Cartoonist in trouble over Hu drawing
A Guangzhou-based cartoonist has been suspended over the publication of his depiction of a weeping Chinese President Hu Jintao .
Kuang Biao received word yesterday afternoon from the editorial board of News Express, a local daily that has a progressive reputation, that he would be immediately suspended for one month.
The 40-year-old said he believed it was a pre-emptive move taken by the newspaper to protect him from further punishment by the central propaganda authorities.
'It's a gesture by the newspaper to show that action has been taken against their wayward journalist,' he said.
'Sometimes in China, a good offence is the best defence.'
Under the largely symbolic punitive measure, Kuang is still allowed to draw for other publications but only by using a pseudonym.
The cartoon printed on Monday portrayed President Hu, with a pen in one hand and a handkerchief in the other, apparently showing a rare emotional side while replying to a letter from the daughter of a Peking University professor who recently died from overwork at the age of 48.
'President Hu was not only writing to the daughter; he's also writing to all hard-working teachers around the country ... He's showing a lot of care for the country's teachers as well as the bereft family,' the cartoon's caption said.
While not the same thing as US President George W. Bush being lampooned as a gun-toting cowboy, the cartoon was still unacceptable in the eyes of mainland censors, media analysts said. It is generally understood by the country's press that depicting national leaders in cartoons is politically incorrect.
'China might be the only place in the entire world where a sense of humour is not appreciated when it comes to politics,' a media analyst said.
The incident might even bring the propaganda authorities to ban all artistic portrayal of national leaders, the analyst suggested.
It was not the first time that News Express depicted mainland leaders in cartoons. Previous works featured President Hu dining with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, and Premier Wen Jiabao shaking hands with coal miners. Those works went largely unnoticed but Monday's cartoon was quickly picked up by the overseas press.
