SCMP: Former Editor of "Tong Zhou Gong Jin" Stripped of Political Post

In September and October 2004, several sources reported that Xiao Weibin, editor-in-chief of the magazine "Tong Zhou Gong Jin," was fired for publishing an interview with former Guangdong Party leader Ren Zhongyi. In December 2004, the South China Morning Post reported that Ren Zhongyi and four other members of the six-member Tong Zhou Gong Jin advisory board had resigned to protest Xiao’s dismissal.

On March 16, the SCMP published an article reporting that Xiao has now been stripped of his seat on Guangdong province's People's Political Consultative Conference, after he refused to sign a letter of resignation. The article also cited Xu Youyu, a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, as saying: "Freedom of expression should not be punished like a common crime. It's because they exercised their right to voice their opinion that they are punished."