A controversial radio show at the center of a fierce row over freedom of speech in Hong Kong was pulled off the air yesterday and the station's director was sacked.
The decision to axe the popular "Teacup in a Storm" phone-in came after a public confrontation between outspoken ex-host Albert Cheng and Commercial Radio director Winnie Yu.
The move is the culmination of three months of controversy over the show, which Cheng and two replacements quit after they received threats over on-air criticism of the Chinese government.
Events surrounding Cheng's exit have caused a furor in the territory, where the pro-democracy camp has complained of repeated criticism and intimidation from the Chinese government and its supporters.
Cheng, 56, who last week formally agreed to quit the program he has hosted for 10 years, accused Yu of attempting to stop him from running in Hong Kong's legislative elections next month.
Cheng angered his bosses by taking a sabbatical in May because of the "suffocating political climate" in the former British colony, where some 500,000 people marched on July 1 to demand greater democracy.
On Monday, Cheng announced his intention to run in next month's elections, a move expected to boost the democratic movement, which is expected to sweep the polls for half of Hong Kong's 60-member legislature.
Yu told reporters on Monday at a hastily-convened press conference that it would be a conflict of interest if Cheng continued to host the influential program if he insisted on running for election.
Cheng, who turned up uninvited at the press conference, countered that he would file formal complaints with Hong Kong's election commission and anti-corruption police over Commercial Radio's attempt to prevent him running for office.
In the latest twist to the highly-charged row, the station also announced a management reshuffle. Chief operating officer Tony Tsoi Tung-ho was sacked because of "serious differences in opinion" over the dispute's handling.
The station said the show had been taken off air until after the elections because of legal action by Cheng. The presenters of the replacement show were banned from talking about the dispute.
Albert Cheng is a popular figure in Hong Kong who is regularly seen at pro-democracy rallies. He has often acted as an advocate for the public, taking their concerns to officials and confronting them on-air.
Threats have forced him to take sabbaticals in the past. In 1998 he almost lost his life when a gang knifed him in an attack believed to have been sparked by one of his on-air statements.
He was threatened again in March, when one of his offices was vandalized.
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