China steps up fight against illegal journalism ahead of Olympics

Chinese publishing watchdog has announced four cases of "illegal" journalism as part of a campaign to "clean up" the publishing industry in the run up to the Olympics.

In one case, the Coastal Times, based in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, set up a reporting bureau in northeast China's Liaoning province without official approval, the National Anti-Pornography and Anti-Piracy Office revealed.

In two other cases, fake press cards were found in north China's Shanxi province. The fourth case involved illegal newspaper production and sales in the southwest Chongqing and northern Tianjin municipalities.

A spokesman for the office said another six cases of pornography production and sales had been reported in Heilongjiang, Shandong, Fujian, Jiangsu and Shanxi provinces. Most of the cases involved Internet publications.

The office gave no other details.

Law enforcement officials seized more than 46.1 million illegal publications in the first half of 2008, including 1.6 million items of pornography, 50,000 smuggled discs and 1.07 million copies of illegal newspapers and magazines, said the spokesman.

The authorities dealt with 12,838 illegal publication cases, convicting 256 offenders. Eight pirate disk production lines were destroyed.

An official with the office said the figures proved the government's intention to ensure intellectual property rights, and the intention to ensure a "good culture and communication environment" for the Beijing Olympics Games.

The Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Culture, the General Administration of Customs and other government agencies were stepping up joint efforts against illegal publications, focusing on their production and trade, said the spokesman.