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BEIJING Several apparent suicides by Chinese officials in the past three weeks, including the deaths of two senior figures, have sparked public debate and questions, as well as a fresh round of online censorship.

Was President Xi Jinpings anti-corruption drive putting so much pressure on members of the ruling Communist Party that some were driven to take their own lives? Was it all just a coincidence? Or does a life of deceit and hypocrisy eventually take its toll?

Chinese media reported Thursday that Xu Yean, 58, a deputy director in the State Bureau for Letters and Calls, was found hanged in his office this week.

Xus department handles the citizens petitions and complaints against local government officials. Although Xu had not been publicly linked with any corruption investigation, a senior colleague was fired and placed under investigation in November for a severe violation of party discipline.

At the time, Yu Jianrong, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was quoted as saying on social media that the department had become one of the most corrupt sectors of the government, often using its power to extract bribes from local officials to silence complaints.

He Gaobo, a local official responsible for building safety in the city of Fenghua in the eastern province of Zhejiang, was found dead in a suspected suicide Wednesday, five days after an apartment building collapsed in the city.

Local news media reported that the building had been declared unsafe months before but that no action had been taken to repair it. Three people involved in the buildings construction have been arrested in that case, news media reported.

On April 4, senior policeman Zhou Yu was found hanged in a hotel room in the central Chinese city of Chongqing. Zhou was a major figure in a crackdown on organized crime in the city under the leadership of Bo Xilai, a senior Communist Party leader who has since been imprisoned for corruption. Zhou was reported to be depressed about health issues related to diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver.

A senior official at the state-owned power-generation company Datang was reported to have died in suspicious circumstances March 29, after being unwell and depressed, although the company denied that his death was a suicide.

Perhaps the most sensational death of all was that of Li Wufeng, 56, who was known as Chinas top Internet cop and was reportedly involved in maintaining a system of online censorship known as the Great Firewall of China. Li was said to have jumped to his death March 24 from the sixth floor of the office building where he worked after constantly being in a bad mood, local news media reported.

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Mysterious spate of apparent suicides by Chinese officials sparks debate, censorship

Censorship across the country is on the rise with as many as 52 instances being recorded in the first quarter of 2014. Releasing data on censorship for the first three months of this year, media watch group, The Hoot, said this averaged a little less than one a day.

The agents against free expression were not just the state or fringe groups. The list is fairly long and includes courts, student organisations, State governments, publishing houses, the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the Central Board of Film Certification, a lawyers association, Hindu groups including the Shiv Sena, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Hindu Jan Jagruti Samiti the Information & Broadcasting Ministry, Tamil groups and individual industrialists.

Under attack were books, newspapers, films, Facebook posts, telecasts, staging of plays and the exhibition of films. As per The Hoots Free Speech Hub Tracker, the most newsworthy blackout was by the Lok Sabha Secretariat of the discussion on the contentious Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill.

The Hoot also flags the invocation of the colonial vintage sedition law against 67 Kashmiri students of a Meerut-based university for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans during an India-Pakistan cricket match. Another highlight of the list is the withdrawal of American Indologist Wendy Donigers books by two publishers Penguin and Aleph after a Delhi-based group, the Shiksha Bachao Andolan (SBA), objected to them on the ground that they included derogatory references about Hinduism.

While Penguin withdrew Ms. Donigers book The Hindus: An Alternate History from India after pursuing the case filed by the SBA for a couple of years, the Aleph Book Company agreed to do the same with her book, On Hinduism, after it was threatened with legal action.

Also, according to The Hoot, the first quarter saw several films contesting bans on screening, three of them at the behest of right wing or pro-Hindutva groups. In one instance, in which RSS workers stopped the screening of the Kashmiri documentary film, Ocean of Tears, in Thrissur, Kerala, the police removed the protesters from the theatre hall. But in the same district, a Dalit musician was barred from performing at the famous Guruvayoor Temple. In Mumbai, Shiv Sainiks stopped a press conference by a Pakistani Sufi music group.

The list also includes an attack on the Caravan magazines offices for publishing an interview with Samjhauta Express blast accused Aseemanand, besides industrialist Shiv Nadar and Union Minister Praful Patel who succeeded in stopping the publication of uncomfortable biographies.

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Instances of censorship on the rise: The Hoot

South Park: The Stick of Truth! Episode 5 - Censorship
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Rocio_Fernando Ruiz Vergara, 1980_Revision of the author after censorship
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BEIJING A series of mysterious apparent suicides by Chinese officials in the past three weeks, including of two senior figures, has sparked debate and questions among ordinary people here, as well as a fresh round of online censorship.

Was President Xi Jinpings anti-corruption drive putting so much pressure on his ruling Communist Party that some members were being driven to take their own lives? Was it all just a coincidence? Or does a life of deceit and hypocrisy eventually take its toll?

Chinese media reported Thursday that 58-year-old Xu Yean, a deputy director in the State Bureau for Letters and Calls, was found hanged in his office earlier in the week.

Xus department handles the petitions and complaints of ordinary citizens against local government officials. Although Xu had not been publicly linked with any corruption investigation, a senior colleague was fired and placed under investigation last November for a severe violation of party discipline.

Yu Jianrong, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), was quoted as saying on social media at that time that the department had become one of the most corrupt sectors of the government, often using its power to extract bribes from local officials to silence complaints.

He Gaobo, a local official responsible for building safety in the city of Fenghua in the eastern province of Zhejiang, was found dead in another suspected suicide Wednesday, five days after an apartment building collapsed in the city.

Local media reported the building had been declared unsafe months before, but no action had been taken to repair it. Three people involved in the buildings construction have been arrested in connection with that case, media reported.

Last Friday, senior policeman Zhou Yu was found hanged in a hotel room in the central Chinese city of Chongqing. Zhou had been a major figure in a crackdown on organized crime in the city under the leadership of Bo Xilai, a senior Communist Party leader who was imprisoned for corruption. He was reported to be depressed about health issues related to diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver.

A senior official at state-owned power generation company Datang was also reported to have died in suspicious circumstances March 29, after being physically unwell and depressed, although the company denied it was suicide.

But perhaps the most sensational death of all was that of Li Wufeng, a 56-year-old known as Chinas top Internet cop, who was reportedly involved in maintaining a system of online censorship known as the Great Firewall of China. He was said to have jumped to his death from the sixth floor of his office building March 24 after constantly being in a bad mood, local media reported.

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Mysterious spate of official suicides in China sparks debate, censorship