Guo Zhongxiao, New-Way Monthly and Multiple Face
Medium:Print
Charge:Retaliatory
Imprisoned:May 30, 2014
Wang Jianmin, New-Way Monthly and Multiple Face
Medium:Print
Charge:Retaliatory
Imprisoned:May 30, 2014

Wang, publisher of two Chinese-language magazines in Hong Kong, New-Way Monthly and Multiple Face, and Guo, a reporter for the magazines, were detained by police in the southern city of Shenzhen on May 30, 2014 for operating an illegal publication and suspicion of illegal business operations.

According to a Hong Kong media report, Wang's wife was also placed under criminal detention on May 30, and her house was raided the same day. She was held overnight and released on bail. Oiwan Lam, founder of Inmedia, an independent media outlet promoting free speech, told CPJ that Wang and Guo were known as politically well-connected journalists who frequently reported insider information and speculation on political affairs in China. In an editorial, the Hong Kong- and Taiwan-based newspaper Apple Daily described Wang's magazines as "close" to the political factions of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and former Vice President Zeng Qinghong.

The chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Sham Yee Lan, told CPJ that the arrest of Wang and Guo was a part of a wider attempt to suppress the freewheeling publishing industry in Hong Kong. Both men were charged with conducting illegal business and were awaiting trial in a detention center in Shenzhen in late 2014.

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