Mainland internet users voiced concerns yesterday about the safety of blind activist Chen Guangcheng - who left the US embassy on Wednesday and has changed his mind about wanting to stay in China - as most mainland newspapers ran little about the incident other than Xinhua's official line blaming the US and demanding an apology.
Only the Global Times, an English and Chinese tabloid under the People's Daily, published its own editorial warning the US to 'distance itself from activities that do not match its functions'.
'The West and its supporters in China always need a tool to work against China's current political system. Chen's case evolved into a more complex situation under the interference of Western media and even diplomatic factors,' the editorial said. Chen's case would not undermine social stability, nor would it hinder the normal development and progress of human rights, it said.
Pointing to the government's official acknowledgment on Wednesday - one day before the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue - that Chen had been sheltering at the US embassy, the editorial said this showed that 'both sides do not want the issue to affect their relationship'.
Other mainland newspapers carried two Xinhua articles about Chen leaving the embassy and China's demand for an apology from the US. They were not allowed to publish their own editorials, said a reporter at The Southern Metropolis News.
Sina's microblog site was still heavily targeted, with censors quick to pull down most discussions of Chen's case.
