Outspoken magazine closing to protect political principles, says founder
Respected 92-year-old publisher says he feels ‘deeply miserable, but has no choice’
The founder of the outspoken mainland liberal political journal Yanhuang Chunqiu said he would rather close the magazine than have it fail to uphold the political principles of reform and opening up advocated by the Communist Party’s late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.
Du Daozheng, the former publisher of the magazine who was sacked last week in a management reshuffle initiated by the cultural academy overseeing the publication, announced on Sunday the monthly journal would close.
“I feel deeply miserable, but we have no choice,” Du said in a phone interview.
It is unknown if the Chinese National Academy of Arts, which oversees the journal, will continue to publish without Du and his editorial staff.
The 92-year-old Du, who kept coughing during the interview, said in a statement dated Sunday that the academy had unilaterally abandoned an agreement that guaranteed the autonomy of the magazine, thus violating freedom of publication. The August issue of the magazine could not be published.