Chinese websites have blocked the term "Kim Fatty the Third," a disparaging nickname for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, after government officials in Pyongyang requested that China stop calling him fat.
Search results came up empty for "Jin Sang Pang" which translates to "Kim Fatty the Third," on China's leading search engine Baidu and the microblogging platform Weibo, CBS News reported.
North Koreans ministers had made an official request to China asking their neighbor to remove Kim's weight-related nicknames from their media and conversations.
Kim, otherwise known as "Kim Fatty the Third," has been criticized recently for his expanding waistline. His weight gain reportedly stems from his love of fine cheese and whiskey.
"The Chinese government stays committed to building a healthy and civilized environment of opinions," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday. "We disapprove of referring to the leader of any country with insulting and mocking remarks."
According to CBS, "Kim Fatty the Third" is such a commonly used term in China that it is sometimes suggested by auto-complete algorithms on websites.
While "Kim Fatty the Third" did not return any search results this week, other versions of the overweight leader's nickname, such as "Kim Fat Fat Fat" were left untouched.