A second case since MSN deleted Anti’s blog. Now Baidu is in action. From Radio Free Asia’s Mandarin service and Li Xinde’s Yulun Jiandu Wang (ËàÜËÆ∫ÁõëÁù£ÁΩë), compiled and translated by CDT:
Citizen journalist Li Xinde’s corruption-exposing web site was reportedly blocked by Fujian Province’s Xiamen public security authorities, who charged that there was “harmful information” on the site. It stoked speculation that Li Xinde’s articles offended those in power and thus his site was asked to be shut down. (His site was deleted, but yuluncn.com was still accessible outside China.)
Then a couple of days later on Jan. 11, while Li was out on a reporting trip, he suddenly found his Baidu blog deleted without any notice. “I think, as a big public company, Baidu shouldn’t be this mean, not saying a word!” Li complains in a letter published on his site. When you try to log onto his Baidu blog, Baidu says “this space has been restricted or deleted! (ËØ•Á©∫Èó¥Â∑≤Ë¢´ÈôêÂà∂ËÆøÈóÆÊàñÂà†Èô§!)”
Li describes Baidu deleting his blog as “worse coming to worst,” in the wake of Xiamen shutting down his site, which hadn’t had any problem while he had it hosted for two years on a server in Zhejiang. “I liked Baidu blog, not only because of its technology, but it is also a big company and is supposed to observe the most basic business ethics,” Li says. He expressed “deep regret” over Baidu’s unilateral action and is not sure whether Baidu will give him a reasonable explanation. [Full Text of Li’s letter in Chinese]
– CDT’s coverage of Li Xinde
– RFA mandarin service’s Chinese report on Xiamen shutting down Li Xinde site and the audio report
