China 'censors' Hillary's memoirs

Clinton was "outraged" at the cuts

The Chinese edition of former US First Lady Hillary Clinton's memoirs has been censored, US media report.

References to prominent human rights activist Harry Wu and mentions of China deemed offensive were reportedly removed from Mrs Clinton's Living History.

The Chinese publisher has acknowledged making changes in the text, but said they were "minor, technical" alternations that did not affect the integrity of the book, the New York Times reports.

Mrs Clinton, now a US senator, is said to be furious at the cuts.

"I was amazed and outraged to hear about this. They censored my book, just like they tried to censor me," she was as quoted as saying by the newspaper.

In the original edition, Mrs Clinton makes references to the imprisonment of Chinese human rights activists, suppression of the media, Tibet and political repression.

But in the official Chinese edition, Mr Wu, whose imprisonment attracted worldwide condemnation, makes just a small appearance, identified as someone who was "prosecuted for espionage and detained awaiting trial".

More innocuous sections, such as descriptions of Mrs Clinton's visits to China, former President Bill Clinton's meetings with Chinese leaders, were reportedly reduced or edited.

Mrs Clinton and her publishers are said to be pushing for the Chinese publishers to revert to the original text.

Censorship is commonplace in China, where media such as the press and the internet are controlled by the government and negative comment is removed, correspondents say.

The Chinese edition has become the most popular foreign political memoir in Chinese history, with 200,000 copies sold in just over a month, says government-owned publisher Yilin Press.

The American version passed the million sales earlier this year.