Guangdong gags media reporting of attack on Ming Pao editor Kevin Lau

News of the violent attack on former Ming Pao chief editor Kevin Lau Chun-to was conspicuously absent from Guangdong media yesterday because of a gagging order from the party censor, according to several editors.

But the news was carried by Xinhua and several media outlets, including China National Radio, although many of the stories were from the semi-official Chinese News Service.

The Beijing-based Global Times' Chinese edition carried an editorial condemning the attack.

A leaked message from the Guangdong provincial party propaganda department ordered local media outlets to refrain from "reporting and hyping" the attack and stories related to Ming Pao's change of editorship.

A Guangdong government press officer yesterday said she had no knowledge of any censoring of the news.

Ming Pao's decision last month to replace Lau with a Malaysian who journalists say has little knowledge of local affairs sparked fears over self-censorship at the 55-year-old daily.

Cheng Yizhong, the former chief editor of the outspoken Southern Metropolis Daily, said the ban didn't surprise him. "Anything that involves press freedom and freedom of speech, or the intimidation of media outlets, is always forbidden," he said.