The China Press has been at the centre of a scandal concerning the abuse of a female detainee at the hands of a prison guard. The paper, along with a number of others, mistakenly identified the detainee as a Chinese national. She was later confirmed to be Malay. The abuse of Chinese nationals at the hands of Malaysian police is a sensitive issue, stories of such abuse have been widely reported in China of late.

The false abuse report caused a strain in relations between China and Malaysia, and the Malaysian government reportedly targeted The China Press because it was the first paper to carry the story. Malaysian paper the New Straits Times reports that "the consensus among government leaders and senior officials was that shooting from the hip by the Press in the video clip incident had resulted in severe damage to Malaysia’s ties with China."

The China Press has published a front page apology for its mistake; Lim Guan of the opposition Democratic Action Party stated that the paper had made a genuine mistake and that its apology should have been sufficient. The position of those protesting against the recent events is that although the paper made a mistake, its editors should not have been made to pay for it with their jobs.

Furthermore, they believe it is not fair that higher standards should be expected of the press than of public officials: "civil liberties groups said the government is not being even handed, expecting journalists to maintain higher standards than police officers or politicians.  They said the video justified complaints against it, but Malaysia's deputy police chief and the minister responsible for the force, who both defended the procedure, were not forced to pay with their jobs."

The Centre for Independent journalism in Malaysia is planning a candlelit vigil outside the headquarters of The China Press in Kuala Lumpur in protest at the recent events.  

Sources: The New Straits Times, BBC News, AFP (registration required)