Accusing deputy director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce Ma Shengqi of negligence on his Weibo account, Liu shared a mass of information that accused higher level party cadres of corruption. The posts were subsequently deleted following Liu's arrest. Earlier this year, the journalist's lawyer had said that because the usual catch-all accusations ("subverting state power", et al) don't apply to messages posted online, it was unlikely that his client would be charged with "disrupting the social order". Thanks to the tireless work of Xi Jin PIng and his anti-rumor mongering lawmakers, that's pretty much what happened, and Liu was promptly charged with spreading unverified rumors online.
Once again undermining the anti-graft campaign that Xi has made his mission this year, no-one's really sure what's going on when it comes to, well, the fight against corruption. Self regulation within the Party certainly hasn't worked very so far, and Chinese whistle blowers are having the frighteners put on them for taking the initiative and posting messages of suspected graft online. The fact that now journalists are considered fair game will pretty much hobble the Chinese press even further, leaving the CCP with little in the way of oversight other than it's own Disciplinary Committee - an organization that has already caused at least two deaths investigating officials.
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