According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), Changjiang Commerce Newspaper in Hubei Province recently carried a news article reporting that 3,000 elementary students in Ma Chen City need to carry their own desks with them when they go to school. After this news was published, the reporter was threatened and the newspaper’s Deputy Editor was removed.
The reporter, Zhang Xuerong, posted on his micro-blog that, since the news was published, he has received one text message after another warning him not to cause trouble. He had established a donation campaign to collect funds so the school could buy desks, but he had to stop it.
According to RFA, Changjiang Commerce Newspaper refused to comment on the removal of their Deputy Editor. An Internet writer told RFA that all the news media in China are currently under tight scrutiny due to the sensitivity of the upcoming Party Congress. Another overseas scholar expressed his concern about the lack investment in education in China and the imbalance between the city and the countryside in the allocation of resources for education.
Source: Radio Free Asia, September 6, 2012
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/xql-09062012162032.html