Guangdong party chief Hu Chunhua 'handled newspaper crisis well'

Guangdong party chief Hu Chunhua has shown flexibility in resolving the crisis at the outspoken newspaper, following the approach of his predecessor in tackling emergencies, analysts said.

The week-long confrontation between the newspaper's journalists and the provincial propaganda authorities over alterations to the new year edition was temporarily resolved on Tuesday night as the editorial staff agreed to resume work.

Two sources close to the newspaper's editorial staff said the crisis was resolved as Hu had stepped in to mediate, striking a deal between the newspaper and the propaganda office.

"Hu only offered some basic principles to end the row, which included editors and reporters getting back to work and no punishment would be handed down to journalists. The newspaper will be published as usual tomorrow," said a source.

Hu did not make any public comment about the crisis, but he was involved in talks which also involved provincial propaganda chief Tuo Zhen .

The saga has attracted widespread attention on the mainland and scores of supporters of the newspaper gathered at its headquarters over the past few days. Yesterday, some supporters had several brief scuffles with Communist Party loyalists.

Political observers said that by not cracking down on protestors and striking a deal with the journalists, Hu established himself as an open-minded politician who was capable of defusing a crisis.