A top Chinese political adviser said on Sunday that he plans to present a proposal on guaranteeing freedom of expression after a report containing his comments on the topic has been blocked in the country's social media.
China's People's Political Consultative Conference member and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics professor Jiang Hong said that he wants to present the proposal to ensure that citizens would be able to enjoy their legal rights to expression at all times, the Global Times reported.
Jiang made the remark after an article containing his comments on the subject has been blocked in several of the country's social media sites. The article, which was published on the news website Caixin.com, stated that citizens' right to express themselves need to be protected.
However, the article has since been blocked by the social media and messaging platform WeChat. And while the original article is still available on Caixin, the site's report on the blocking incident was taken down.
The adviser expressed concern about the legality of such actions, saying that, as there have been a lot of cases of deleting and blocking of posts online, these should be done in accordance with established rules and regulations.
Jiang stressed that he is certain that the controversial piece did not violate any existing law.
Earlier, Chinese Internet authorities also blocked the social media accounts of popular blogger and businessman Ren Zhiqiang. According to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the blocking of Ren's account was in accordance with the guidelines set in the recently passed National Security Law, Minzhuzhonggo.org reported.
CAC spokesperson Jiang Jun stressed that the Internet "is not a lawless field" and that it should not be used to "spread illegal information."
According to a person close to the property mogul, the blocking of Ren's accounts in Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo may have been due to the criticisms he made against Chinese President Xi Jinping.