The Chinese Communists have picked Pat Oliphant be the first American political to regularly appear in a Chinese newspaper.

Oliphant, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1967, is expected to begin appearing in The Beijing Youth Daily within the next month, Universal said.

The message will be that "this is the way you should talk to your leaders and about your leaders," Oliphant said. "The way leaders should be criticized."

Beijing Youth Daily, with a circulation of 600,000, is the second-largest newspaper in China's capital. In December it became the first state media outfit to sell shares to foreign investors.

"We are pleased that we could ... be part of this historic movement toward a greater freedom of expression in China," said John McMeel, chairman of Andrews McMeel Universal, the parent company of Universal Press.

The newspaper, founded in 1955, is controlled by the Communist Youth League. While the government's grip on the media appears to be loosening, the Youth Daily still must observe official censorship rules.

Want to bet he was chosen because he is among the most anti-US editorial cartoonists who originate from this country? The Chinese people will get to see that “even the Americans think the American government is evil.”

No, the real sign of a loosening of press freedom is when the paper starts printing daily editorials and columns from the pages of the Wall Street Journal.

Posted by: Greg at 12:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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