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Social disaster warned

Beijing: A group of retired senior officials and academics, including Mao Zedong's former secretary, have called for more openness, warning China's propaganda department that the media crackdown ``could sow the seeds of disaster for political and social transition.'' In a rare sign of friction between the old and new guard of the Communist party, the 13 cadres, many of whom were once leading opinion formers, said the closure last month of the pioneering liberal publication Freezing Point was a ``major historic incident.'' Their joint statement, published on an overseas Web site, was all the more remarkable because it was signed by officials who formerly helped dictate the propaganda policy. Among them was Hu Jiwei, former editor of the Communist party mouthpiece, People's Daily, the former propaganda official, Zhu Houze, the retired deputy head of the Xinhua news agency, Li Pu, and the former head of the China Youth Daily group, Zhong Peizhang. Despite their former positions, many of the signatories have a record of refusing to be gagged. —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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