Walkout protest hits China paper

BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Walkout protest hits China paper: "About 100 journalists from one of China's most progressive newspapers, the Beijing News, have walked out to protest against their editor's sacking.

The highly unusual move follows the ousting of editor-in-chief Yang Bin and two senior editors, as Communist Party officials moved to rein in the paper.

Yang Bin and the two other editors were due to be replaced by staff from the conservative Guangming Daily.

The Beijing News was launched in 2003 as a joint venture by the Guangming Daily and the Southern Daily newspaper group - which owns two other newspapers considered to be politically adventurous.

The Guangming Daily has a controlling share, and correspondents say the two groups have often been at loggerheads.

In 2004, one of the Beijing News' founders, Cheng Yizhong, was arrested on embezzlement charges dating from his time at another newspaper. He was released without charge five months later, and supporters said the charges were politically motivated.

Paris-based organisation Reporters Without Borders has frequently criticised restrictions on the media in China, and says Chinese journalists are routinely forbidden from mentioning many sensitive subjects.

In its 2005 world press freedom index, China came 159th out of the 167 countries listed. "