A former reporter at the state news agency Xinhua sharply criticized the Chinese government’s growing appetite for censorship in a recent open letter to the country's annual parliament, which closes Tuesday in Beijing. Zhou Fang, a former top investigative reporter at Xinhua, which is closely controlled by the ruling Chinese Communist Party, sent his letter following the deletion last month of social media accounts belonging to celebrity tweeter and property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang. "Government departments have completely disregarded the constitution and the principle of ruling by law in recent years," Zhou wrote. "Instead, they have set themselves up as the arbiters of public opinion." Read more
