Officials Ban Dozens of Papers, Seize Thousands of Political Publications, in 2005

Chinese authorities banned 79 newspapers and periodicals and seized 169 million illegal publications in 2005, according to a January 18 Xinhua report citing government statistics. The announcement came the day after the National Sweep Away Pornography and Strike Down Illegal Publications Task Force held its 19th telephone conference, according to a January 18 China News Agency report (in Chinese, via Xinhua). The China News Agency report cited Liu Yunshan, a Communist Party Central Committee member who also serves as secretary of the Secretariat and Director of the Central Propaganda Department, as calling on officials throughout China to "strike hard at illegal political publications and forcefully purify all types of cultural markets."

Although comprehensive figures are not available, reports in China's state controlled media indicate that government agencies confiscated hundreds of thousands of the publications because of their political and/or religious content:

• Gansu province: 2,800 illegal political publications, according to a December 23 Lanzhou Daily report (in Chinese, via Xinhua).
• Jiangxi province: 5,519 illegal political publications, according to a January 18 Jiangxi Daily report (in Chinese, via Xinhua).
• Liaoning province: 4,965 illegal political publications and 155,000 Falun Gong and other "evil cult organization" publications, according to a January 18 Liaoning Television report (in Chinese).
• Shanxi province: 6,233 illegal political publications and Falun Gong propaganda materials, according to a January 18 Shanxi Evening News report (in Chinese, via the Shanxi Daily Web site).
• Tibet Autonomous Region: 147,230 illegal poltical publications, 54 "Dalai Lama splittist group reactionary publications," and 3,223 "reactionary propaganda" materials, according to a January 18 Xinhua report (in Chinese).
• Yunnan province: 12,000 illegal political publications, according to a January 18 Yunnan Daily report (in Chinese).

China's law requires that every publication in China have a book number, the distribution of which is controlled by the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP). This requirement is one of several prior restraints the Chinese government employs to ensure that it retains control over all publishing in China. For example, in November 2005 a Beijing court jailed Cai Zhuohua, a house church minister, and two of his family members for printing and giving away Bibles and other Christian literature without a government license.

The numbers of banned and confiscated publications are roughly identical to those of 2004, when Xinhua and other official government news sources reported that Chinese authorities confiscated over 200 million "illegal publications," and banned at least 60 news, law, education, and lifestyle publications.

The CECC has previously reported on the government's announcements regarding its newspaper and periodical censorship in 2005:

• On April 18, the GAPP announced it had banned 19 newspapers.
• On April 26, the GAPP announced it had banned 60 magazines, stating that it was necessary to "strengthen the work of reading and evaluating [publications], and tracking down the source and background situation of contents that have severe problems." Some of the titles of the banned publications include: "China Economics," "Prosperous China," "Finance and Technology," "Contemporary Mathematics and Administration," "A Guide to Government Procurement," and "Chinese and Foreign Legal Systems."

For additional information on Chinese government censorship, please see the CECC's 2005 Annual Report - III(c) Freedom of Expression -- Government Censorship.