Beijing targets online political rumors

A Beijing government official said this week the city would crackdown on Internet users spreading political rumors that attack Chinese Communist party leaders, after authorities arrested 5,007 people suspected of online illegal activities.

The head of Beijing's public security bureau, Fu Zhenghua, made the statements, which were later published in various state-controlled publications on Thursday. The statements came just days after a major rain storm hit the capital during the weekend and left 37 people within the city dead, according to government estimates. Internet users in the country, however, suspect the death toll may be higher, and have complained that authorities did little to warn residents about the impending storm. China, however, imposes strict censorship on anti-government discussion, and has deleted sensitive posts relating to the storm on Chinese blogs and Twitter-like sites in the country.