China’s internet regulator has put a halt to original reporting by some of the country’s biggest online news portals, the latest step in President Xi Jinping’s bid to curb the nation’s media.
The move, which may force Sina and other internet companies to abandon their newsgathering operations, is the clearest signal yet that in Mr Xi’s China the state aims to have complete control over dissemination of news — just as it did under Mao Zedong in the founding days of the People’s Republic.
It comes four months after Mr Xi made a highly publicised tour of the three pillars of Chinese party-state propaganda — Xinhua news agency, the People’s Daily newspaper, and China Central Television — emphasising the need to put fealty to the party above all else.