Chinese Propaganda Department asks for lots of stories about UK phone hacking scandal, maybe to get train crash out of the news.

Story from China Digital Times quoting the New Yorker.
“Over all my years in the business, the internal instructions have always been ‘you are not allowed to report on such and such’ or ‘we have to toe the line on such-and-such.’ But this is the first time that we’ve received an advisory saying we can report more extensively"

The Murdoch-mania is so conspicuous that some Chinese viewers are asking if it has anything to do with the fact that it coincides with the moment that Party leaders are struggling to quell criticism over a train crash that casts doubt on the safety of a marquee political symbol.

China likes the "freedom of press is Western hypocrisy" theme but monitoring private communications is a story that can backfire on the Communist Party.