Censorship blocks China's view of Taiwan's democracy

Want China Times, CNA 2013-01-31

Covers of National History magazine. (Internet photo)

A Chinese magazine dedicated to history has been forced to halt the release of a February issue that was to chronicle Taiwan's democratic transformation, a Shanghai-based newspaper reported Tuesday.

National History magazine, published by the state-run Chengdu Xianfeng Culture Media based in Sichuan province, had compiled a series of articles authored by Taiwanese writers for a special February edition titled Taiwan's Foot, the Oriental Daily News reported.

Citing Chengdu Xianfeng deputy editor-in-chief Da Hai, the newspaper confirmed that the magazine, which is circulated nationwide, stopped the release of its February edition "due to an inappropriate selection of topics."

Da said there will be a combined issue for February and March, which "will be delivered to subscribers on time," the report said.

The publisher also said that the combined edition "has been sent to news and publication management authorities to serve as a record based on the relevant regulations."

It is the latest of a number of recent attempts at censorship by Chinese authorities eager to maintain tight control over the media. Journalists at the Southern Weekly, a noted liberal weekly published in Guangzhou, went on strike in early January after a Communist Party propaganda chief dramatically altered the publication's call for greater constitutional rights.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at the time that "there's no so-called press censorship system in China."

On Tuesday, the Oriental Daily News quoted Sun Zhan, National History's executive editor, as saying that his team had worked on the special edition for six months, inviting 14 Taiwanese writers, including Yang Tu, Chang Tieh-chih and Chu Tien-yi, to write articles on Taiwan's political transformation over the past 100 years.

Some of the writers witnessed the transformation, Sun said, and a lot of the content would have been revealed publicly for the first time.

National History magazine, founded in September 2007, is touted as China's first news journal focusing on historical events. It has a circulation of over 100,000 copies a month.　

References:

National History　　看歷史 

Taiwan's Foot　　台灣之足

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