settings, which may be set to one of two settings that convert the script only, or one of six settings that also take into account regional vocabulary differences:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Variant's name !! Chinese name !! ISO
|-
| [[Simplified Chinese characters|Simplified]] || {{lang|zh-Hans|简体}} || zh-Hans
|-
| [[Traditional Chinese characters|Traditional]] || {{lang|zh-Hant|繁體}} || zh-Hant
|-
| Simplified and using [[China|Mainland Chinese]] terms || {{lang|zh-cn|大陆简体}} || zh-CN
|-
| Traditional and using [[Taiwan]]ese terms || {{lang|zh-tw|臺灣正體}} || zh-TW
|-
| Simplified and using [[Singapore]]an (and until mid 2018, [[Malaysia]]n) terms || {{lang|zh-sg|新加坡简体}} ({{lang|zh-sg|马新简体}} until mid 2018) || zh-SG
|-
| Simplified and using [[Malaysia]]n terms (added in mid 2018) || {{lang|zh-my|大马简体}} || zh-MY
|-
| Traditional and using [[Hong Kong]] (and until mid 2013, [[Macau]]) terms   || {{lang|zh-hk|香港繁體}} ({{lang|zh-hk|港澳繁體}} until mid 2013)|| zh-HK
|-
| Traditional and using [[Macau]] terms (added in mid 2013) || {{lang|zh-mo|澳門繁體}} || zh-MO
|-
| colspan="3"| NB: the user can also choose to read each article in whichever script it is stored in, without conversion
|-
! colspan="3"| For more information, see:<br />[[meta:automatic conversion between simplified and traditional Chinese]].
|}

Conversion is done through a set of character conversion tables{{where|date=May 2020}} that may be edited by administrators. To provide an alternative means to harmonize the characters when the server-side converters fail to work properly, a special template was created to manually convert characters and article titles in one specific page.

Furthermore, page title conversion is used for automatic page redirection. Those articles previously named in different characters or different translations have been merged, and can be reached by means of both Traditional and Simplified Chinese titles.

== Differences with other versions of Wikipedia ==
According to a survey conducted between April 2010 and March 2011, edits to the Chinese Wikipedia were 37.8% from [[Taiwan]], 26.2% from [[Hong Kong]], 17.7% from mainland China, 6.1% from United States, and 2.3% from Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportPageEditsPerLanguageBreakdown.htm|title=Page Edits Per Wikipedia Language|publisher=statswikimedia|access-date=9 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110803213708/http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportPageEditsPerLanguageBreakdown.htm|archive-date=3 August 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

Many editing controversies arise from current and historical political events in Chinese-speaking regions, such as the [[political status of Taiwan]], [[Hong Kong independence|independence movement]] and [[Hong Kong Autonomy Movement|autonomy movement of Hong Kong]], [[Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement]], [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]], issues of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] and [[Kuomintang]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}

== Wikipedia in other varieties of Chinese ==
[[File:Most popular edition of Wikipedia by country.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|right|The countries and territories in which the Chinese Wikipedia is the most popular language version of Wikipedia are shown in light green.]]

The Chinese Wikipedia is based on [[written vernacular Chinese]], the official Chinese written language in all Chinese-speaking regions, including mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Singapore. This [[Register (sociolinguistics)|register]] is largely associated with the grammar and vocabulary of [[Standard Chinese]], the official spoken language of mainland China, Taiwan, and Singapore (but not exclusively of Hong Kong and Macau, which largely use [[Cantonese]]).

The [[varieties of Chinese]] are a diverse group encompassing many regional topolects, most of which are [[mutually unintelligible]] and often divided up into several larger dialect groups, such as [[Wu Chinese|Wu]] (including [[Shanghainese]] and [[Suzhounese]]), [[Min Nan]] (of which [[Taiwanese language|Taiwanese]] is a notable dialect), and Cantonese. In regions that speak non-Mandarin languages or regional Mandarin dialects, the Vernacular Chinese standard largely corresponding to Standard Chinese is nevertheless used exclusively as the Chinese written standard; this written standard differs sharply from the local dialects in [[vocabulary]] and [[grammar]], and is often read in local [[pronunciation]] but preserving the vocabulary and grammar of Standard Chinese. After the founding of Wikipedia, many users of non-Mandarin Chinese varieties began to ask for the right to have Wikipedia editions in non-Mandarin varieties as well. However, they also met with significant opposition, based on the fact that Mandarin-based Vernacular Chinese is the only form used in scholarly or academic contexts. Some also proposed the implementation of an [[meta:Automatic conversion between simplified and traditional Chinese|automatic conversion program]] similar to that between Simplified and Traditional Chinese; however, others pointed out that although conversion between Simplified and Traditional Chinese consists mainly of [[glyph]] and sometimes vocabulary substitutions, different regional varieties of Chinese differ so sharply in grammar, [[syntax]], and [[semantics]] that it was unrealistic to implement an automatic conversion program.

Objections notwithstanding, it was determined that these Chinese varieties were sufficiently different from Standard Chinese and had a sufficiently large number of followers to justify the creation of six Wikipedias for different varieties.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Edition name
! WP code
! Variety
! Writing system
|-
| [[Cantonese Wikipedia]] || [[:zh-yue:]] || [[Yue Chinese|Yue]], using [[Cantonese language|Cantonese]] (i.e. the Guangzhou/Hong Kong/Macau dialect) as its standard.
| Traditional and Simplified
|-
| [[Minnan Wikipedia]] || [[:zh-min-nan:]] || [[Southern Min]], using [[Taiwanese Hokkien|Taiwanese]] as its standard.
|Latin ([[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]]) and Traditional
|-
| [[Mindong Wikipedia]] || [[:cdo:]] || [[Eastern Min]], using [[Fuzhounese]] as its standard.
| Latin ([[Bàng-uâ-cê]]) and Traditional<ref>[[:cdo:上古漢語]]</ref>
|-
| [[Wu Wikipedia]] || [[:wuu:]] || [[Wu Chinese|Wu]], using the [[Shanghainese]], [[Suzhounese]] and classical literary Wu as its standards.
| Simplified
|-
| [[Hakka Wikipedia]] || [[:hak:]] || [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]], using the [[Siyen dialect]] as its standard.
| Latin ([[Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]]) and Traditional<ref>[[:hak:百度百科]]</ref>
|-
| [[Gan Wikipedia]] || [[:gan:]] || [[Gan Chinese|Gan]], using the [[Nanchang dialect]] as its standard.
| Traditional and Simplified
|}

Finally, requests were also made, and granted, to create a Classical Chinese Wikipedia ([[:zh-classical:]]), based on [[Classical Chinese]], an archaic register of Chinese with grammar and vocabulary drawn from [[Chinese literature|classical works]] and used in all official contexts until the early 20th century, when it was displaced by the Vernacular Chinese standard.

All of the above Wikipedias have sidestepped the Traditional/Simplified Chinese issue. The Wu Wikipedia uses Simplified Chinese exclusively, and the Classical Chinese Wikipedia uses Traditional Chinese exclusively (The Gan and Cantonese Wikipedias default to Traditional, but have a conversion function similar to the Chinese Wikipedia). The [[Min Nan]] Wikipedia uses [[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]]. The [[Mindong Wikipedia]] and [[Hakka]] Wikipedias currently use [[Bàng-uâ-cê]] and [[Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]] respectively, which can be converted to [[Traditional Chinese characters]], thus avoiding the issue completely.

===Eastern Min===
{{Infobox website
| name = {{Wiki favicon}} Eastern Min Wikipedia
| screenshot = 
| logo = [[Image:Wikipedia-logo-v2-cdo.svg|135px]]
| caption = 
| url = {{url|https://cdo.wikipedia.org/}}
| commercial = No
| location = 
| type = [[Internet encyclopedia project]]
| language = [[Fuzhou dialect]]
| registration = Optional
| owner = [[Wikimedia Foundation]]
| author = 
| launch_date = {{Start date and age|2006|9|30}}
}}
The '''Eastern Min Wikipedia''' ([[Bàng-uâ-cê|Foochow Romanized]]: Bànguâpedia<ref>{{Citation |title=Bànguâpedia |date=2023-11-28 |url=https://cdo.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=B%C3%A0ngu%C3%A2pedia&oldid=100592 |work=Wikipedia |access-date=2023-11-28}}</ref>) is the [[Mindong]] [[Chinese language|Chinese]] edition of [[Wikipedia]], run by the [[Wikimedia Foundation]]. The project was started on [[September 30]], [[2006]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=List of Wikipedias - Meta |url=https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=meta.wikimedia.org |language=en}}</ref> The writing system used in Mindong Wikipedia is [[Foochow Romanized]], a [[Roman alphabet|romanized orthography]] based on the standard [[Fuzhou dialect]] that was introduced by Western [[missionaries]] in the 19th century, and [[Chinese Characters]] although most articles are in Foochow.

The Eastern Min Wikipedia was originally written using only [[Bàng-uâ-cê|Fuzhou romanization characters]].  On June 23, 2013, influenced by the establishment of a Chinese character version of the [[Hakka Wikipedia]], Eastern Min Wikipedia began to set up a Chinese character homepage, and since then, Chinese character version entries have gradually appeared.  This project is also the second project in the Chinese Wikipedia to use both the Latin alphabet and the Chinese character writing system.

As of the end of November 2014, there were a total of 1,496 entries in the East Min Wikipedia, with one administrator and one active editor (one who registered and edited more than five times a month).  Ranked 202nd among all Wikipedia languages in terms of number of entries.<ref>{{cite web|title= Min Dong Wikipedia at a glance November 2014  |url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/SummaryCDO.htm|language=en}}</ref>

== Variants ==
{{Infobox website
| name = [[Image:Wikipedia-favicon.png|16px|Favicon of Wikipedia]] Hakka Wikipedia
| screenshot =
| logo = Wikipedia-logo-v2-hak.svg
| caption = 
| url = {{URL|https://hak.wikipedia.org/}}
| commercial = No
| location = [[Miami, Florida]]
| type = [[Internet encyclopedia project]]
| language = [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]]
| registration = Optional
| owner = [[Wikimedia Foundation]]
| launch_date = {{Start date and age|df=y|2007|5|27}}
| author = 
}}

The '''Hakka Wikipedia''' ([[Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]]: Hak-kâ-ngî Wikipedia<ref>{{Citation |title=Thèu-Ya̍p |date=2021-02-28 |url=https://hak.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Th%C3%A8u-Ya%CC%8Dp&oldid=120577 |encyclopedia=Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |access-date=2023-11-28}}</ref>) is the [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka Language]] version of [[Wikipedia]]. {{citation needed span |text={{As of|November 2023}}, it contains 10,153 articles and has 32,466 contributors, including 30 active contributors and 1 administrator. |date=December 2023}}

[[File:Idioma hakka.png|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Areas where [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]] is spoken]]
The Hakka Wikipedia was originally written only in [[Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]]. For users who are not familiar with vernacular characters, a Hakka dictionary and a simple comparison table are provided on the homepage.  The vernacular part is mainly based on the [[Sixian dialect]] of [[Taiwanese Hakka]] (i.e. the Roman pinyin of Taiwan Hakka). There are also many entries written in the vernacular of mainland Hakka, and even written in Hagfa Pinyim.

===Statistics===
{{As of|2015|3|10}}, the Hakka edition has 4,512 articles and 13,485 registered users,<ref>{{Cite web |title=統計 - 自由編輯个維基百科 |url=https://hak.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%89%B9%E6%AE%8A:%E7%B5%B1%E8%A8%88%E8%B3%87%E8%A8%8A |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=hak.wikipedia.org}}</ref> making it the 155th language edition of Wikipedia by number of articles and the 161st by number of registered users, among the 287  active language editions.

{{As of|2022|10|4}}, it contains 9,451 articles and has 30,608 contributors, including 28 active contributors and 1 administrator.

== Blocking of Wikipedia ==
{{See also|Great Firewall#Circumvention| Censorship of Wikipedia#China}}

The [[People's Republic of China]] and [[internet service provider]]s in [[mainland China]] have adopted a [[Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China|practice of blocking]] contentious Internet sites in mainland China, and Wikimedia sites have been blocked at least three times in its history.<ref name = "Schwankert_PCworld">{{cite news | last = Schwankert | first = Steven | title = Wikipedia Blocked in China Again | publisher = IDG News via PCworld | date = 6 September 2007 | url = http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136879-c,sites/article.html | access-date = 26 January 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071123035951/http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136879-c,sites/article.html | archive-date = 23 November 2007 | url-status = live }}</ref>

On 19 May 2015, Chinese Wikipedia was blocked again within mainland China.<ref>[http://help.3g.163.com/15/0519/19/AQ0K9GQ300964K9G.html 中文维基百科被屏蔽] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527040552/http://help.3g.163.com/15/0519/19/AQ0K9GQ300964K9G.html |date=27 May 2015 }}，[[NetEase]]，Retrieved 19 May 2015.</ref> Because all Wikipedias rely on HTTPS links, Chinese censors cannot see what page an individual is viewing; this also makes it more difficult to block a specific set of pages.

=== First block ===
The first block lasted from 2 to 21 June 2004. It began when access to the Chinese Wikipedia from [[Beijing]] was blocked on the 15th anniversary of the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests]].

Possibly related to this, on 31 May an article from the IDG News Service was published,<ref>{{cite web|date=4 June 1989|title=Chinese Build Free Net Encyclopedia|url=http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116323,00.asp|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060209205641/http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116323,00.asp|archive-date=9 February 2006|access-date=29 May 2012|publisher=PCworld.com}}</ref> discussing the Chinese Wikipedia's treatment of the protests. The Chinese Wikipedia also has articles related to [[Taiwan independence]], written by contributors from Taiwan and elsewhere. A few days after the initial block of the Chinese Wikipedia, all [[Wikimedia Foundation]] sites were blocked in mainland China. In response to the blocks, two moderators prepared an appeal to lift the block and asked their regional [[internet service provider]] to submit it. All Wikimedia sites were unblocked between 17 and 21 June 2004. One month later, the first Chinese Wikipedian moderators' meeting was held in Beijing on 25 July 2004.

The first block had an effect on the vitality of the Chinese Wikipedia, which suffered sharp dips in various indicators, such as the number of new users, the number of new articles, and the number of edits. In some cases, it took anywhere from 6 to 12 months in order to regain the stats from May 2004. On the other hand, on today's site, some of the articles are put under protection which may last for a month or more without any actions.

=== Second block ===
The second and less serious outage lasted between 23 and 27 September 2004. During this four-day period, access to Wikipedia was erratic or unavailable to some users in mainland China &ndash; this block was not comprehensive and some users in mainland China were never affected. The exact reason for the block is a mystery. Chinese Wikipedians once again prepared a written appeal to regional ISPs, but the block was lifted before the appeal was actually sent, for an unknown reason.

=== Third block and temporary unblocks ===
The third block began on 19 October 2005, and there was no indication as to whether this block was temporary or permanent, or what the reasons or causes for this block were. According to the status page currently maintained on the Chinese Wikipedia, the [[Florida]] and [[Korea]] [[server (computing)|servers]] were blocked, whereas the [[Paris]] and [[Amsterdam]] servers were not. Dozens of editors from across [[mainland China]] reported that they could only access Wikipedia using proxy servers, although there were isolated reports that some users could access Wikipedia without using a proxy. Most Chinese people were not able to connect to the site at all.

During October and November 2006, it first appeared that the site was unblocked again. Many conflicting reports came from news outlets, bloggers, and Wikipedians, reporting a possible partial or full unblocking of Wikipedia. Some reports indicated a complete unblock; others suggested that some sensitive topics remained blocked, and yet others suggested that the Chinese Wikipedia was blocked whereas other-language versions were not. From 17 November onwards, the complete block was once again in place.

On 15 June 2007, China lifted the block for several articles, only to then block an increasing number of articles. On 30 August 2007, all blocks were lifted, but then a block was placed on Wikipedia for all languages on 31 August 2007.<ref name = "Schwankert_PCworld"/> As of 26 January 2008, all languages of Wikipedia were blocked,<ref name = "Schwankert_PCworld"/> and as of 2 April 2008, the block was lifted.<ref>{{cite news|last=Barak|first=Sylvie|date=3 April 2008|title=China uncensors Wikipedia|website=The Inquirer |url=http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/03/china-uncensors-wikipedia|access-date=3 April 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080406233620/http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/03/china-uncensors-wikipedia|archive-date=6 April 2008}}</ref>

By 5 April 2008, the Chinese Wikipedia became difficult to access from the [[Sun Yat-Sen University]] in [[Guangzhou]]. Connections to the Chinese Wikipedia were completely blocked as of 6 April 2008. Any attempt to access the Chinese Wikipedia resulted in a 60-second ban on all Wikimedia websites. However, users were able to log on to the Chinese Wikipedia using https. All other languages were accessible, but politically sensitive searches such as [[Tibet]] were still blocked.

On 3 July 2008, the government lifted the ban on accessing the Chinese Wikipedia. However, some parts were still inaccessible. On 31 July 2008, [[BBC]] reported that the Chinese Wikipedia had been unblocked that day in China; it had still been blocked the previous day. This came within the context of foreign journalists arriving in [[Beijing]] to report on the upcoming [[2008 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]], and websites like the Chinese edition of the BBC were being unblocked following talks between the [[International Olympic Committee]] and the Games' Chinese organizers.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7535280.stm "Beijing unblocks BBC Chinese site"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080805004326/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7535280.stm |date=5 August 2008 }}, BBC, 31 July 2008.</ref>

=== Fourth block ===

On 19 May 2015, both the encrypted and unencrypted Chinese-language versions of Wikipedia were blocked.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charlie-smith/we-had-our-arguments-but-_b_7610130.html|title=We Had Our Arguments, But We Will Miss You Wikipedia|last=Smith|first=Charlie|date=18 June 2015|website=Huffington Post|access-date=30 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619083431/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charlie-smith/we-had-our-arguments-but-_b_7610130.html|archive-date=19 June 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Fifth block ===
On 23 April 2019, all versions of Wikipedia were blocked in China.<ref name="cn2019apr">{{cite news|last1=Gandolfo|first1=Ryan|title=Wikipedia Currently Down in China|work=That's Beijing |url=http://www.thatsmags.com/beijing/post/27660/wikipedia-currently-down-in-china|url-status=live|access-date=24 April 2019|archive-date=24 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424081614/http://www.thatsmags.com/beijing/post/27660/wikipedia-currently-down-in-china}}</ref><ref name="ooni">{{cite web|author=Sukhbir Singh|author2=Arturo Filastò |author3=Maria Xynou|date=4 May 2019|title=China is now blocking all language editions of Wikipedia |url=https://ooni.io/post/2019-china-wikipedia-blocking/|access-date=7 May 2019|publisher=Open Observatory of Network Interference |quote=The following chart, based on OONI data, illustrates that multiple language editions of Wikipedia have been blocked in China as of April 2019.{...}OONI measurements show that many of these Wikipedia domains were previously accessible, but all measurements collected from 25 April 2019 onwards present the same DNS anomalies for all Wikipedia sub-domains.{...}Based on these tests, we were able to conclude that China Telecom does in fact block all language editions of Wikipedia by means of both DNS injection and SNI filtering.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=14 May 2019|title=Wikipedia blocked in China in all languages|work=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48269608|url-status=live|access-date=15 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190515001341/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48269608|archive-date=15 May 2019}}</ref>

== Controversy and criticism ==
=== 2010 Administrator Controversy ===
In April 2010, Hong Kong newspaper ''[[Ming Pao]]'' reported the large-scale censorship of contents about [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]] and [[Hong Kong]] related contents in which an administrator named "Shizhao" ("{{lang|zh|百無一用是書生}}" a.k.a. "{{lang|zh|時昭}}") was involved.<ref name="Ming Pao">{{cite news|date=23 April 2010|title=Wikipedia User Fails to Remove Controversial Administrator, Censors Political Censorship|script-title=zh:維基用戶罷免爭議管理員失敗 轟政治審查 過濾「六四」「席揚」|language=zh|work=[[Ming Pao]]|location=[[Hong Kong]]|url=http://life.mingpao.com/cfm/dailynews3b.cfm?File=20100423/nalgh/gha1h.txt|url-status=dead |access-date=15 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114124329/http://life.mingpao.com/cfm/dailynews3b.cfm?File=20100423%2Fnalgh%2Fgha1h.txt|archive-date=14 January 2014}}</ref> The report also mentioned the failed recall of the administrator.<ref name="Ming Pao"/>

In a follow-up, ''Ming Pao'' interviewed Shizhao and stated that he was not a member of the [[50 Cent Party]].<ref name="Ming Pao follow up">{{cite news|date=25 April 2010|title=Nearly dismissed the wiki administrator: I am not fifty cents, the editorial policy remains unchanged|script-title=zh:險遭罷免維基管理員：我非五毛 編輯方針不變|language=zh|work=[[Ming Pao]]|location=[[Hong Kong]] |url=http://life.mingpao.com/cfm/dailynews3b.cfm?File=20100425/nalgh/ghc1.txt|access-date=15 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114124301/http://life.mingpao.com/cfm/dailynews3b.cfm?File=20100425%2Fnalgh%2Fghc1.txt|archive-date=14 January 2014|url-status=dead }}</ref> He added that for controversial topics such as the 1989 protests, he should be a little more cautious.<ref name="Ming Pao follow up"/> In the interview, he denied that he had attempted to delete an article about the [[Concert for Democracy in China|Concert For Democracy in China]], and stated that he merely questioned the notability of the concert by adding a template to the article.<ref name="Ming Pao follow up"/> However, he had started a vote to delete an article about a song criticizing the [[Hong Kong government]] ({{zh|c=[[:zh:福佳始終有你|福佳始終有你]]|p=Fú jiā shǐzhōng yǒu nǐ}}) in 2007, enraging many Hong Kong [[netizens]].<ref name="Ming Pao follow up"/> Shizhao added that, at the time, he had already edited more than 50,000 times, deleting several articles including ''Manual for Librarians''. He joked about the incident, saying, "some may consider that is a kind of hate to libraries and hence is not suitable for monitoring Wikipedia."<ref name="Ming Pao follow up"/>

=== Allegations of bias against the Chinese Government ===
Some Chinese officials and scholars have accused Chinese Wikipedia of having serious [[Anti-People's Republic of China|anti-Chinese government]] bias.<ref>{{Cite news |title=维基百科台湾词条背后的编辑权之争 |language=zh-hans |work=BBC News 中文 |url=https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-49958127 |access-date=2022-05-01 |quote=中国境内的官员和学者都已开始呼吁政府和人民系统纠正他们认为整个维基百科普遍存在的严重的反华偏见。}}</ref> Chinese academics Li-hao Gan and Bin-Ting Weng published a paper titled "Opportunities And Challenges Of China's Foreign Communication in the Wikipedia",<ref>{{Cite web |title=中國對外傳播在維基百科平臺中的機遇與挑戰 - 中國知網 |url=http://cnki.cn-ki.net/KCMS/detail/detail.aspx?dbcode=CJFQ&filename=SHKX201906001&dbname=CJFDTEMP&s=09 |access-date=2022-05-01 |work=cnki.cn-ki.net}}</ref> in which they argue that "due to the influence by foreign media, Wikipedia entries have a large number of prejudiced words against the Chinese government".<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-10-04 |title=China and Taiwan clash over Wikipedia edits |last=Miller |first=Carl |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49921173 |access-date=2022-05-01 |quote=In it, the academics Li-hao Gan and Bin-Ting Weng argue that "due to the influence by foreign media, Wikipedia entries have a large number of prejudiced words against the Chinese government".}}</ref> Jie Ding, an official from the [[China International Publishing Group]], also published an article stated that " there is a lack of systematic ordering and maintenance of contents about China's major political discourse on Wikipedia". He also urged Wikipedia to reflect the voices and views of the Chinese government in an objective way.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-10-04 |title=China and Taiwan clash over Wikipedia edits |last=Miller |first=Carl |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49921173 |access-date=2022-05-01 |quote=Another is written by Jie Ding, an official from the China International Publishing Group, an organisation controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. It argues that "there is a lack of systematic ordering and maintenance of contents about China's major political discourse on Wikipedia". It too urges the importance to "reflect our voices and opinions in the entry, so as to objectively and truly reflect the influence of Chinese path and Chinese thoughts on other countries and history".}}</ref> Lokman Tsui, an assistant professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at the [[Chinese University of Hong Kong]], said in an interview with the BBC that " there a lot of misunderstandings about China abroad "<ref>{{Cite news |title=维基百科台湾词条背后的编辑权之争 |language=zh-hans |work=BBC News 中文 |url=https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-49958127 |access-date=2022-05-01 |quote=香港中文大学新闻与传播学院助理教授徐洛文（Lokman Tsui）告诉BBC Click节目：“讲中国故事"这个概念在过去两年获得了极大的关注”。 他们认为，“海外很多对中国的看法确实有误解。”}}</ref>

In October 2021, WMF's application to become an observer at the [[World Intellectual Property Organization]] (WIPO) was blocked by the government of China over the existence of a Wikimedia Foundation affiliate in [[Taiwan]] and accusation of "Anti-China false information".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-05 |title=China again blocks Wikimedia Foundation's accreditation to World Intellectual Property Organization |website=Wikimedia Foundation |url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2021/10/05/china-again-blocks-wikimedia-foundations-accreditation-to-world-intellectual-property-organization/ |access-date=2022-05-01}}</ref>

Enming Yan, a former administrator of the Chinese Wikipedia, said in an interview with BBC that "You're removing pro-Beijing voices and so the balance is going to tilt towards anti-Beijing forces within Wikipedia." However, Wikipedia's founder, [[Jimmy Wales]], notes that the principles of freedom of expression and neutrality apply globally to Wikipedia. Wales said "I have deep experience of talking to people all over the world, and the idea that people in China, for example, are so brainwashed that they can't see that neutrality is just false."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-10-29 |title=Wikipedia in Chinese editing war of words |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59081611 |access-date=2022-05-01}}</ref>

== State-sponsored editors/administrators ==
{{main|2021 Wikimedia Foundation actions on the Chinese Wikipedia}}
Despite being [[Censorship_of_Wikipedia#China|censored in mainland China]], and as [[VPN]]s are normally not allowed to edit Wikipedia, Wikipedia administrators from China have permitted [[m:IP block exempt|IP block exemption]] for a select number of mainland users. Such users are recruited to change the editorial content on Wikipedia in support of China's viewpoint and/or to support the election of pro-Chinese government administrators on Wikipedia, with the aim of gaining control of Wikipedia.<ref name="Harrison"/><ref name="BBCNewsBans"/> 

Academics suggested that "China urgently needs to encourage and train Chinese netizens to become Wikipedia platform opinion leaders and administrators ... [who] can adhere to socialist values and form some core editorial teams."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cheng |first=Selina |date=2021-07-11 |title=Wikipedia wars: How Hongkongers and mainland Chinese are battling to set the narrative |url=https://hongkongfp.com/2021/07/11/wikipedia-wars-how-hongkongers-and-mainland-chinese-are-battling-to-set-the-narrative/ |access-date=2022-08-11 |website=Hong Kong Free Press HKFP |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="BBCNewsCT"/> This is seen as part of the Chinese Communist Party's coordinated efforts to push their preferred narrative on platforms that have respected worldwide credibility, as Wikipedia's domestic equivalent in China, [[Baidu Baike]], lacks credibility due to [[self-censorship]] and commercialization.<ref name="Harrison"/><ref name="BBCNewsCT"/> The resulting pro-Beijing Wikipedia community, known as the Wikimedians of Mainland China (WMC), was never formally recognized by the Wikimedia Foundation, as they had not signed legal documents provided by the foundation agreeing to protect the anonymity of its members.<ref name="Harrison"/>

=== Clashes with Taiwan and Hong Kong editors ===
Editors from Wikimedians of Mainland China have clashed with Wikipedia editors from [[Taiwan]], not only over Wikipedia's content, but also making death threats made against Taiwan's community of Wikipedians. One Taiwanese editor suggested that it was not just patriotic mainlanders, but a "larger structural coordinated strategy the government has to manipulate these platforms" beside Wikipedia, such as [[Twitter]] and [[Facebook]].<ref name="BBCNewsCT"/>

The Wikimedians of Mainland China has threatened to report Wikipedia editors to [[Hong Kong Police Force|Hong Kong’s national security police]] hotline over the disputed article "[[2019–2020 Hong Kong protests]]" characterized by edit warring.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cheng |first=Selina |date=2021-07-11 |title=Wikipedia wars: How Hongkongers and mainland Chinese are battling to set the narrative |url=https://hongkongfp.com/2021/07/11/wikipedia-wars-how-hongkongers-and-mainland-chinese-are-battling-to-set-the-narrative/ |access-date=2022-08-11 |website=Hong Kong Free Press HKFP |language=en-GB}}</ref>  A Hong Kong-based editor, who remains anonymous because of fears of intimidation, noted that "Pro-Beijing people often remove content that is sympathetic to protests, such as tear gas being fired and images of barricades. They also add their own content". Acknowledging that "edit wars" happen on both sides, the anonymous editor stated that "Pro-democracy editors tend to add content to shift the balance or the tone of the article, but in my experience, the pro-Beijing editors are a lot more aggressive in churning out [[disinformation]]. It's now unfixable without external interference. Someone is trying to rewrite history."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-10-29 |title=Wikipedia in Chinese editing war of words |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59081611 |access-date=2022-05-01}}</ref>

=== Bans on state-sponsored admins/editors ===
{{Further|2021 Wikimedia Foundation actions on the Chinese Wikipedia}}
At 16:13 [[GMT]], 13 September 2021 (00:13, 14 September 2021 [[Beijing Time]]), the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] (WMF) globally banned seven Wikipedia users and removed administrator privileges from twelve users that were part of [[Wikimedia]]ns of [[Mainland China]]. [[Maggie Dennis]], the foundation’s vice present of community resilience and sustainability, said that there had been a yearlong investigation into "infiltration concerns" that threatened the "very foundations of Wikipedia". Dennis observed that the infiltrators had tried to promote "the aims of China, as interpreted through whatever filters they may bring to bear". The investigation had also found that an unrecognized group of Mainland China editors, with approximately three hundred members, had been involved in vote-stacking and manipulation of administrative elections.<ref name="BBCNewsBans">{{cite news |last1=Vallance |first1=Chris |title=Wikipedia blames pro-China infiltration for bans |work=BBC News |date=16 September 2021 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58559412 |access-date=19 September 2021}}</ref> Suggesting possible links to the [[Chinese Communist Party]], Dennis said "We needed to act based on credible information that some members (not all) of that group [WMC] have harassed, intimidated, and threatened other members of our community, including in some cases physically harming others, in order to secure their own power and subvert the collaborative nature of our projects".<ref name="Harrison"/><ref name="BBCNewsBans"/>

After the Wikimedia Foundation took action against the WMC editors, the Taiwanese Wikipedia community noted that such an action was long overdue and released a statement saying “We need to rebuild an inclusive wiki that welcomes everyone from all places who wants to contribute to Chinese language Wikipedia in good faith...Many people have felt unsafe for years, so restoring a shared sense of comfort is likely to take some time”.<ref name="Harrison"/>

== Competitors ==
On 20 April 2006, the online Chinese [[search engine]] company [[Baidu]] created [[Baidu Baike]], an [[online encyclopedia]] that registered users can edit, pending [[Sysop|administrator]] reviews. The content of the encyclopedia is [[self-censorship|self-censored]] in accordance with the regulations of the [[Government of the People's Republic of China|People's Republic of China government]]. <ref>{{cite book |title=Intellectual Property Policy Reform: Fostering Innovation and Development |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9BFdihBYkT0C&pg=PA183 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |author=Christopher Arup, William van Caenegem |isbn=978-1-84844-903-9 |date=January 2009 |access-date=2 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202155339/https://books.google.com/books?id=9BFdihBYkT0C&pg=PA183&lpg=PA183 |archive-date=2 December 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Baidu Baike and Hudong are both commercial products. Whereas the Chinese Wikipedia is released under the [[GNU Free Documentation License]], Baidu Baike and Hudong are fully copyrighted by their ownership; contributors forfeit all rights upon submission. Within weeks, the number of [[Article (publishing)|articles]] in Baidu Baike had surpassed that of the Chinese Wikipedia. As of October 2009, [[Hudong]] Wiki surpassed Baidu Baike as China's largest online encyclopedia in terms of number of articles it owns. Baidu Baike's growth is mainly due to "widespread copyright infringement" by mass-copying Wikipedia pages and incorporating them into Baidu Baike pages since 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.pcworld.com/article/135550/baidu_may_be_worst_wikipedia_copyright_violator.html |title = Baidu May Be Worst Wikipedia Copyright Violator |first = Dan |last = Nystedt |date = 6 August 2007 |access-date = 5 June 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110605063052/http://www.pcworld.com/article/135550/baidu_may_be_worst_wikipedia_copyright_violator.html |archive-date = 5 June 2011 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703739204576228532574791862#articleTabs%3Darticle |title=Baidu Takes Authors' Fire |first=Loretta |last=Chao |date=29 March 2011 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=3 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102064039/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703739204576228532574791862#articleTabs%3Darticle |archive-date=2 November 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>  

Due to [[self-censorship]] and commercialization, Baidu Baike lacks credibility. Baidu Baike has been criticized as it "hawks opportunities for 'content collaboration' with celebrities" and monetarization. Baidu's "commercialization of misinformation" led to the death of student Wei Zexi in 2016, as Baidu search rankings promoted an experimental treatment recommended by a Baidu health care page in return for receiving payments, even though chemotherapy and surgery were more effective treatments for the disease. Most observers also found that Baidu Baike "publishes a lot of garbage...as Baidu Baike does not limit entries to notable topics or require that its information be supported by reliable sources". In recent years there has been an exodus of volunteer editors leaving Baidu Baike to join Chinese Wikipedia because the "contributors wanted the privilege of working on a higher-quality internet encyclopedia" that also "carries a great deal of international power".<ref name="Harrison"/><ref name="BBCNewsCT"/>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Wikipedia|China|Hong Kong|Taiwan|Singapore|Malaysia}}
* {{section link|Censorship of Wikipedia#China}}
* [[Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China]]
* [[Politics of the People's Republic of China]]
* [[Golden Shield Project]]
* [[Chinese encyclopedias]]
* [[List of Wikipedias]]
* ''[[Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Single/2021-09-26|The Signpost]]'', 26 September 2021
* [[Zhemao hoaxes]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://zh.wikipedia.org/ Chinese Wikipedia] {{in lang|zh}}
* {{Baidu Baike|title=Wikipedia|id=1245}}
* {{Baike.com|维基百科}}
* [[meta:CWMC 2006|Chinese Wikimedia Conference 2006]]
* Liao, Tan-Heng. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20121021060034/http://people.oii.ox.ac.uk/hanteng/2012/09/14/wikipedia-in-mainland-china-the-critical-years-of-2005-2008/ Wikipedia in mainland China: the critical years of 2005-2008]." ''Oxford Internet Suite''. [[Oxford University]].
* Woo, Eva. "[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2007-10-20/china-wikipedia-and-censorships-perilsbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice China, Wikipedia, and Censorship's Perils]." ''[[BusinessWeek]]''. 20 October 2007.

{{Wikipedias}}
{{Authority control}}

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