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Last Updated: Jan 24, 2009 - 8:02:26 AM |
Beijing Daily Newspaper Openly Criticizes Freedom of Speech
by Xiao Xiong
Recently as many as 1,000 websites have been shutdown in an ongoing
government campaign against free expression. And last week Beijing
Daily published a pseudonymous opinion piece entitled: "The Social
Responsibility of Free Speech." This article openly criticizes free
speech: "There are people who are widely spreading the gospel of free
speech, and even deifying it. This will result in absurd speech and
even lies being protected as 'free speech.' This kind of deification
without limit does not assume proper social responsibility." Shenzhen
Special Economic Zone's Bright Daily (Jing Bao) newspaper and other
mainstream mainland mouthpieces prominently reprinted this article on
Wednesday January 21. This is illustrative of a nationwide official
crackdown on the exercise of free speech.
It is reported that the writer of the opinion piece is Beijing Daily
publisher and National Peoples Congress representative Mei Ning. This
is the same person who, under the pen name Wen Feng on April 11, 2008
in the Beijing Evening News, published a harshly critical attack on
Southern Metropolis Weekly Deputy Editor-in-Chief Chang Ping's article
"Tibet: Truth and the Emotions of National Ethnic Minorities" calling
it an "Out and out attack on China" and fiercely attacking Chang Ping
as an "Anti-Chinese media spy." This attack resulted in Chang Ping
being fired from his job.
Full Chinese report at: http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2009/01/200901221028.shtml
© Copyright 2009 by Boxun News
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