Chinese internet users get round ban on mentioning Kim Jong-un by calling him 'fatty on the train'

Other nicknames include 'the obese patient' and, less insultingly, 'the sibling next door'

Chinese social media users referred to Kim Jong-un as the “fatty on the train” during his recent visit in order to circumvent the country’s infamous censors.

The North Korean dictator arrived in Beijing on Monday aboard an armoured train in his first foreign trip since taking power in 2011, but official secrecy surrounding the event and who was inside the train meant speculation was rife online.

Videos circulated on popular messaging app WeChat on Monday evening of a motorcade travelling around Beijing, including clips of cars entering Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guest House.

Authorities leaned on state media to suppress stories about the visit, according to a Reuters report, and a search using the term “North Korea” was blocked on Tuesday on Weibo, a popular microblogging platform.

WeChat accounts that focus on news about North Korea were also reportedly censored.

Internet users tried to get around the censors by resorting to nicknames for the visitor including “the obese patient” and “the fatty on the train”, as well as more ambiguous terms like “the visitor from the north-east” and “the sibling next door”.

Beijing finally confirmed the nature of the visit on Wednesday, releasing images of Mr Kim with premier Xi Jinping, who praised “positive changes” on the Korean peninsula since the beginning of 2018, according to state media.

Following the trip, mentions of Mr Kim’s wife Ri Sol-ju were removed from Chinese social media after users commented about her appearance and that of China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan.