Controversial blogger Han Han may have moved one step closer to becoming a full-time racecar driver again after staff at his magazine, Party, were let go Sunday, allowing him more time on the track.
Ma Yimu, the executive editor in chief of the magazine, announced the dismissal Monday on his microblog, saying, "I cannot believe it. I am confident we'll be back," the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Han's assistant then confirmed the news with a text message to Xinhua but he could not be reached Monday.
The magazine bore an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) instead of an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), meaning it was regarded as technically being a book, and therefore needed to undergo government inspection before every new issue was published.
China's General Administration of Press and Publication did not respond to a Global Times inquiry on the issue.
Han, 28, is one of the most popular Internet figures in China. His cheeky personal style, which flows throughout his books and blogs, as well as in real life, has helped him accumulate more than 306 mil-lion hits on his blog, the Financial Times (FT) reported.
He is a professional racecar driver and author, best known for tackling sensitive issues in China without getting into serious trouble with the authorities. His magazine, whose Chinese name means "a chorus of solos," was first printed July 6, 15 months after Han started planning for the monthly publication.
Han's assistant told Xinhua that the maiden issue of the magazine sold nearly 1.5 million copies. According to ifeng. com, about 100,000 copies were sold on the magazine's debut, with 400,000 more story sold the day after.
The 120-page Chinese-language magazine, priced at 16 yuan ($2.41), included part of Han's new novel, 1988 - I Want to Talk to the World, as well as essays, poems and opinion pieces from Hong Kong movie director Pang Ho-cheung, folk musician Zhou Yunpeng and blogger Luo Yonghao, Xinhua reported.
Despite its successful debut, the maiden issue was the magazine's only publication.
Citing unnamed sources, the Southern Metropolis Weekly (SMW) reported in July that the maiden copy dropped about 70 percent of Han's originally planned content in order to be approved by the publication watchdog.
Han went through more than 10 publishers to try and save that content and may have planned to include in the second issue, the SMW added.
Wang Zi, the author of "Chorus," an article published in the first issue, speculated that a lack of funds may have been the main reason for the move.
"There were so many staff members in the office, but the second issue continued to be put off. The failure to publish the magazine monthly meant daily operations were not sustainable," he said.
Han caused an uproar last year when he raised his middle finger at a rostrum of high-ranking officials at a racetrack, although no action was subsequently taken against him, according to the FT.
"The government wants China to become a great cultural nation, but our leaders are so uncultured," he told The New York Times earlier this year.
"If things continue like this, China will only be known for tea and pandas," he added.
Asked what he will do if his writings are banned by the authorities, Han told the NYT, "I'll just become a better driver."
Xu Zhiyuan, a famed columnist in China, said in an article earlier this year that Han's criticisms and mockery of the government allow people to feel that, via reading his works, they can play a role in challenging and changing the society.
"In reality, though, the sarcasm Han uses is a sugar-coated form of criticism and serves only to anesthetize the readers," Xu said. However, he told the Global Times that no outside forces should restrain the existence of a magazine.
Zhang Xiaobo, a well-known publisher who published China Can Say No, told the Global Times that although he may not agree with many of Han's opinions, he felt sorry for the disappearance of the Party magazine, calling it a loss to China's publishing industry.
