Chinese Official's Threat Sets Off a Media Furor

In another era, the brusque response of Li Hongzhong, the governor of Hubei Province, to a reporter's question about a scandal on his home turf might have been the end of it. Infuriated that the reporter would even ask about the case — in which a waitress at a karaoke bar killed a government official in self-defense — he threatened to go to her boss, seized her audio recorder and marched off, according to reports of the encounter.

But instead of fizzling out, the March 7 episode has blossomed into a cause célèbre for free-press advocates in China. In a rare display of unity, journalists, lawyers, academics and activists posted a letter of protest on the Internet demanding the governor's resignation. Two Communist Party elders publicly condemned his behavior. And a storm of discussion erupted online before the authorities could contain it. Chinese media analysts say the reaction was a sign of a slow boil in the media over tighter government restraints. While the authorities have effectively reined in the media in the last year, Chang Ping, a prominent media commentator, said the Internet had vastly complicated their task.


Chinese Official's Threat Sets Off a Media Furor