China Media Project has the latest on celebrated journalist Zhang Ping (aka Chang Ping), who was recently removed from his post as deputy editor of Southern Metropolis Weekly after he made calls for greater freedom of speech in the wake of the Lhasa riots:
Veteran journalist Zhang Ping (张平) may have been removed this week from his post as deputy editor of Nandu Weekly — but he has certainly not been silenced. His latest editorial appears at the bottom of the main editorial page of today’s Southern Metropolis Daily, tucked in snugly next to an announcement of an upcoming public talk by CASS scholar Xu Youyu (徐友渔) on the subject of “Rationality and Patriotism.”
…Today’s editorial, while dealing more indirectly with the controversy over previous comments by “Chang Ping”, shows the newspaper’s determination to press for more rational and open discussion on the basis of such universal values as freedom of expression.
