(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Shenzhen mayor Yu Youjun, RSF protested the banning of the Guangzhou newspaper “Nafang Dushi Bao” by town authorities. RSF sees the decision as an attempt to deprive the Shenzhen population of sources of information which do not originate from local newspapers controlled by the Shenzhen authorities. “We respectfully ask […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Shenzhen mayor Yu Youjun, RSF protested the banning of the Guangzhou newspaper “Nafang Dushi Bao” by town authorities. RSF sees the decision as an attempt to deprive the Shenzhen population of sources of information which do not originate from local newspapers controlled by the Shenzhen authorities. “We respectfully ask you to reconsider this decision,” urged Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general.
According to information collected by RSF, on 10 May 2001, the Shenzhen authorities in charge of publications and the Shenzhen Municipal Communist Party Committee banned the sale of “Nanfang Dushi Bao”, published by the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee. The authorities said the decision was necessary to “cleanse the market of pornographic, counter-revolutionary and illegal contents.” According to “Nanfang Dushi Bao” articles quoted by the newspaper “Hong Kong iMail”, the ban is due to the popularity of the newspaper in the special economic zone, which neighbours Hong Kong. The Shenzhen authorities are allegedly trying to eliminate their local newspapers’ competitor, whose editorial content escapes their control. The editors of “Nanfang Dushi Bao” reported on the ban extensively and criticised it. More than two hundred people were contracted to sell the newspaper in the city’s streets.
According to a Hong Kong newspaper, in the same week, Shenzhen authorities also banned “Wen Wei Po” and “Ta Kung Pao”, two of the rare Hong Kong dailies authorised in the city. This could be a way to promote a newspaper they control, the “Hong Kong Commercial Daily”.
