Chinese Communist Leader: Media Control There Same As Lincoln's During Civil War

Hao Tiechuan, a Liaison Officer from Beijing stationed in Hong Kong, recently laid out the role of the media in the event of a crisis. Noting that “journalists should be humble and show restraint,” he went on to say that they also play a role in restoring order. In a truly strange historical comparison, he also argued that Lincoln’s freeing of the slaves during the U.S. Civil War was illegal but also a good thing, and claimed that sometimes governments have to break the law to do the right thing. No word yet on whether the Chinese government will do the right thing by “illegally” releasing political prisoners.

You can listen to the English language report from Hong Kong here.