Freedom of Speech with Chinese Characteristics II

I don't believe the government in Beijing approved of this. It is an example of how local governments outside of Beijing's influence have run riot. One phone call from a Beijing official to the reporter from the People's Daily would have shut him down, no need to get physical. I suspect there will be harsh repercussions for the government that authorized it.

Chinese journalists probing a bridge collapse that killed dozens of people said they were harassed and beaten by local thugs, exposing the state-run media's see-saw struggle between control and candor.

Five reporters, including one from the ruling Communist Party's own People's Daily, were interviewing distraught relatives of the dead when seven or so men burst in, according to China Public Opinion Monitor, a Web site that reports on human rights complaints (www.383983.cn).

"The reporters demanded that they show their identification but were refused, and then suddenly one of the men kicked (People's Daily reporter) Wang Weijian in the stomach," the account said, adding that journalists from the China Youth Daily and Southern Metropolitan Daily were also kicked and punched.