Posted on 03/15/2003 7:34:11 AM PST by DeaconBenjamin
China has shut down one of the country's most adventurous newspapers after it published an interview saying that top communist leaders were violating the constitution by refusing to submit to a genuine democratic vote.
The publication of the paper, the 21st Century Herald, based in Guangzhou, southern China, has been suspended for a month after it published the interview with the 86-year-old former secretary to Mao Zedong, Li Rui.
The interview is understood to have enraged supporters of departing president Jiang Zemin (pictured), who still dominates official propaganda organs despite stepping down from his most powerful party and government positions in recent months.
The interview was published on the eve of the annual National People's Congress, an especially sensitive period when the propaganda ministry orders tighter-than-usual restrictions on the media.
Mr Li criticised the "cult of personality" among leaders, rampant corruption, the continued falsification of history and the absence of any independent legal check on the power of the party.
Mr Li, who has been jailed for his outspokenness in the past, compared the ongoing deification of Mao to an "evil cult", using a term the party itself has deployed to attack the outlawed religious sect, the Falun Gong.
The paper's sister publication, Southern Weekend, compounded the offence by publishing a lengthy and largely favourable assessment of Zhu Rongji, who retires this week after five years in charge of economic policy.
The 21st Century Herald, along with its stablemate, Southern Weekend, have long been at the forefront of the Chinese media, often angering the leaders in Beijing with their forthright reporting on social and even political issues.
On a number of occasions in recent years the editors of the two papers have been removed for transgressing the unwritten rules governing the media in China.
While the official media continues to heap praise on Mr Jiang, it has pointedly ignored for the most part the widely admired Mr Zhu in his final days in office.
Mr Zhu's protégés in government have also fared badly in congress' division of new ministries and government positions.
"It just goes to show that in China, if you try to do difficult things, you will never prosper," said an academic at a government think-tank.
This year's congress will appoint an almost entirely new government, with Mr Jiang stepping down as president in favour of Hu Juntao, the communist party secretary, and Mr Zhu being replaced by Wen Jiabao.
In the interview, Mr Li said that "only democracy can bring modernisation".
"A nation or a party will prosper if it conforms to this trend (of democratisation), but it will die otherwise," he said.
China's media, especially in the south, has become bolder in recent years, but most efforts to push the boundaries of acceptable comment have been met by temporary government crackdowns.
Mr Li said he did not worry about being punished for speaking out.
"I am already 86 years old - what can other people do to me," he said.
5.56mm
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.