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Chinese newspaper apologises after public outcry at anti-Chen editorial

The Chinese newspaper, The Beijing News, appeared to offer an apology for its editorial which criticised the US and the Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, after widespread outcry by the Chinese public. 

In a move seen to be in line with pro-government newspapers, The Beijing News, launched an attack on Guangecheng in its editorial on Friday, along side the US ambassador Gary Locke, with whom the activist had sought sanctuary at the US embassy for six days.

The editorial provoked widespread criticism from the Chinese public however, who accused the newspaper of simply toeing China's communist party line. Much of the criticism, which mainly expressed online on the blogging site Sina Weibo, was promptly deleted by authorities. (See here, here, and here).

One comment that escaped deletion came from the former editor-in-chief of the Xiaoxiang Morning Post, Gong Xiaoyue, who wrote,

“The Beijing News has been raped. And Beijing Daily has again screwed out a climax. No one seems to have any shame.”

The Beijing News' sister paper, The Beijing Daily, launched a rather personal attack on the US ambassador in its Friday editorial, mocking him for flying economy class and using a coupon to pay for his Starbucks coffee.

The Chinese public were unimpressed. The strength of reaction against the newspaper online led to the banning of the search term "Beijing Daily" in Chinese on Friday evening. Internet users were instead greeted with the message: “These search results cannot be shown according to relevant laws, regulations and policies.”

Responding to the public anger against its coverage, The Beijing News appeared to offer an apology the next day. On its Sina Weibo blog the newspaper posted a black and white photograph of a sad clown smoking a cigarette. The caption under the image read:  在夜深人寂时,卸下言不由衷的面具,对真实的自己说声“对不起”。晚安。

“In the still of the deep night, removing that mask of insincerity, we say to our true selves, ‘I am sorry.’ Goodnight.”

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