China celebrities back censorship protest

BEIJING (AFP) - China's blogosphere and celebrities - many with millions of followers - are backing journalists at a newspaper embroiled in a censorship row after hundreds of people held a rare protest demanding greater press freedom.

The support on Tuesday came after hundreds of people in Guangzhou gathered on Monday at the office of Southern Weekly, a popular liberal newspaper which had an article urging reforms to uphold people's rights censored by an official.

Mr Wang Keqin, an investigative reporter from another newspaper, posted on China's Twitter-like Weibo service on Tuesday: "A black hand closes heavy, black curtain, blocking brightness and fresh air as there is no weekend any more in the south."

The paper's Chinese name translates as Southern Weekend but it is widely known as Southern Weekly in English.