Protests against China's media censorship escalate

Chinese journalists who began striking on Sunday after provincial government censors altered part of a Guangzhou paper were joined by several hundred people on Monday, an escalation of the first political crisis to take place under China’s new leadership, Financial Times reported. The protests come after censors altered a pro-reform editorial last week at the popular and sometimes-contrarian paper Southern Weekend. The protestors presented flowers and called for greater press freedom, and a number of reporters and editors at the paper said they would strike until the matter is resolved. According to a separate report, well-known Chinese academics circulated an open letter over the weekend calling for the resignation of Guangdong propaganda chief Tuo Zhen, who was responsible for censoring the Southern Weekend article.