Censorship battle captivates Chinese students

CHINESE students are rekindling an interest in politics thanks to a series of epic scandals and the advent of social media.

Students at an elite Shanghai high school told Fairfax Media they were cautiously following news of a rare journalists' rebellion at the newspaper Southern Weekend via microblog accounts, despite frenetic online censorship and fiery propaganda edicts.

And they are taking sides ahead of the ''trial of the century'', featuring maverick politician Bo Xilai, which authorities have signalled will begin soon.

Bo's family had received in-principle official approval to hire a high-profile lawyer, Shen Zhigeng, said a source close to the matter, and Xinhua news agency announced on Wednesday night that his file has been handed over to the judicial system.

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The former Communist Party boss of Chongqing municipality has been officially accused of massive corruption, abuses of power, illicit sexual liaisons and involvement in his wife's murder of Englishman Neil Heywood.

One student said Bo was ''a good guy'' because of the fight he led against mafia figures in his Yangtze River metropolis. Another said Bo was guilty of ''inner party'' misdeeds that would never be disclosed.

Pu Zhiqiang, a leading lawyer, said Bo's trial would not lead any closer to truth or rule of law because there was no prospect of it being anything but a piece of theatre for the purposes of ''political power struggle''.

However, even the prospect of the most show-stopping trial since Madame Mao is being overshadowed by the open media revolt against tightening censorship that began last week at Southern Weekend.

Unconfirmed reports say journalists at Southern Weekend reached a peace deal overnight, but not before the anti-censorship rebellion had spread to other key media outlets and the news had penetrated deep into Chinese society.

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Censorship battle captivates Chinese students