不論是埃及超過百萬人走上開羅街頭，震撼總統穆巴拉克政權，還是一月中旬，被民眾推翻的突尼西亞總統本阿里事件，北京當局對此都憂心忡忡，擔心引起民眾響應。官方媒體幾乎不提埃及人民對政治改革的呼聲，而把報導焦點放在如何努力營救被困的中國公民身上。
埃及局勢持續動盪，埃及民眾要求推翻政府的進展，每天登上國際媒體的頭條，牽動全球民心。聯合國、美國、英國等諸多國家，都努力試圖使埃及局勢平息。然而，中共政府、媒體對這一重大政治事件卻「普遍淡化處理」，甚至在中國網際網路上，「埃及」二字成了禁區。
《路透社》2號報導說，北京嚴控的官方媒體對席捲埃及的抗議事件，普遍不發表評論，中共擔心發生在這個阿拉伯國家政治改革的呼聲會波及中國。北京官方媒體將埃及發生的衝突作為非重要新聞，不發表任何埃及大規模抗議場面或坦克上街的圖片，它幾乎不提埃及的不安局勢，而把報導焦點放在政府如何努力營救被困在埃及的中國公民身上。
北京為什麼封殺埃及起義的新聞？《法國國際廣播電臺》認為：貪污腐敗，貧富不均，缺乏自由，中國人飽受的痛苦與埃及人不相上下。北京害怕受到起義病毒的波及，不論是埃及超過百萬人走上開羅街頭震撼穆巴拉克政權，還是兩週之前，被民眾推翻的突尼西亞總統本阿里事件，北京當局都憂心忡忡，密切注視。中共當局怕公共秩序出現混亂，在國內鎮壓和扼殺對民主的任何渴望，更嚴密控制網際網路、遮罩政治敏感的詞彙，進一步加強對反對派的鎮壓以及對媒體的控制。
香港中文大學教授林和立： 「北京一貫對所謂顏色革命都比較緊張，認為在一些原來相對獨裁的國家裡，民眾受到西方和平演變的影響，人民的力量顯示，而且可能推翻獨裁政權。中國媒 體是把關注點盡量避重就輕的報導，避免引起一般民眾提問顏色革命會不會將在中國發生等等」
林和立還認為，中國雖然頻繁發生群體事件，但是政府控制手段嚴密，一般得以迅速調動武警和警察扑滅任何可能蔓延的火焰。
針對這個問題，《德國之聲》引述了中國問題專家章家敦（Gordon Chang）的論斷說：「中國共產黨人完全有理由不安。在一個光纖相連的世界，革命的熱情不僅從一個國家引發到另一個國家，而且從一個大陸到另一個大陸。如同突尼西亞人和埃及人一樣，中國人日益失去對獨裁製度的恐懼。北京的共產黨領導人雖然在最近幾年加劇了打壓，但是，他恫嚇的效果卻越來越小。……
No matter whether the Egyptian incident in which over a million people took to street and shocked the Mubarak regime or the Tunisian incident when president Ben Ali was overthrown, they all made Beijing authorities more and more worried about Chinese people』s uprisings. The Chinese official media made no reports on Egyptian request for political reforms, but focused on how to rescue Chinese citizens trapped in Egypt.
The situation in Egypt is making headlines everyday. While the United Nations, and countries such as U.K. and U.S. try to help contain the situation, the CCP is
controlling media to 「lighten」 such political incident, and blocking the word 「Egypt」 from the Internet.
According to a Reuters report on Feb 2, CCP controlled media remained silent on the Egypt situation, as CCP worries that the call for political reform in the Arab
world will affect China. The Egypt situation is regarded as non-crucial news, and images of mass protests are not published. The media focus entirely on the government』s effort to save the Chinese citizens in Egypt, avoiding any mention of the political unrest.
The RFI remarks that the Chinese people suffer from corruption and lack of freedom much like Egyptians. The unrests in the Arab world, from mass protests in Egypt to the overthrow of Ben Ali in Tunisia, deeply troubled the CCP. Beijing worries that these incidents may trigger calls for democracy in China, which has led to tightened media control and Internet censorship.
Prof. Lin Heli from Hong Kong Chinese University: 「Beijing is afraid of the so-called color revolution, knowing that people under dictatorship are inspired
by peaceful evolution in the Western world, and forces may rise to overthrow the dictatorship. The Chinese media underweight these incidents in order to avoid questions on the possibility of color revolution in China.」
Lin also points out that although mass incidents occur frequently in China, the government still maintains a tight control over the public by utilizing forces
such as the army and the police force.
Deutsche Welle quoted China expert Gordon Chang: 「CCP has every reason to be afraid. In a connected world like this, the revolution spirit will spread from one country to another, from one continent to another. Just like the unisians and the Egyptians, the Chinese is overcoming the fear of the dictatorship. In recent years, although the CCP increased the degree of oppression, it is becoming less and less effective…」
