The

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges the Communist Party of

China (CPC) to lift the restrictive order attempting to prevent a retired

professor from exercising his constitutional rights of freedom of speech.

Du Guang, 83,

a CPC member and retired professor of the

Central Committee of the CPC’s Party School, had intended to publish his new book ‘Getting Back to Democracy’ in Hong Kong

on March 1.

However, on the eve of publication,Chen Baosheng, the Vice Principal and Party Secretary of the Central Party School,

backed by senior Communist Party leaders, ordered that the publication be

stopped.

Bao Pu, publisher

of the book, told the IFJ that publication of the book was halted due to an

allegation contained within the book that senior party leader and member of the

CPC Politburo Standing Committee, Wu Bang Guo, had misunderstood the original ideals

of the Party. In the book, Du blames Wu for leading China towards a one-party

dictatorship rather than a democracy.

According to a

report by the Washington Post, the

book does not lampoon the CPC nor challenge its authority, but rather dissects

its policies and traces how far it has drifted from its early ideals.

“Du has

received a lot of pressure from senior members of the Party and has been warned

not to accept any interviews from the media”, Bao said, “but the book will be

published on March 15, 2012 because the CPC’s order has no authority in Hong

Kong which operates under the ‘One Country ,Two Systems’ model”.

Under Article 35 of China’s Constitution, all Chinese

citizens enjoy freedom of publication. 

“By

attempting to stop publication of Du Guang’s work, it is clear that the

Communist Party of China is violating its commitments to publishing freedom

under China’s Constitution”, the IFJ Asia-Pacific

Office said.

“We remind China’s authorities of their obligations to

respect the country’s laws, as well as Hong Kong’s

autonomy under the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ model”.

The IFJ urges

China’s Vice-President and the

Principal of the Party

School, Xi Jinping, to investigate

this incident of infringement of publishing freedom and take steps to ensure

members of the CCP at all levels respect the rights enshrined in the country’s Constitution.       

For further

information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific

on +61 2 9333 0950 

The IFJ

represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries

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the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific

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