Internet can keep officials 'in check'

In sharp contrast to Beijing's crackdown on online rumours, a top Guangdong party official has called for greater acceptance and tolerance of internet "supervision by public opinion".

The bold remarks by deputy provincial party chief Zhu Mingguo , who also heads the Guangdong Communist Party's politics and legal affairs committee, echoed statements from the province's police and judiciary early this week.

Zhu made the remarks in a speech on Wednesday during a video conference involving law enforcement officers across the province, the official Nanfang Daily reported yesterday.

The meeting was to follow up on policy decisions from a national propaganda conference presided over by President Xi Jinping last month. That meeting called on propaganda officials to "seize the ground of new media" and was followed by a crackdown on online political dissent and rumour-mongers.

While Zhu also requested his subordinates to deal with rumour-mongers and help foster a "clean" internet environment, he criticised some officials for resorting to extreme means in the crackdown because they could not adapt to the environment of new media, another Guangdong-based newspaper, the New Express, reported.

"In an environment of new media, we should take the initiative ... and seek breakthroughs in propaganda on internet ... and should not simply resort to the means of 'delete', 'shut down' and 'reject'," Zhu said.

Zhu asked officials at various levels to adapt themselves to working with journalists working with such media.