Chinese paper recants backing for jailed reporter

BEIJING: A Chinese newspaper issued a front-page apology on Sunday recanting its bold defense of an employee arrested after reporting on a company’s “financial problems,” adding another twist to the high-profile media controversy.

The statement was the latest public disavowal of the journalist Chen Yongzhou—despite initial public sympathy after his detention and open support by his employer, the New Express, in a rare act of defiance against powerful state censors.