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Alert

Editor-in-chief dismissed; crackdown on Guangzhou press continues

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has condemned the dismissal of Xiao Weibi as editor-in-chief of a liberal, Guangzhou-based magazine for carrying an interview with a former, pro-reform political leader. The organisation also denounced new sanctions against Cheng Yizhong, the former editor-in-chief of the dailies "Xin Jing Bao" and "Nanfang Dushi Bao".

RSF said it was outraged by the relentless hounding of the liberal press in Guangdong province by the local authorities, especially propaganda department chief Zhu Xiaodan, and called on Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to intervene on behalf of Xiao Weibi and Cheng Yizhong as well as fellow journalists Yu Huafeng and Li Minying, who have all been victimised in various ways.

On 2 September 2004, Xiao Weibi was fired as editor-in-chief of "Tong Zhou Gong Jin" ("One ship moving forward") magazine over an interview in which Ren Zhongyi, the former head of the Communist Party?s Guangdong branch, called for political reforms and criticised censorship of the press and the Internet.

Contacted by the Hong Kong-based daily "South China Morning Post", Xiao Weibi said, "I am no longer the editor. You must understand that I am in a very difficult position." The magazine's new editor-in-chief told Agence France-Presse that his predecessor had "retired."

The interview with Ren Zhongyi appears to have angered both local and central government authorities. According to the Hong Kong-based magazine "Yazhou Zhoukan", a deputy minister was sent from Beijing to investigate and deal with the matter. "Tong Zhou Gong Jin" has been published since 1988 by a local Communist Party offshoot.

Another Guangzhou-based magazine, "Nanfeng Chuang", was also investigated for publishing excerpts from the interview. It was not punished, however, as it did not include the section in which Ren Zhongyi directly criticised the late Deng Xiaoping.

The latest sanctions against Cheng Yizhong were adopted by the Communist Party's disciplinary committee in Guangdong on 22 October 2004. Cheng was dismissed as editor-in-chief of the daily "Nanfang Dushi Bao" and expelled from the party. The party committee within the Nanfang press group was not informed of the decision and the party banned the Chinese press from reporting the sanctions.

Several sources said that following these latest decisions, it is difficult to foresee that Cheng Yizhong wil ever be able to work as a journalist again. He was previously held without charge from 20 March to 27 August.

Yu Huafeng and Li Minying are two other senior members of the Nanfang group staff who have been given long prison sentences on the basis of trumped up corruption charges. The charges were brought by the local authorities, including Guangzhou Police Chief Zhu Suisheng, with the aim of sustaining a climate of fear in the Chinese press.