Critics of 'rumour' crackdown point to history, as police voice dissent online

Critics of Beijing's crackdown on "rumours" have resorted to citing ancient writings to voice their opposition to the campaign in recent months.

Meanwhile police in Guangzhou warned against the crackdown becoming a "nightmare" in a microblog post that was then deleted.

Song Huichang , a professor at the Communist Party's Central Party School in Beijing, compared "some current leading cadres" with King Li of the ancient Zhou dynasty, in an article published in the party school's paper Study Times yesterday.

King Li was a despotic ruler of the central Chinese kingdom that preceded the Chinese empire. A decadent tyrant, King Li suppressed opposing opinions until a revolt of farmers and soldiers ended his rule and sent him into exile.

"No matter what era, do not think that by holding onto power, one can do whatever one likes and gag the people's voices," the 74-year-old scholar wrote. "Of course, this can work for some time, but in the end [such rulers] will be ousted by the people.

"There are now some leading cadres with confused thoughts, their mindsets are even more backward than those of those wise feudal lords. They thoroughly believe in the following creed: if you have power, you have everything, whoever holds onto power, can decide everything."

Song is not the only one speaking out against the detentions and sweeping restrictions on information sharing linked to the anti-rumour campaign.