China targets celebrities over speech freedom comments in censorship row
Celebrities who backed journalists in their campaign are invited 'to have tea' with the authorities as propaganda officials seek to end row
As Southern Weekly published its first edition yesterday following a row over editorial intervention by propaganda officials, mainland-based celebrities who showed support for the newspaper were invited to "have tea" with the authorities while activists who joined a protest in Guangzhou were taken away by police.
The steps indicated that the authorities were keen to put an end to the censorship crisis.
The newspaper's politics section, usually four pages, was replaced with photos, while other sections, including commentary, culture, economics, energy and special reports, appeared as usual.
A number of celebrities, including Taiwanese singer Annie Yi and former Google China chief Li Kaifu, who posted support for the outspoken newspaper and calls for freedom of speech on microblogging sites, appeared to have been asked to "have tea" with officials - a euphemism for being given a warning for posting messages deemed inappropriate.
Yi said on her Sina Weibo microblog: "I'm going to tea now, hope it tastes good." The post was soon deleted.
Li, a Taiwanese-born American, said on his microblog: "From now on, I will only talk about east, west and north, as well as Monday through to Friday" - omitting references to the south or the weekend. The newspaper's Chinese name is literally translated as "Southern Weekend".