Journalist suspended over FT article asking China to abandon North Korea
An editor is 'relieved of his position' after he wrote an opinion article urging China to review its links with Pyongyang after third nuclear test
A deputy editor at a newspaper affiliated with the Central Party School has been suspended from duty over an article he wrote for the Financial Times on February 27 calling for China to abandon North Korea, according to a person close to him and a media report.
Deng Yuwen, a deputy editor at the Study Times, told South Korea's Chosun Ilbo that he had been suspended indefinitely because of the controversial article but was still being paid by the newspaper.
"I was relieved of the position because of that article, and I'm suspended indefinitely," Chosun Ilbo quoted Deng as saying. "Although I'm still being paid by the [newspaper], I don't know when I will be given another position."
I was relieved of the position because of that article, and I'm suspended indefinitely
In an opinion page article in the Financial Times, Deng said North Korea's third nuclear test was a good moment for China to re-evaluate its long-standing alliance with the Kim dynasty and he gave several reasons why China should give up on Pyongyang and press for the reunification of the Korean peninsula.
"A state-to-state relation based on ideology is dangerous because China and North Korea, two socialist countries, differ much more than China disagrees with the West," Deng wrote.
"Another reason is that a national security strategy regarding North Korea as a geopolitical ally is out-dated because such an alliance would draw China into a war with the United States over North Korea's nuclear programme."
Reached by phone yesterday, Deng declined to confirm his suspension.