http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2013/jul/22/press-freedom-hong-kong

Hong Kong journalist resigns in controversy over interview

A Hong Kong journalist has resigned in a controversy over her interview with Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group.

The journalist, Liu Yi, quit after claiming that the interview published by her newspaper, the South China Morning Post, was different from the one she wrote.

Before her resignation, she re-edited the online version of her article to “set the record straight.” The paper later restored the former piece.

She issued a statement on Facebook saying: “Ma never intended to make any comments about politics. I solemnly apologise to Mr Ma Yun [Jack Ma’s Chinese name] and resign from the South China Morning Post.”

The disputed passage in the interview, published on 13 July, concerned remarks Ma is supposed to have made in support of Beijing’s crackdown on Tiananmen Square protesters in 1989.

Ma denies having done so. However, he did describe the Chinese government as “terrific” and downplayed the significance of internet censorship. But his comments on Tiananmen Square provoked public criticism of Ma in Hong Kong.

The Post said in a statement that the reporter had accessed its system and replaced the editor-approved article with an altered version in which Ma’s reference to Tiananmen was removed.

Its statement said that the editor-approved version was restored and that Liu Yi had been suspended. She chose to resign on 19 July before an investigation had been completed.

It added that it stood behind the original published article, in which Ma appeared to endorse Deng Xiaoping in using force to crush the 1989 protests. (See here).

Florence Shih, a spokeswoman for Alibaba, said in an email to Reuters: “This is, at best, rookie journalism and, at worst, is malicious.”

Sources: Reuters/Wall Street Journal