Opinion | Guangdong media silent over air hostess row

A Guangzhou-based army officer's alleged assault of an attendant on a China Southern Airlines flight late last month caused quite a stir on the internet, but media outlets in Guangdong - once known for their outspokenness - largely ignored it.

That would hardly be surprising, given the muzzling of several Guangdong-based newspapers in recent months ahead of the Communist Party's once-in-a-decade leadership change, expected some time next month.

But eyebrows were raised when state-run Xinhua and the party mouthpiece People's Daily jointly launched an internet-based campaign to seek the truth behind the incident and criticised a Guangzhou district government for attempting to cover up the scandal.

It started with a microblog post on August 29 by Zhou Yumeng , a flight attendant with China Southern who complained that she had been assaulted by Fang Daguo , a People's Liberation Army political commissar attached to the Yuexiu district's armed forces department, and his wife in a row over luggage.

Two days later, the Yuexiu district's publicity office announced the results of an investigation into the incident, saying that Fang had not assaulted Zhou, although family members had "pushed and shoved" her; nor did he try to bully or intimidate Zhou when she reported the incident to police.

The announcement was immediately challenged in cyberspace, with Xinhua and People's Daily, in a rare move by state-run media, leading efforts to track down witnesses - eventually leading to Fang's suspension.

The result, hailed by internet users as a victory against abuse of power by military officials, could not hide the fact that Guangdong newspapers ran almost nothing but the official line.