For China’s investigative journalists, who grapple with heavy-handed censors and accusations of bribe-taking, the case of a Shanghai-based reporter appears to offer a positive turn.

The episode did not start auspiciously for the reporter, Qiu Ziming, 28. He went into hiding this week after county police in Zhejiang Province announced they were seeking his arrest for reporting on accusations of insider trading at a paper company in a four-part series in The Economic Observer, a well-regarded weekly.

But on Wednesday, Mr. Qiu’s colleagues sprang into action, publishing articles on the Internet and e-mailing links to a satirical wanted poster. Even the state-owned broadcaster, CCTV, ran a segment that revealed how the company, which went public in 2004, had used its political connections to exact revenge.

Reporters Without Borders condemns the jail sentences that were imposed on three Uyghur webmasters in a trial held behind closed doors in Urumqi on or around 20 July. The webmasters – Dilshat Perhat, Nureli and Nijat Azat – were accused of endangering state security by posting content that the Chinese government regards as politically sensitive.
Calling for their immediate release and the quashing of their convictions, Reporters Without Borders accuses China’s authorities of persecuting its Uyghur minority,
“Despite the lack of information about the trial, the government’s intention was clear, to shut down the spaces available for expression,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The three webmasters have been unjustly punished and their sentences are disproportionate. These attempts to intimidate must stop.”

Reporters Without Borders welcomes the Zhejiang provincial government’s order to the Suichang police to withdraw its warrant for the arrest of Economic Observer reporter Qiu Ziming and calls for the incomprehensible 15-year jail sentence imposed on online journalist and blogger Gheyret Niyaz in Xinjiang on 23 July to be overturned on appeal. (More information about the trial: http://en.rsf.org/china-uyghur-jour...)
“We welcome the apology that the Suichang police have given to Qiu Ziming and we call for a transparent investigation into why he was placed on a national list of wanted criminals,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We also call for the immediate release of Gheyret Niyaz, who was convicted on charges of contributing to a website that incited violence and providing foreign journalists with information about the July 2009 riots in Xinjiang.”

The trial of a Tibetan writer who has criticized Chinese policies in Tibet in a recent book may be postponed, according to the International Campaign for Tibet, an advocacy group. The group said in a statement on Thursday that it was unclear whether a postponement of the trial for the writer, whose name is Tragyal, would suggest that the authorities were questioning the premise of the trial or whether they were looking for more evidence. Mr. Tragyal was detained in April in Xining, after the publication of his book, “The Line between Sky and Earth.”

In an apparent bid to extend its control over the Internet and cash in on the rapid growth of mobile devices, China plans to create its own government-controlled search engine.

The new venture would be fresh competition for Baidu.com, a private company that runs China’s dominant search engine. Baidu has seen its market share grow since Google retreated from the mainland earlier this year.