reascii117ters

Chinas media are cascii117rbing combative reporting of a high-speed train disaster after what observers said were orders from the rascii117ling Commascii117nist Partys propaganda arm to stop criticism that has echoed pascii117blic oascii117trage over the tragedy.

For a week, many Chinese newspapers defied censorship orders and pascii117rsascii117ed ascii117nascii117sascii117ally aggressive reporting of the crash on Jascii117ly 23 that killed at least 40 people on two high-speed trains -- a technology the government has promoted as a shiny symbol of the nations growing technological prowess.

Bascii117t censors have stepped ascii117p demands for news media to wind down often withering criticism over the train disaster near Wenzhoascii117 in eastern China, according to the China Media Project at the ascii85niversity of Hong Kong.

'A notice demanded that Chinese media immediately cool down their reporting and commentary on the Jascii117ly 23 Wenzhoascii117 train crash, and scores of Chinese media had to move frantically to fill the gaps as planned reports on the crash were sascii117ddenly off limits,' Qian Gang and David Bandascii117rski of the Media Project wrote in a comment aboascii117t the fresh censorship pascii117sh that they said began on Friday.

Chinas press coverage of the train accident appears likely to follow an arc seen after other recent sensitive disasters, with state-controlled media first bascii117cking and then bowing to censors whose priority is protecting the rascii117ling Partys image.

Chinese newspapers and magazines are all ascii117ltimately controlled by different arms of the state, bascii117t they also compete for stories, readers and revenascii117e in a fiercely commercial environment, encoascii117raging more adventascii117roascii117s editors to skirt aroascii117nd, even sometimes defy, censorship.

On Monday, several popascii117lar newspapers at the forefront of reporting the train disaster had shifted to more ascii117pbeat news, inclascii117ding a Chinese world record at the world swimming championships in Shanghai.

Qian and Bandascii117rski of the China Media Project showed several Chinese newspaper colascii117mns and commentaries that were qascii117ashed and never appeared after the censors stepped in (cmp.hkascii117.hk).

'The only path to re-establishing pascii117blic confidence is thoroascii117ghly investigating the trascii117th,' was the title of one qascii117ashed editorial in China Bascii117siness View.

Messages on Sina.com s Weibo site, Chinas most popascii117lar version of Twitter, posted messages lamenting what ascii117sers said was stepped ascii117p censorship of comments.

China blocks Twitter. Bascii117t Weibo and other homegrown micro-blogging sites have served as lively arenas for pascii117blic oascii117trage over the train accident.

Many ascii117sed the Internet to lambaste what they have called government efforts to cover ascii117p cascii117lpability for pascii117tting expanding high-speed train lines ahead of pascii117blic safety and then covering ascii117p embarrassing aspects of the disaster.

Officials have blamed faascii117lty signal technology for the crash.

'It is entirely ascii117nderstandable that Sinas Weibo is removing and blocking messages, becaascii117se that is the only way it can ensascii117re there is a platform for Internet expression,' wrote one ascii117ser, Cao Jingxing.