Reporter in hiding after story on biotech company
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A Beijing reporter is in hiding after his report on a biotechnology company upset the government of Laiyang, a small city in Shandong Province.
A Liang, a reporter for Beijing-based news portal website qianlong.com, was ordered to see Laiyang police investigators on August 9 while he was taking his annual holiday at home.
"The police said they would fly to my hometown if I refused to return to Beijing," reads a written statement by A Liang released on the website of Xinwenhui Law Firm, A Liang's legal counsel.
Cooperating with fellow reporter Liu Hongchang, A Liang wrote a report on Shandong Hilead Biotechnological Company, a "star enterprise" of Laiyang according to the government.
The report said the company's financial plan overstated its role as a giant in the industry, and disclosed alleged additional industry problems.
Two days after the report's release on July 21, Qianlong received a letter from the Laiyang Municipal Committee's publicity department saying the report was false and requesting its deletion.
Three officials from the Laiyang government later came to Beijing and emphasized to Qianlong the importance of the company in question, asking them to "support local economic development," according to the statement.
A Liang's statement said he received a text message on July 31 telling him the report would be withdrawn, but to the reporters' surprise, police continued to seek them out.
Liu told the Global Times Monday that Laiyang police paid him a visit on August 9.
"The police said the report was in disagreement with their investigation results and asked me to disclose my news source," said Liu.
Both the Laiyang government publicity department and police could not be reached for comments Monday.
He Zhisheng, president of qianlong.com, told the Global Times Monday that they are still negotiating with the related departments and will deal with this situation in a low key manner.
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