Beijing Tightens Censorship of Books by Hong Kong and Taiwan Authors

Beijing has tightened controls on book publishers and ordered publications by authors from Hong Kong and Taiwan to go through a stricter approval process.

The directive was sent to all chief editors of major Chinese publishers in early December and came with immediate effect.

The move was to weed out content deemed "vulgar" or "politically harmful" by the authorities, sources familiar with the situation said. The tightening was never publicised.