For those who thought authoritarian rule in China had released its grip on the country, a… For those who thought authoritarian rule in China had released its grip on the country, a police raid, along with the subsequent questioning of seven newspaper officials, shows that whatever advances the country has made toward opening to the world, China has not improved its policies concerning freedom of the press.

The raid occurred at the Southern Metropolis Daily – a Chinese newspaper based in Guangzhou that recently broke the story about an unpublicized Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome case at a local hospital. The Daily also found itself in political jeopardy last year after reporting on the death of a man in police custody.

According to the state-owned Nanfang Daily Press Group, of which the newspaper is part, the raid was ordered under the pretense of inspecting the company’s financial practices.

But, as The New York Times reported Jan. 7, this is standard practice when the government disagrees with a state-owned company. Two other of the Group’s members – Southern Weekend and 21st Century World Herald – have been censured for the political tint of their articles, and the latter was shut down.

Clearly, China doesn’t want its people to know about potential health risks – ones that have been widely reported, and seem to be escalating. The government seems desperate to maintain its facade of infallibility, no mater what the cost to its citizens.

Authoritarianism isn’t dead just because there are free trade zones and most-favored-nation trading privileges, the latter of which the United States continues to confer to China.

Yet, the question arises: What can the United States do in light of these events?

Issuing a public statement – supporting the arrested officials, and espousing the virtues of an unhindered media – would be a start, but there would be no guarantee that it would reach the people at whom it was aimed.

Still, if President George W. Bush cannot speak to the Chinese people, he can speak to the world community, and condemn China’s actions.

Freedom of the press is crucial to a modern society. China’s recent trade developments – such as opening certain sections of the country to capitalism – demonstrate that the country must adapt to modern economic demands. But if China wants to modernize its economic practices, it must also update its civil rights policies. And part of that is not silencing newspapers that dare to report the truth.