(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced “unreserved support” for the privately-owned Hong Kong daily “The Epoch Times”, which announced that it would be forced to stop publishing on 14 May 2005 because it has been unable to find a new printing house. The newspaper is well known for criticising Chinese authorities, notably for human rights violations. […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced “unreserved support” for the privately-owned Hong Kong daily “The Epoch Times”, which announced that it would be forced to stop publishing on 14 May 2005 because it has been unable to find a new printing house.
The newspaper is well known for criticising Chinese authorities, notably for human rights violations. “An independent voice will have been silenced when [the paper] disappears from newsstands,” RSF said.
The company that has been printing “The Epoch Times” for more than one year recently announced that it was terminating its contract without giving any explanation. Reached by telephone, the paper’s editor-in-chief, Cheryl Ng, told RSF that she is convinced political pressure was brought to bear on the printing house by the Chinese authorities.
The pressure was apparently applied shortly after the paper published a special issue in November 2004, with a print run of one million copies, containing a series of critical editorials about the ruling Chinese Communist Party, entitled, “Nine Commentaries”.
The newspaper tried in vain to find a new printing house for the past two months. None of the companies approached refused outright to work with “The Epoch Times”, but they all requested extremely high rates that the paper could not afford.
The Hong Kong edition of “The Epoch Times” has flourished since its creation four years ago. It appears five times a week and is distributed free of charge.
