A row at an official Chinese newspaper over a fawning article about Communist Party chief Hu Jintao has broken into the open, with some staff saying it rekindled memories of a Mao Zedong-style personality cult.
Newspapers are controlled by the party and required to sing its praises, but many and have become increasingly outspoken in the past two decades after state subsidies were slashed and they were left to fend for themselves.
Li Fang, 34, the chief commentator of the progressive China Youth Daily, had tendered his resignation after coming under pressure from superiors to praise Hu in the newspaper commentary in July, colleagues said.