A farewell letter by a recently retired "news examiner" at a Chinese newspaper has spread across social media sites and blogs; the letter is an apology, an explanation of sorts, and an admission of regret regarding the latter part of his career.
The following is a CPJ Blog post by Bob Dietz, CPJ Asia Program Coordinator:
Three days into his retirement, Zeng Li died on April 3, 2013 at age 61, apparently of intestinal bleeding. Surprisingly, his March 28 farewell letter has spread across China’s social media sites and blogs. The letter is an apology, an explanation of sorts, and an admission of regret regarding the latter part of his career. Zeng served in Southern Weekly’s internal censorship program – – his title there most likely translates best as “news examiner.”
According to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, Zeng’s farewell letter read, in part:
Looking back on the last four years, I made mistakes. I have killed some drafts that I shouldn’t have killed, I have deleted some content that I shouldn’t have deleted, but in the end I woke up, I would rather not carry out my political mission than go against my conscience, I don’t want be a sinner against history.
Read the full story on CPJ’s website.