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China Begins Media Crackdown
China has launched a broad crackdown on the nation’s press, targeting what it calls false news reports and illegal publications as the Communist Party prepares for its October congress. China is suffering from a spate of bad press reports abroad and at home over the safety of a number of Chinese products, including toys, toothpaste, tires and pet food. But the crackdown announced Wednesday ostensibly comes in response to two recent scandals, the Los Angeles Times reports. In one case, a correspondent for Beijing Television reported that the makers of steamed pork buns were stuffing them with cardboard soaked in caustic soda. The government ruled that the story was concocted and sentenced the reporter to a year in jail. In the second case, a journalist was beaten to death by thugs apparently while reporting about an illegal coal mine. Owners of illegal mines frequently blackmail journalists so that reports about their unlicensed operations don’t get published, according to the Times.
Story Continues Below Government officials "need to control the society to be on the safe side and avoid anything that might spoil the happy atmosphere of their meeting, Jin Zhong, chief editor of the Hong Kong-based Open magazine, told the Times. "They don’t like diverse opinions because they don’t understand that debate is good for society.” According to the People’s Daily, the crackdown will also take aim at illegal publications, including those that "fabricate political rumors.” The China Development Brief newsletter was shut down in July by the government, which claimed it was conducting "illegal surveys.” Chinese censors have listed 20 topics that are off limits to journalists before the October congress, including judicial corruption, individual rights campaigns, lifestyles of the rich, and extramarital affairs. © NewsMax 2007. All rights reserved. Editor's note:
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