Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Is Freedom of the Press Coming to China?

A censorship fight between China's communist leaders and a rebellious newspaper in Guangdong province seems to have ended for now. Staffers at Southern Weekend, who went on strike when a propaganda official rewrote an editorial, returned to work and published the paper as scheduled on Thursday. There was no mention of the clash in its pages.

But what happens next remains unclear. Does the deal struck between Southern Weekend and government officials, which reportedly gives the paper greater editorial control, augur a move toward greater press freedom nationwide, or simply a return to business as usual under authoritarian rule?

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