Earlier this week the Communist Party Council announced (a day before it actually met) that the limit of two five-year presidential terms will be abolished and Xi Jinping's guiding philosophy would be written into the constitution.
Immediately, Beijing's censors set to work.
They've attacked the very words people would need to use to express discontent.
One company, Durex, has reportedly found itself slapped with litigation for an advertisement it had circulated months earlier.
It makes condoms.
It had once run a campaign based on the marketing phrase "doing it twice is not enough".
Social media users had revived that campaign's marketing material because of its suddenly relevant double entendre.
Durex has itself attempted to divert the eye of China's thought police by issuing a formal statement over Weibo: Users must "clearly distinguish between what is real and fake", it says, without any reference to current affairs.
"It pays to consider this censorship spree as an object lesson in how arbitrary the Chinese Communist Party's restrictions on free speech can be, and how readily the party can overreach," Ryan says.
Immediately after the social media clampdown, Beijing-controlled traditional media went into full-swing.
Their praise of Xi has been profusive and prolific.
Their top articles — along with many of those deemed to be 'trending' — are entirely supportive. They argue the military, the Communist Party and China's economy will benefit from Xi's enlightened leadership.
The formal proposal to eliminate the two-term presidential limit will go to next month's annual meeting of China's parliament.
It's usually little more than a rubber stamp for the Communist Party's Central Committee.
China's leaders and media are working hard to convince its people that everything's fine.
Its foreign ministry even directed a statement towards an internal audience:
The constitution had been "continuously improved" since it was first established in 1954, spokesman Lu Kang insisted.
Chinese President Xi Jinping reviews an honour guard. Photo / AP
"I hope everyone can acknowledge the voice of all the Chinese people."
The state-run Global Times news service was similarly on-message: "Since reform and opening up, China, led by the Communist Party, has successfully resolved and will continue to effectively resolve the issue of party and national leadership replacement in a law-abiding and orderly manner."
"Every time China deliberates on reforms and key decisions, effect on public opinion is worth pondering," the Global Times stated. "Misinformation and external forces' meddling will affect public opinion in China."
Some word bans have already been lifted.
Wives are once again allowed to 'disagree' with their husbands electronically.
Many, however, remain in place.
WORD WAR ONE
"Readers may well shrug their shoulders and ask what this has to do with them," Ryan writes. "So let's be clear: China's censorship apparatus is no longer just a boutique concern of China-watchers; it affects all of us."
During December's Bennelong by-election, he says campaigners used the Chinese messaging app WeChat to court Chinese voters.
This was subject to censorship from Beijing.
"What if some of those constituents wanted to ask a sensitive question about China's foreign policy in the South China Sea? What if they wanted to discuss one of the 'forbidden three Ts' — Tiananmen, Taiwan or Tibet? Would those messages have reached the candidates? How would we know?"
He highlights how global governments, corporations — and even international sportspeople — have fallen foul of artfully directed Chinese nationalism.
Australian Olympic swimmer Mack Horton was overwhelmingly attacked by a swarm of social media "trolls" for daring to accuse rival Chinese swimmer Sun Yang of being a drug cheat.
Book publishers, internet services — even scientific journals — have been accused of censoring works out of fear of offending powerful Chinese government groups.
"One by one, big Western companies like Apple, Daimler, Marriot International and Yum Brands are being cowed by hordes of nationalistic trolls for the crime of crossing patriotic red lines," Ryan states.
"To what extent are our own companies, politicians, journalists and academics already self-censoring for fear of offending Xi's China?"
