Chinese magazine editor under investigation for publishing son’s work
- Head of monthly business publication included articles and poetry written by the child starting when he was just 10 years old
- Shanxi Academy of Social Sciences says he will be punished but does not say on what grounds
The editor of a Chinese financial magazine is under investigation for publishing poems and articles written by his son over a period of 13 years, starting when the child was just 10, according to state media.
The case dates back to November 2006, when Wang Songqi, the editor of The Chinese Banker, launched a “Culture & Leisure” column, Xinhua Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday.
The publication is affiliated to the Shanxi Academy of Social Sciences (SASS), which is based in the central China city of Taiyuan.
In the years since, the column had featured scores of essays and poems written by Wang’s son, Wang Qingshi, and some of the father’s calligraphy, the report said.
After an article written by the boy titled “Song of the Four Seasons” appeared in the inaugural column in 2006, a reader complained that “such childish content seems inappropriate to appear in this professional publication”.
Wang, who is a former Communist Party chief of the finance research institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, defended his publishing decision in his “Editor’s notes” column in the first issue of 2007.
He said the child was talented and that the publication put content above all, “no matter if the writer is an enemy or a relative”.