Chinese censor dies with wish not to be ‘sinner’

The former in-house censor of China’s leading liberal news-paper, Southern Weekly, has died, but not before writing a confession saying he did not want to be remembered as an “sinner against history”.

Zeng Li, who died on Wednesday, became well known earlier this year during a stand-off between the journalists at the newspaper and the local propaganda authorities.

In an online blog at the time, he revealed details of how censorship restrictions from the authorities had operated at the newspaper.

In a poignant farewell letter, written on 28 March, Mr Zeng looked back at his time at the Southern Weekly, which is known for its hard-hitting investigative reporting.

He wrote: “Looking back on the last four years, I made mistakes. I have killed some drafts that I shouldn’t have killed, I have deleted some content that I shouldn’t have deleted, but in the end I woke up, I preferred not to carry out to end my political mission and go against my conscience. I don’t want to be a sinner against history.”