A supporter of Southern Weekly newspaper in a wheelchair stages a protest outside the headquarters of the newspaper in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013. Communist Party-backed management and rebellious editors at the influential weekly newspaper have defused a high-profile standoff over censorship that turned into a test of the new Chinese leadership's tolerance for political reform. The banners read "Support Southern Weekly, Protest against intervention on media, Defend press freedom." (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
China newspaper publishes after deal ends standoff
A supporter of Southern Weekly newspaper in a wheelchair stages a protest outside the headquarters of the newspaper in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013. Communist Party-backed management and rebellious editors at the influential weekly newspaper have defused a high-profile standoff over censorship that turned into a test of the new Chinese leadership's tolerance for political reform. The banners read "Support Southern Weekly, Protest against intervention on media, Defend press freedom." (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
By DIDI TANG
Associated Press /
January 9, 2013
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Even if censorship largely remains intact, the standoff has showed the breadth of support independent-minded media like Southern Weekly have among many Chinese, who are wired to the Internet and increasingly sophisticated in their expectations of the government.
That may give censors pause in the future, said David Bandurski, a China media expert at Hong Kong University.
‘‘It might make them more cautious on how they handle the media,’’ he said.
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Associated Press writers Gillian Wong and Charles Hutzler and researchers Zhao Liang and Flora Ji in Beijing contributed to this report.
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