Reporter146;s suit challenges media controls

A reporter whose newspaper was closed for three months after she wrote about one of China8217;s largest banks is suing the government, arguing that the state does not have the right to suspend publications. In a case that highlights the growing assertiveness of China8217;s media, journalist Cui Fan, 31, said she filed a lawsuit after her newspaper was shut over her article that alleged forgery in how a branch of the Agricultural Bank of China had disposed of 4.6 billion yuan 672 million in bad assets. 8220;I brought the lawsuit because what happened is unfair both to me and my colleagues,8221; said Cui, who is based in Beijing. The China Business Post was ordered closed September 8 for three months by the Bureau of Press and Publications in Inner Mongolia, where the weekly newspaper is registered. It sells about 4,00,000 copies nationwide.