Jiao Guobiao, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Peking University, published an essay in late March on the Internet blasting the “Central Propaganda Department”, an arm of the Communist Party and China supreme censorship authority.
In some of the fiercest criticism against the draconian watchdog ever launched in China, Prof. Jiao accused the department of stifling press freedom and political reform, comparing it to the notorious Inquisition in Medieval Europe.
The essay, which has been largely wiped out of domestic Chinese cyberspace, appeared in countless overseas Chinese sites. Chinanewsman.net, a Hebei-based Web blog provider, was shut down last week. Users suspect that was related also to essay, which was quoted by multiple Chinanewsman bloggers.
Read the essay (in Chinese)