Rare protest against censorship in China

Rare protest against censorship in China

A demonstration was held Monday, January 7 in Canton, outside the headquarters of one of the few Chinese newspapers known for his outspokenness, to support a strike by journalists against censorship.

The case, which caused a stir in China, especially on social networks, began last week when journalists from the influential weekly Southern Weekend (Southern Weekend) revealed that the services of censorship had replaced the New Year's editorial calling for the establishment of a system according to the Constitution by a comment in the glory of the achievements of Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Read the blog post: Chinese journalists are rebelling after an editorial censorship

The demonstration outside the local press group that owns the newspaper was allowed by the police, a sign that the government of Guangdong province, led by the newly rising star CPC Hu Chunhua, wants to be very careful dealing with anger aroused in the public by censorship issues.

The demonstrators, mostly young, had laid before them placards on which were inscribed: "Freedom of expression is not a crime" and "The Chinese people want freedom." Many were waving yellow chrysanthemums symbolize mourning the freedom of the press.

"The media group is relatively Nanfang ready to tell the truth in China. Therefore we must salute his courage and support now," said Ao Jiayang, a young man who works for an NGO. "The participation today shows that in China, more and more people have a civic conscience," he added.

THE HEAD OF THE PROPAGANDA IN THE COLLIMATOR

Guangdong, China's richest, is the cradle of the program of political openness and reform that seems to implement the new number one chinese, s Xi Jinping. The general secretary of the Communist Party had also chosen to go to Canton for his first visit after his appointment to head the CCP in November.

Sunday evening, the weekly microblog denied that the removal of the editorial of the new year was due to censorship, but journalists have disassociated themselves from this statement and announced that they would strike Monday.

On the Internet, several open letters accusing the propaganda chief of the region, Tuo Zhen, muzzle the press and demand his resignation. According to Xiao Shu, a former editor of Nanfang, Tuo Zhen asked journalists to submit topics they want to treat and prohibits topics he does not like, which is to establish, says the journalist, a system of prior censorship.

China, censorship is widespread on the Internet for politically sensitive issues such as human rights and matters concerning the political class. Social networking and sharing sites American like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are blocked. Friday, Chinese authorities have closed the website of the reformist magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu ("China through the ages"), apparently because of the publication of an article advocating a transformation of China's political model.