China's Media Control

Even though China seems to be moving away from a 'true' Communist government (especially economically), the ruling Communist Party still maintains tight control over many entities in China, especially the media. This was seen recently in the trial of Lu Gengsong. Lu Gengsong posted 19 essays on the Internet—this, however, is not what caused charges to be brought against him in court. In his essays, Lu wrote about local corruption cases, including one that accused city officials of acting in collusion with real estate developers. Lu's official charge is “inciting subversion of state power,”. For this offense, he could face years in prison. Clearly, the Chinese government still retains tight authority over all of its media and does not seem inclined to push for any kind of reform in the near future—even with the approaching Summer Olympics.