New life for scientific socialism (or why Rolling Stone got the ax)

From Reuters:

China's publishing authority has quietly introduced new restrictions on foreign magazines issuing Chinese versions, but officials on Friday denied the rules had led to the closure of Rolling Stone magazine's Chinese edition.

Then they say this:

"This has far-reaching implications, not just for foreigners, but also their local partners," he told Reuters. "But in China there's a big difference between passing a regulation and actually enforcing it, and this regulation is no different."

The Chinese official denied the rule directly caused the closure of Rolling Stone's local edition, but he offered little hope for the Shanghai publishers of the U.S.-based rock magazine, which was shut down last month after one issue.

"Rolling Stone should have reported and sought approval from the relevant state authority -- which is us, GAPP -- but they never did even that," he said.

"It wasn't a question of their content. It's just like they were driving a car without a license."

Which leads us to wonder, per earlier posts, how that could be possible. Even when Shanghaiist drives stoned or drunk (or both), we always make sure to carry a valid driver's license on us! Actually, what this whole business smacks of is a rehashed version of the 1980s "spiritual pollution" and "anti-bourgeois liberalization campaigns", and we wish we could give you a good link, but the best one is to a page from Richard Baum's book Burying Mao (of which we can say that it wasn't the most boring political science book that we've ever read). Read more here and here.

Also in Shanghaiist:
China's Rolling Stone to stop rolling off presses?
Who wants our Rolling Stone hat?