We Admit It's Wrong, But It's Not Changing

A Chinese author talks about the censors.

The office that Chinese writers, artists, and journalists dread and hate most is the Chinese Communist Party’s Propaganda Department. In addition to its propaganda work within the party, this department, through its numerous bureaus, also supervises the country’s newspapers, publishing houses, radio and TV stations, movie industry, and the Internet. Except for the Military Commission, no department in the Party Central Committee wields more power than this office, which forms the core of the party’s leadership.

He notices inconsistent punishment for challengers, and makes some bold statements.

.....the authorities no longer try to justify actions that obviously have no legal grounds, but their decisions remain unchanged.

First, the Communist Party, despite its powerful appearance, has become quite fragile, weak within. No party members believe in the ideal of communism anymore......In other words, the party can no longer derive any justification from the firm belief in its ideology, so challenges such as those made by Jiao and Zhang can put officials on the defensive.

Second, both Jiao and Zhang belong to the so-called elite class, which the authorities have avoided exasperating.

Third, Jiao and Zhang were well connected within the country and with the outside world, and they occupied a conspicuous spot in the public eye.