China newspaper journalists stage rare strike

Journalists at a major Chinese newspaper, Southern Weekly, have gone on strike in a rare protest against censorship.

The row was sparked last week when the paper's New Year message was rewritten to become a Communist Party tribute.

The staff wrote two letters calling for the propaganda chief's resignation.

A crowd of supporters has also gathered outside the paper's offices in the city of Guangzhou, reports say.

Chinese media are supervised by so-called propaganda departments that often change content to align it with party thinking.

Southern Weekend is perhaps the country's most respected newspaper, known for its hard-hitting investigations and for testing the limits of freedom of speech, says the BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing.

It appears that the strike was triggered after journalists and management disagreed on Sunday about who would control the content of the newspaper's official microblog accounts and a statement was released saying the editorial had not been altered, reports suggest.

It is thought that this is the first time that there has been a direct showdown between newspaper staff and party officials, our correspondent adds.

How the case is handled is seen as a key test for Chinese officials, installed just two months ago in a once-in-a-decade leadership transition, observers say.