Posted on 09/14/2006 6:07:45 PM PDT by Momaw Nadon
BEIJING (AFP) - A Chinese cartoonist has been suspended for one month after drawing an image of a weeping President Hu Jintao, Hong Kong media said.
Kuang Biao, a 40-year-old artist working for the New Express based in south China's Guangzhou city, said he received the order to temporarily lay down his pen on Wednesday, the South China Morning Post reported.
The measure was taken two days after the paper printed the depiction of Hu, shedding tears while replying to a letter from the daughter of a university professor who recently died from overwork at the age of 48.
"President Hu was not only writing to the daughter. He's also writing to all hard-working teachers around the country ... He's showing a lot of care for the country's teachers as well as the bereft family," the cartoon's caption said.
Chinese media, including photographers and even cartoonists, are expected by the government to portray the country's top leaders in a positive light, and are never supposed to embarrass them.
The rules, however, are not always clearly spelled out.
While cartoons portraying US President George W. Bush in an unflattering way would not cause anyone to blink, depictions of Chinese leaders in anything but confident, smiling, caring or pensive images are unusual.
They are almost never shown crying, even at funerals of revolutionary elders.
The artist told the South China Morning Post he believed the one-month suspension was a "pre-emptive move."
"It's a gesture by the newspaper to show that action has been taken against their wayward journalist," he said. "Sometimes in China, a good offense is the best defense."
Staff at the newspaper declined comment when contacted by AFP Thursday.
The rules seem pretty clear to me.
Are muslims angered? What is the feel in the arab street?
The Chineze are complete JACKASSES, but then again the corrupt US polititions that sell out everything to them are even more...
China has a long history of encouraging constructive critism and then jailing those that do. Most Chinese keep their mouths shut except to their most trusted friends and family.
Clinton's friends.
Algore's friends.
Hey hey hu hu, said the cartoonist.
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