The outspoken Chinese political journal Yanhuang Chunqiu has threatened to sue the Chinese National Academy of Arts, which was assigned to oversee the flagship magazine, if it refuses to withdraw the group of newsroom staff it appointed. The move comes after the 25-year-old monthly Beijing magazine stopped publication on Sunday following a July 13 reshuffle of top management that included the sacking of long-time publisher Du Daozheng. The influential journal, which has had a monthly circulation of nearly 200,000, has voiced support for constitutional democracy. Outspoken liberal Chinese magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu stops publication after management purge A legal letter sent by two Beijing-based lawyers Mo Shaoping and Ding Xikui on behalf of the magazine to the president of the academy on Tuesday said: “In the hope of safeguarding the legal interests of Yanhuang Chunqiu , we will follow all legal measures ... if the academy fails to take measures to stem the deteriorating and additional economic losses [triggered by its decision]. Mo and Ding called on the academy to resume normal working practices at Yanhuang Chunqiu by removing all the newsroom staff it appointed before returning control of its official website to editorial staff. The legal letter also accused the academy of violating a legally binding agreement reached between the academy and Yanhuang Chunqiu in mid-December, 2014. This agreement underscored the autonomy of the journal in terms of its editorial decisions, human resources and finance, as long as it complied with the constitution of the country. The end to the publication of the magazine – which had also been known to contest the official version of Communist Party history – came after the academy, affiliated to the Ministry of Culture, announced that Du, 92, had been sacked and its chief editor, Xu Qingquan, demoted. At the time that Du, who was also the magazine’s founder, announced its closure, he said that the normal editing process had faced severe interference from the academy-appointed staff, resulting in it not being able to publish its forthcoming August edition. Liberal magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu’s successor plan stalled amid red tape and intense political pressure The academy appointed a deputy chief of the academy to replace Du, while a number of senior management personnel at the magazine, including Xu, were either demoted or fired without the prior approval of the magazine’s editorial committee. The magazine has had widespread support from liberal-minded reformists and intellectuals within the party.
