http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSPEK15387820080506
Chinese editor fired over Tibet commentaries
Tue May 6, 2008 4:52am EDT
BEIJING (Reuters) - A renowned Chinese columnist has lost his job at a
magazine over commentaries on unrest in Tibet which did not conform
with the official line, a watchdog group and a source with knowledge
of the dismissal said on Tuesday.
Zhang Ping, who writes under the pen name Chang Ping, was sacked as
deputy chief editor of the Southern Metropolis Weekly magazine, the
Paris-based Re****ters Without Borders said.
The group said in an e-mail Zhang's departure was "because of his
editorials about Tibet", including the controversial piece "How to
find the truth about Lhasa?"
"We deplore this unfair removal of a well-known member of the liberal
press," the statement said.
Zhang declined to comment when reached by telephone. The source,
requesting anonymity, confirmed the sacking but declined to provide
further details.
Violent anti-Chinese riots broke out in Tibet and Tibetan-populated
areas in neighboring provinces in March, with mobs killing about 20
non-Tibetan civilians, the Chinese government says. The Tibetan
government-in-exile puts the figure at more than 200, most victims of
a subsequent crackdown.
The crackdown led to protests by exiled Tibetans around the world and
a troubled international leg of the Olympic torch relay for the
Beijing Games in August.
Zhang's articles were published mainly in his magazine's sister
newspaper, the Southern Metropolis Daily, and called on the government
to allow more media freedom in covering the Tibet riots and to review
its policy on Tibet.
The commentaries drew an angry backlash from a large number of
Internet users, who accused Zhang of being a traitor and downplaying
the violence by Tibetans as well as the perceived anti-China bias of
Western media.
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