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ChinaPolitics

Blackmail probe into cadre at Communist Party-linked website

Deputy editor at online offshoot of People's Daily is under investigation for allegedly pulling negative stories in return for advertising contracts

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A deputy editor of a People's Daily website is under investigation for allegedly blackmailing companies. Photo: Reuters

A deputy editor of a Communist Party-affiliated website has been suspended and put under investigation over alleged threats to blackmail companies, according to mainland media reports.

Xu Hui, a deputy editor at People.cn a website owned by party mouthpiece People's Daily, approached various companies and threatened to run negative stories about their products if they did not take out advertising on the site, online portal NetEase reported late on Wednesday.

People's Daily notified some cadres about the case last Friday, the report said before it was pulled from the website, other news portals and social media sites yesterday morning.

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Other senior officials at the website were also reportedly implicated in Xu's case. People.cn declined to comment to the South China Morning Post.

But one source said Xu was taken away on May 20 over a case related to a major oil company.

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"His name was mentioned when someone from the company was investigated [by discipline inspectors]. Several companies had previously complained about him so they decided to investigate him," the source said.

Xu graduated from Beijing's Renmin University and was director of People.cn's business department and assistant to the website's director before becoming its deputy editor in 2011.
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