On the first weekend in June, residents in one of China's richest cities were subjected to an Orwellian charade. The mayor of Shenzhen, in southern Guangdong province, had gone missing on a Friday, with no explanation provided for his absence at official events.

In neighbouring Hong Kong, the Chinese special administrative region where press freedoms are still protected, media outlets reported that Xu Zongheng was the target of a corruption probe. The official Xinhua news agency finally issued a single-sentence dispatch on Monday confirming Mr Xu's detention for “serious violations of discipline”. An “acting mayor” was soon appointed and nothing more was said of the matter.

For almost four full days, everyone in Shenzhen turned a blind eye. Government officials who knew the mayor was in trouble spoke no evil. Local journalists and editors who were in the loop wrote no evil. It is one thing to praise the naked emperor's fine clothes – and quite another to pretend he is there when he just ain't.