Updating any smart phone to the same functionality over the air would be trivial though. So if you were the Chinese government wanting to stop those phrases be

Updating any smart phone to the same functionality over the air would be trivial though. So if you were the Chinese government wanting to stop those phrases being used at some time in the future, it would make more sense to send the list at the time you activate the list, rather than in advance to be found before it's ever been activated. It seems more provocative than anything else.