Southern Weekly row won't lead to a loosening of rules on China's media
Zhang Hong says it's clear from developments in the censorship row in Guangdong that the authorities will maintain their tight control on the media for some time to come
The crisis over censorship at Southern Weekly continued to roil after its journalists agreed to return to work and reports emerged that Tuo Zhen, the head of Guangdong's propaganda ministry, would eventually be removed. The newspaper will print as normal this week, but editors insisted, among other terms, that a letter to readers be published to explain the incident.
Southern Weekly has long been regarded as a symbolic publication in mainland China for its outspoken opinions and sharp criticism of the government. Many of its former reporters are now influential editors in China's major media outlets and on websites.
In spite of frequent intervention and punishment by the propaganda authorities, the publication has managed to survive, thanks to support from its millions of readers, both inside and outside the bureaucratic system.
Like most publications in China, Southern Weekly had been under strict control this the past year, as the Communist Party prepared for its 18th congress. When the party's new leader, Xi Jinping , was sworn in last November, many liberal intellectuals hoped he might kick-start a process of long-awaited political reform, with looser media control and the fight against corruption top of the list.
However, these hopes were dashed when the Guangdong propaganda authorities ordered Southern Weekly to change its New Year editorial from a piece calling for outright political reform and abidance with the constitution to a tribute praising the ruling party. The authorities also ordered the newspaper to drop many critical articles, or replace them with soft stories favouring the government.
Readers found at least two factual errors in the rewritten editorial, and rumours claimed Tuo rewrote the editorial himself and was responsible for the mistakes. As a result, Tuo became the primary target of the initial Sina Weibo protests, with many web users demanding his resignation.
However, the assumption of Tuo's involvement proved to be wrong, according to a report published by the Southern Weekly reporters on Weibo, which said the editorial was actually rewritten by the newspaper's editors, under instruction from the authorities.