Talk-Show King Is Yanked From Chinese Airwaves (ChiCom Censorship of Business Show)

LA Times ^ | March 15, 2006 | Don Lee, Times Staff Writer

[indcons]

SHANGHAI — For two years, Larry Lang relished his role as China's business talk-show king.

On Friday night television, the Taiwan-born host of "Larry Lang Live" railed against corporate corruption and other ills of China's market reforms. The clean-cut, telegenic finance professor boiled economics down to ordinary chatter and he struck a nerve with folks disenchanted with the sagging stock market and widening income disparity.

But this month, Chinese officials pulled the plug on his program — the latest move by Beijing to censor influential critics of its policies and to control information disseminated to the public. In the last year, the government has jailed journalists, banned dozens of newspapers and restricted searches on the Internet.

Online, many Chinese quickly voiced support for Lang, whose writings and opinions are widely available on the Web.

China Business Network, the Shanghai-based producer of the show, said the 49-year-old Lang was taken off the air because he didn't qualify for a government certificate for TV and radio hosts. CBN refused to elaborate, and Lang declined to comment.

Analysts, though, weren't surprised that Lang's show was shut down.

[Spok]

If he wears suspenders and has a half dozen ex-wives, I understand...

[massgopguy]

Is this Ch'ang Limbang with talent on loan from Mao?
High Fong High Five!

[finnigan2]

A Chinese farce, starring a gang of old Mao inspired political dinosaurs frantically running around trying to plug more and more leaks in the dike as market forces and desire for change start to work on an increasingly affluent population. As in Russia, the old system will eventually crumble, speeded up by the world wide revolution in communications.

[RockinRight]