A spokesman for the third session of the Chinese political advisory body used Internet buzzwords to respond reporters' questions at yesterday's press conference, provoking laughter and speculation.

Lyu Xinhua, the spokesman for the third session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, talks to reporters at the first press conference for the session in Beijing on March 2, 2015. [Photo: Zhang Rui / China.org.cn]

When asked to comment on media reports that "bigger tigers," or senior-level corrupt officials, might be brought down in the country's anti-corruption campaign, Lyu Xinhua, the spokesman for the third session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said everyone is "headstrong" in their attitude to uncover "tigers" if there are any.

"Headstrong / ren xing" is a popular phrase on the Internet that describes someone who knows that he or she cannot do something well, or that something is too expensive, costly and not worth the effort, someone still insists on doing so no matter whatever the cost.

The interpreter, who seemed to not understand the Internet buzzword, found it difficult to translate this word into English and asked the spokesman to confirm what he meant. This made everyone in the press hall laugh. Afterwards, she translated it as "capricious."

Lyu is famous for using Internet slang in answering sensitive questions. At the CPPCC press conference last year, when a reporter asked him about the situation with Zhou Yongkang, the former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, he didn't say much but just said an Internet phrase, "You know what I mean." Zhou, who was not detained at that time, was later arrested and then expelled from the Communist Party of China in December, for serious breaches of the Party's political, organizational and confidentiality rules, as well as suspected crimes.

Lyu said he personally thought that there is no point in making speculations about "bigger tigers" but it is perfectly understandable that the general public and media believe that if "bigger tigers" do exist, they should be exposed.

The spokesman later also mentioned another word -- "iron-cap princes," and he said, "In the anti-corruption campaign, we will deal with all the corrupt officials we can discover, and no one can escape punishment. There will be no iron-cap princes with impunity."

In Qing Dynasty tradition, the sons of princes did not automatically inherit their father's title, but will inherit a title one level lower. However, there were 12 princes during the Qing Dynasty who were named "iron-cap princes," meaning that their princely titles would be "passed on forever" through each succeeding generation. The Qing Dynasty "iron-cap princes" included Yikuang, who was also known as Prince Qing.

China's top anti-corruption authority published an article last Wednesday afternoon detailing the evil deeds of "Prince Qing," after which the Internet went into furious speculation about who the real target could be. Without explanation, the article posted on the Central Discipline and Inspection Commission's website tells the story of the prince who served as head of foreign affairs and the navy and as prime minister until the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911.

"You all know about the 'iron-cap prince', right? " the spokesman laughed, the "iron-cap prince" has been a popular buzzword on the Internet for a while. "Let's see how our interpreter will interpret." Laughter rose again at the press hall.

The interpreter just translated the whole sentence into English as "no one has impunity."

As the press conference ended, reporters swarmed the press table to get close to the spokesman for a last chance to ask questions. Some asked, "why did you use the word 'headstrong'?" some screamed, "Who is the iron-cap prince?"

Lyu told reporters that he often goes online to find out what's going on in Chinese society, and to stay up to date with Internet expressions. But he didn't say who is the modern day "iron-cap prince".

He also gave his performance at the press conference a score of 70, while gave himself a 65 last year. "I have prepared for this conference for more than a month, and I feel I have more of an unhurried manner."

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