The Chinese government stated that they prohibited the phrase because it “does not comply with facts.”
"The Chinese government stays committed to building a healthy and civilized environment of opinions," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters. "We disapprove of referring to the leader of any country with insulting and mocking remarks."
North Korea’s ongoing nuclear-weapons program has led to strained relations between Pyongyang and Beijing, but China has continued to support limited trade and some diplomatic backing with the regime, the Times of India reports.
According to a newspaper in Hong Kong, North Korean officials formally requested that searches for the term be blocked in China, out of fear that Kim would find out about it.
China had previously blocked searches that referred to him as a “third-generation pig,” but had stopped filtering the result in March. The Korea Times speculated at the time that the unblocking may have had to do with China’s displeasure over the nation’s weapons program, which they publicly opposed at around the same time.
