A further example of the Chinese authorities clamping down on press freedom... a magazine's president has been demoted and its editor has been suspended.
Chen Zhong, president of the Guangzhou-based bi-weekly Nanfeng Chuang (Window on the South), was removed from his post, though not dismissed, and editor Zhao Lingmin was suspended.
They were punished for publishing an interview with a Taiwanese historian, Tang Chi-hua, that was critical of Sun Yat-sen, a revolutionary leader in the early 20th century.
"Punishing Chen Zhong and Zhao Lingmin for quoting a historian is absurd and a sign of the tightening restrictions on professional reporters across China this year," said Committee to Protect Journalists' (CPJ) deputy director Robert Mahoney.
"Some of China's best journalists are falling victim to the Communist party's sustained efforts to stamp out views it fears."
This year, the CPJ has documented a number of journalists fired for reporting in China, though the dismissals are often couched as suspensions, sabbaticals, or resignations to disguise the retributive motive:
* China Central Television's 24 Hours news producer Wang Qinglei was suspended earlier this month. He reported on the 23 July train crash.
* The investigative unit of the China Economic Times, was disbanded in July for reasons that remain unclear.
* Two Guangzhou-based journalists lost their jobs in March: Time Weekly's Peng Xiaoyun for interviewing dissidents, and Southern Weekend's Chen Ming for writing on political reform.
* Veteran editor and columnist Zhang Ping, who writes as Chang Ping, was forced to resign by Guangzhou's Southern Media Group, which publishes Southern Weekend and other titles, for writing on political and media issues.
Source: CPJ
