Chinese editor in limbo over Tibet piece
GUANGZHOU, China (AP) - An editor's career at a popular magazine in southern China appeared to be in limbo Wednesday after he wrote an opinion article that challenged the government on the prickly issues of censorship and Tibet.
Zhang Ping's situation illustrates the risks of bucking China's government at a sensitive time. It is also an example of the often ambiguous ways the country's Communist officialdom makes its displeasure known.
The Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders has said Zhang was fired as deputy editor in chief at the Southern Weekend for writing his commentary. The publication is part of a media group famous for testing the limits of press freedom in China.
But Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted the newspaper group's deputy editor in chief, Jiang Yiping, on Tuesday as saying that reports about Zhang's dismissal were "utter nonsense" and that his job was not affected by the commentary last month. Jiang did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press.
Zhang gave only cryptic answers during a telephone interview Wednesday. "It's not convenient for me to accept interviews now," he said when asked if he had been fired.
He also declined to say whether his position has changed at the publication. "It's not convenient for me to confirm that," he said.
The writer sparked an angry backlash in Internet chat groups and on the editorial pages of other newspapers by writing an April 3 commentary, "How to find the truth about Lhasa?" The piece discussed Western media coverage of the violent Tibetan protests in March.
Many Chinese felt that foreign news reports were biased, and Zhang said he generally agreed with that assessment. But he also wondered whether China's state-run media were properly covering the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who is vilified in the official Chinese press.
"The Dalai Lama asked the Chinese government to reassess him, so what kind of person is he really? Apart from the official government position, will the media be permitted to discuss the matter freely and uncover more truths?" he said in the article, printed in the Southern Metropolis Daily, a sister publication of Southern Weekend.
Zhang also said that if Chinese readers really cared about news values and flawed Western media reports, they should also challenge the government's tight control over Chinese news sources and media.
The Southern Metropolis Daily has a reputation for aggressive reporting and provocative opinion pieces. Some of its reporters have been jailed after apparently angering officials.
- Re: Deputy editor in chief at the Southern Weekend fired over Tibet pieceposted on 05/07/2008
What does everyone think about this "Reporter Without Borders" organization?
Look at what you did lately, support Tibet Independent, Interupt Olympic torch relay... I don't give a damn what they are saying...
zt wrote:
Chinese editor in limbo over Tibet piece
GUANGZHOU, China (AP) - >
...The Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders has said ... - Re: Deputy editor in chief at the Southern Weekend fired over Tibet pieceposted on 05/07/2008
You can search wikipedia.com for controversy surrounding the Reporters Without Boundary.
One problem is that it fights for free press, but not for fair press, as we all know they are not the same by now.
- Re: Deputy editor in chief at the Southern Weekend fired over Tibet pieceposted on 05/07/2008
Let's not forget that free press may not be fair, but fair press has to be free. How could it be otherwise? - Re: Deputy editor in chief at the Southern Weekend fired over Tibet pieceposted on 05/07/2008
touche wrote:
Let's not forget that free press may not be fair, but fair press has to be free. How could it be otherwise?
Cannot agree more.
Same should apply to web forum, Cafe included. 好像刚看到abc的一个帖子,一眨眼又没了,不知是不是我在幻觉。 - posted on 05/08/2008
Wow, my emotional words have brought comments or disagreement of café’s giants…
I may be a little too blunt and emotional in my words, but here are the reasons...
Lately, I’ve been reading quite some books written by western journalists about China, Tibet and Myanmar etc… Some authors are members of this organization “Reporters/Journalists Without Borders”. I am surprised so many of them are really aimed at splitting China, especially more recent articles and books. They really want China to follow prior Soviet Union’s foot steps … The ultimate goal is to split China into pieces…
As for free press, China’s current situation is not that great, but I feel it has improved tremendously in the last few decades… Quite some articles from Southern Post and/or other journals, are pretty liberal… But this organization “Reporters Without Borders” has ill-willed purposes in their minds and want to stir up situation to achieving their goals…
- Re: Deputy editor in chief at the Southern Weekend fired over Tibet pieceposted on 05/08/2008
xy:
Which books did you read?
I read "Oracle bones", and "China Lesson". I like "Oracle bone" much better. - posted on 05/08/2008
Pepper:
I’m reading a couple of them at the same time, flipping pages, not in great detail…
I like "War at the top of the world" very much. Here is a few...
The Dragon in the Land of Snows, by Tséring Shakya
War at the Top of the World: The Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir and Tibet, by Eric Margolis
Dragon Rising: An Inside Look at China Today, by Jasper Becker
The Chinese, also by Jasper Becker
Globalization, by George Soros
China Shakes the World: A Titan's Breakneck Rise and Troubled Future -- and the Challenge for America, by James Kynge
pepper wrote:
xy:
Which books did you read?
I read "Oracle bones", and "China Lesson". I like "Oracle bone" much better. - posted on 05/08/2008
xy:
The books you read seem very negative about China. I can understand why. Image someone from a city is sent to countryside to live ten years. The fist year is probably OK, then he will realize the harsh reality of countryside living. The Americans look at China by measuring the difference between US and China, while we look at it by the progress it has made.
"River Town " and "Oracle Bones" are really different in that the author himself is from a working family in the South (the first one in his family to go to the college). Highly recommended.
- posted on 05/08/2008
Pepper:
Thank you for your recommendation. I’ll try to get those books and read them later…
For the books I’m reading now, some of them are ok, typical western perspectives. I don’t mind reading them even when the books are very negative about China. I do want to understand them and see how bad it can go. I read them, but it does not mean I agree with them. I read Wang LiXiong’s Tibet book too, but I don’t like Wang’s stand in Tibet issues at all. There are deep differences within oversea Chinese regarding Tibet and overall China’s progress and position…
Have a great day!!!
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