Central Party and Government Officials Praise Gansu for Banning Over 10,000 Books and Periodicals, Some for Having "Political Problems"

A group composed of six inspectors from the Communist Party Central Propaganda Department, the National Sweep Away Pornography and Strike Down Illegal Publications Task Force, and the General Administration of Press and Publication praised officials in Gansu province for the success of their recently-concluded campaign against illegal publications, according to a September 12 article on the People's Daily Web site. The article stated that Zhou Dexiang, director of the Gansu Press and Publication Administration, told the inspectors that during that campaign, which lasted from mid-June until the end of August, authorities in Gansu confiscated 12,600 "pornographic, political, and other illegal books and periodicals."