Blogger's magazine postponed due to censorship

• Source: Global Times
• [18:30 February 25 2010]
• Comments

By Zhang Cao

Han Han, the popular Shanghai writer and one of the most popular bloggers in China, claimed in a blog Tuesday that the opening of his tentative Soloist Group magazine was postponed again due to government censorship.

The magazine was expected to launch as early as last May but it was put off several times. He named the magazine Revival of Literature and Art at first, but the name was not approved by the state’s General Administration of Press and Publication.

“We’ve already finished the maiden edition, but most of the articles are censored by the publishing house. I changed some articles but still cannot be approved. In order to ensure the quality of the magazine, we will continue to communicate with the publishing house,” Han Han wrote in his blog.

Han Han, born in Shanghai in 1982 and a high school dropout, has published 16 books since 1999. He is also a professional racer on the Shanghai Volkswagen 333 Team.

His blog ranks first on sina.com’s most popular blog list. On Febuary 7, he wrote an article criticizing the Internet monitoring system in China. The article was immediately blocked by the government.

 “At first, I wanted to do a liberated magazine. Unfortunately, the idea is difficult to achieve due to the censorship. But I don’t want to compromise and just do a traditional magazine,” Han Han wrote in his blog last month.

In Tuesday’s blog, Han Han wrote: “Some people suspect that I am using some foreign organizations’ money to establish the magazine. I don’t know what they are talking about. I have invested 1.2 million yuan ($176,471), all the money I made from racing, in the operation of the magazine.”

Because of financial problems with the new magazine, Han Han said he now had to participate in some commercial activities he had previously scorned. At the end of his blog page he recommended anti-virus software in order to raise “more money for the magazine.”