Global Times' Hu Xijin On the Closure of Writer Li Chengpeng's Weibo

On July 8, 2014, Hu Xijin (胡锡进), writing under the pen name Shan Renping (单仁平), published an editorial in the Global Times entitled "@Lichengpeng Account Vanishes, It Was Bound to Happen Sooner or Later" (@李承鹏被销号，早晚注定发生). Some excerpts: 

On the evening of July 7, the Sina Weibo account @Lichengpeng disappeared. Of all the Weibo accounts that have been banned during the recent period, Li Chengpeng's is one of the most illustrative cases. Li Chengpeng is often referred to as "Big Eyed Li," and is extremely representative of the "Big Vs." His language is fierce, caustic, and pretty much always "cursing the government."
. . . .
Cursing the government gave him a certain kind of notoriety in the Internet's virtual spaces, and this notoriety enabled him to have increased clout in the real world.
. . . .
Radical liberals are cherishing the unrealistic hope that there will be a subversive change in China's system, or even a collapse of the current social system. They probably believe that engaging in political opposition in China is a promising undertaking and the universal values promoted by the West will prevail eventually.
. . . .
In the pursuit of so-called "free speech," radical liberals cannot take a swipe China's political cohesion or publicly challenge China's political system.
. . . .
If a few radical liberals want to continue bumping against the line and being antagonistic, then that is their political and personal choice. They must bear the consequences of doing so, and its not something worth grousing about.

@李承鹏的账号7日晚间在新浪微博上消失。在一段时间以来被取缔的微博账号中，李承鹏算是最典型的之一。李承鹏常被称为“李大眼”，在大V中很有代表性。他语言激烈，尖刻，而且差不多篇篇“骂政府”。
. . . .
骂政府给他在互联网虚拟社区带来人气，这种人气成为他在现实社会增加影响的筹码。
. . . .
在一些激进自由派当中，似有一个不切实际的指望：中国制度将出现颠覆性变化，甚至崩溃。他们大概认为在中国搞政治对抗是“有前途的事业”，相信西方力量终将获得普世性胜利。
. . . .
在追求所谓“言论自由”时，激进自由派人士不能向国家的政治凝聚力开刀，公开挑战国家政治制度。
. . . .
如果个别激进自由派人士还是要撞线、对抗，那么这就是他们的政治和人生选择。他们需要为此承担各种后果，这没什么好抱怨的。

On July 9, the Global Times published an English language editorial entitled "Radical Liberals Must Accept Political Bottom Line." That editorial made no mention of Li Chengpeng, and offered some additional perspectives on free speech with mainland Chinese characteristics:

[Criticism] must stick to the basic principle that it should help improve the country's political system rather than agitate it. . . . . It is a misunderstanding of law if one believes criticism only has to abide by law without adhering to the political bottom line.