Chinese publishing watchdog has announced four cases of "illegal"
journalism as part of a campaign to "clean up" the publishing industry in the
run up to the Olympics.
In one case, the Coastal Times, based in south China's Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region, set up a reporting bureau in northeast China's Liaoning
province without official approval, the National Anti-Pornography and
Anti-Piracy Office revealed.
In two other cases, fake press cards were found in north China's Shanxi
province. The fourth case involved illegal newspaper production and sales in the
southwest Chongqing and northern Tianjin municipalities.
A spokesman for the office said another six cases of pornography production
and sales had been reported in Heilongjiang, Shandong, Fujian, Jiangsu and
Shanxi provinces. Most of the cases involved Internet publications.
The office gave no other details.
Law enforcement officials seized more than 46.1 million illegal publications
in the first half of 2008, including 1.6 million items of pornography, 50,000
smuggled discs and 1.07 million copies of illegal newspapers and magazines, said
the spokesman.
The authorities dealt with 12,838 illegal publication cases, convicting 256
offenders. Eight pirate disk production lines were destroyed.
An official with the office said the figures proved the government's
intention to ensure intellectual property rights, and the intention to ensure a
"good culture and communication environment" for the Beijing Olympics Games.
The Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Culture, the General
Administration of Customs and other government agencies were stepping up joint
efforts against illegal publications, focusing on their production and trade,
said the spokesman.
