'How much longer for us?' ask Chinese after Myanmar ends media censorship

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A street vendor reads a new private daily newspaper at a roadside stall in Yangon, Myanmar. Photo: EPA

Published: 11:09am, 2 Apr 2013Updated: 12:14pm, 14 Jun 2018

Netizens - anxious about media censorship in China - experienced both envy and excitement on Tuesday, a day after privately-owned daily newspapers hit Myanmar’s streets for the first time in decades.

Four Burmese-language newspapers: The Voice, The Golden Fresh Land, The Union and The Standard Time appeared on news stands on Monday, said media reports.

Myanmar’s military-led government abolished censorship last year, allowing the free publication of non-government run daily newspapers. Previously, censors would take several days to edit privately-run newspapers, making daily publications untenable.

This encouraging news was reported by influential Beijing newspaper Beijing Times and reposted by a major online news portal Sina.com, where readers promptly commented on its implications for China.

“Looks like China has got one less ‘friend’ now, ” wrote a netizen, “ Should we wait until North Korea bans their media censorship?”

“Let’s wait and see if Myanmar will give way to chaos and riots after this,” wrote another ironically. “After all, it’s an evil path they are headed to, ” in referring to a speech given by former President Hu Jintao.

Hu had said in his speech at the 18th party congress that “we reject both the old and rigid closed-door path and the evil path of shifting banners”. The phrase “evil path” has since become a much used word among China’s internet users.