The following post by CMP Director Qian Gang (钱钢) on Hong Kong views of the Cheng Guangcheng affair was deleted from Sina Weibo sometime before 9:16am Hong Kong time today, May 3, 2012. Qian Gang currently has more than 1.1 million followers, according to numbers from Sina Weibo. [More on deleted posts at the WeiboScope Search, by the Journalism and Media Studies Centre].

[How Hong Kong brethren see the “Missing Light” (无光) news] I have a friend, an old worker at the University of Hong Kong, who loves his country and cares about current affairs. Every day when we swim together he discusses the news with me. Early this morning when we talked about that biggest of news stories [Qian Gang is referring to the Chen Guangcheng affair], he sighed. Aye! There is even less possibility that the two sides [China and Taiwan] will ever unify.

Qian Gang’s original Chinese post:

香港同胞看“无光”新闻】我有一位朋友，是香港大学的老工人，爱国，关心时事，每天一起晨泳时，他都会和我议论新闻。今早谈起那个最大的新闻，他叹气道，唉，两岸统一更加没可能了。