Less clear is why censors took issue with the letter ‘N’. Mair speculated it was “probably out of fear on the part of the government that ‘N’ = ‘n terms in office’, where possibly n > 2”.

Charlie Smith, the alias of the co-founder of GreatFire.org, a group which helps users track and bypass Chinese censorship, said he found that explanation plausible.

“[Censors] probably determined it was sensitive and then moved to add that content to the blacklist so others would not be able to post something similar,” he said, noting that the seditious symbol had now been emancipated.