Beijing bans mention of new insect named after Chinese President Xi Jinping

Beijing: Much to the dismay to the loyal discovery, Chinese censors on Tuesday stepped in to crush underfoot talk of the newfound beetle species named after President Xi Jinping, a AFP report said. 

Cheng-Bin Wang, a Chinese entomologist affiliated with the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague first identified the Rhyzodiastes xii in southern island province of Hainan. 

Announcing the discovery of the rare beetle in a peer-reviewed animal taxonomy journal, Wang said, 'The specific epithet is dedicated to Dr Xi Jin-Ping, the President of the People's Republic of China, for his leadership making our motherland stronger and stronger.'

The US-based website, which tracks censorship in China, quoted authorities informing media, "All websites find and delete the article 'Entomologists Report: Scholars Use 'Daddy Xi' to Name a New Type of Beetle' and related information."

'Daddy Xi', or 'Xi Dada', is a friendly or informal nickname for the President as he rapidly emerged as China's most powerful leader since Mao. Interestingly, the informal way of addressing President Xi as 'Daddy Xi' was pushed in official propaganda as well but has since been downplayed.

Much to everyone's surprise, a search for the beetle's Chinese name on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo social media platform on Tuesday flashed a message that read - no search results could be shown due to 'relevant laws and policies'.

Talking to AFP, Chinese national Cheng-Bin Wang said that 'he greatly admired President Xi's actions in China, and saw the newfound beetle as a symbol of the Communist chief's achievements.