Guangzhou (AsiaNews) - The censorship of the Chinese regime's media is "ignorant and excessive" and those who put it into practice "with eyes closed" should leave their position as soon as possible. Thus write the 51 journalists at the Southern Weekend, a weekly in the southern province of Guangdong, which was forced to change its editorial by the provincial propaganda chief - and vice president of Xinhua - Tuo Zhen.
The story involving the newspaper
was made public yesterday and sparked protests and the irony of Chinese
intellectuals online. In an open letter published online, the journalists
called for the resignation of the head of propaganda: "We believe that
minister Tuo Zhen's actions exceeded the bounds of his authority. His decisions
were authoritarian, ignorant and useless. "
The
interesting thing to note is that Tuo Zhen was not always a Party bureaucrat,
but he began his career as a journalist famed for fighting for the rights of
the weakest. According
to the reconstruction of the South China Morning Post, in fact, the "censorship
Tsar" made his debut in 1982 on the columns of the Economic Daily, of which
he later became director.
Named one of the "10 best
journalists in China," he entered the Xinhua state news agency, and from
there began his political career. Although
he made moral integrity his workhorse, he gave in to pressure and became the
armed wing of "red" propaganda. In
any case, the situation seems to be worsening not only for the weekly paper,
but for the freedom of the press in the province.
A
series of high level appointments - including Tuo's move to Guangdong and in
particular the appointment of provincial secretary in the Central Committee of
the Politburo - have hardened repression and control in papers of all kinds. A
reporter from the Southern states: "When made public these appointments, a
friend of mine sent me a text message to congratulate me. Obviously it was
ironic."