"Please release him," read the simple headline in three large-type Chinese characters on the front page of the October 23rd edition of New Express, a newspaper in the southern city of Guangzhou. Even with its polite phrasing, the front-page plea-and a sarcastic accompanying editorial-marked an unusually confrontational tone for a Chinese newspaper. The object of the plea was Chen Yong-zhou, a reporter who had written 15 articles alleging financial irregularities by Zoom- lion, a maker of construction equipment in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, 700km (435 miles) away. Mr Chen, said the editorial, was detained in Guangzhou by police from Changsha "on suspicion of damaging the commercial reputation" of Zoomlion.
展开▼
