A meeting of Chinese bloggers due to take place in Shanghai last weekend has been cancelled, after authorities put pressure on the venue for the event.
The annual Chinese Blogger Conference, which has played host to a number of leading online commentators since it began in Shanghai in 2005, had become a forum for criticism of China's government.
Fearing attempts by the authorities to sabotage proceedings, conference organisers this year waited until just four days before the two-day event was due to start before announcing its venue.
But late last week, the venue's owners caved in to government pressure and withdrew their invitation to the conference.
Isaac Mao, co-founder of the conference, said that although Chinese authorities had upset the original scheme of this year's conference, local bloggers would still find ways to gather in smaller groups .
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