The activists, who are using social networking sites like Twitter to mobilise and call on people to upload classified information to their database, said it plans to launch "Government Leaks" on June 1 next year, the daily said.

The site's founder -- identified only as "Deep Throat" -- said the website would go online just days ahead of the 22nd anniversary of the bloody June 4 crackdown on democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen square.

"I think that by making government secrets open we can promote democracy in China," he told the English-language daily.

"This is a fight against the dictatorship, and to return the right to information to the people. I believe it will advance China's political reform."

"Deep Throat" said that he had originally wanted to team up with WikiLeaks, but that emails sent to the website had bounced back undelivered.

"Government Leaks has no relation with WikiLeaks, but you can call us the copycat version of WikiLeaks in China," he told the paper, adding that the site would continue to approach WikiLeaks for help.

A team of experts has been enlisted to run the China-based site, including journalists, editors, lawyers and hackers, who will safeguard against likely attempts by government censors to shut it down, the site's founder said.

The website is expected to anger Beijing, which heavily monitors Internet traffic and restricts freedom of speech.

Beijing operates a vast system of web censorship, sometimes referred to as the "Great Firewall of China". It blocks access to any content the government deems unacceptable, ranging from pornography to political dissent.

A number of leading Chinese bloggers have voiced their concern about Government Leaks, saying it could expose whistleblowers to severe punishment.

"In the worst case the informer could be prosecuted for illegally possessing state secrets," the paper quoted blogger "Zola" as writing.

Alice Xin Liu, who writes for the Beijng-based blog Danwei, said the new website would likely fall flat.

"On a practical level I don't see it working," she told AFP.

"I don't think every day people or those without the technological knowledge would be willing to put themselves on the line. The risks are simply too great."

Government Leaks' founder said his group would avoid using normal email channels to communicate with informers and was studying the use of high-security technologies to receive sensitive information.

"Deep Throat" said he was inspired by the US Watergate scandal of the 1970s, which eventually led to the resignation of then president Richard Nixon, as well as the recent success of WikiLeaks.

"Deep Throat" was the pseudonym of an informant -- identified three decades later as a senior FBI official -- who leaked sensitive information about the Nixon administration's involvement in the scandal.

WikiLeaks gained widespread notoriety in July when it published nearly 77,000 classified US military documents on the war in Afghanistan, provoking the wrath of the Pentagon.

The site is expected soon to release some 400,000 secret military reports on the US-led Iraq war.

Founded in 2006 by Australian Julian Assange, WikiLeaks first grabbed headlines when it released a graphic video of a US military Apache helicopter strike in Baghdad in 2007 that killed two journalists and a dozen civilians.

In September, Assange, 39, was accused of rape in Sweden. He dismissed the allegations as part of a "smear campaign" aimed at discrediting WikiLeaks.

earlier related report
Hong Kong kicks off film fest with China focus
Hong Kong (AFP) Oct 22, 2010 - Hong Kong's independent film festival kicks off Friday with a line-up that reflects the ever-changing landscape of China's booming cinema industry, on track to become the world's second biggest box-office earner in five years.

The seventh annual Hong Kong Asian Film Festival features more than 60 independently-made films from across Asia, but this year it will shine a spotlight on the work of Chinese directors, organisers said.

"Mainland Chinese films are the focus of this year's festival," festival director Gary Mak told AFP.

"Previously, films from China were either extremely arty or big blockbusters but the industry is maturing. Now we are seeing much more diversity, as directors both new and established start to explore new genres."

The festival, which runs to November 8, will show a range of Chinese films, from first-time director Zhang Meng's "The Piano in the Factory" and Wu Ershan's offbeat kung fu comedy "The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman" to a festival favourite, the Shanghai documentary "I Wish I Knew" by award-winning director Jia Zhangke.

This year's opening screening also includes two local Hong Kong films -- violent mystery-drama "Revenge: A Love Story" by Wong Ching Po and romance "Lover's Discourse" by first-time directors Derek Tsang and Jimmy Wan, which premiered at the Pusan International Film Festival earlier this month.

Also set to show is acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou's latest love story "Under the Hawthorn Tree", which will close the festival.

Zhang, nominated three times for an Oscar for best foreign film, is also known for directing the 2008 Olympic Games opening ceremony in Beijing and for blockbusters such as "Hero" and the "House of Flying Daggers".

For Tsang -- the son of well-known Hong Kong actor Eric Tsang -- the future success of the city's film industry depends largely on whether it can become a major player in the mainland Chinese market.

"Right now every filmmaker wants to tap into the Chinese market. For Hong Kong filmmakers, China represents an amazing opportunity, as it's a huge market, right in our back yard," he said.

The director said he can shoot independent films in Hong Kong -- a former British colony returned to China in 1997 -- while making bigger commercial films in mainland China.

"I am lucky to have the best of both," said Tsang, who is currently in Beijing working on his second feature, "Lecuna".

The festival's China-focused offering comes as the number of cinemas in China mushroom -- on average about one new screen opens every day, according to the government-run China Film Group.

Chinese box office receipts are expected to break the 1.5-billion-US-dollar mark this year -- up from 909 million dollars last year and about 150 million dollars in 2003.

The China Film Producers Association estimates that the country's movie market will become the world's second-largest by 2015, earning up to six billion dollars in annual box office revenues.

The Hong Kong festival will also screen titles from Japan, Korea, India, Taiwan and Thailand, including Bangkok-based director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's supernatural drama "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives", which won the top Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes film festival.

Renowned Taiwan cinematographer Mark Lee -- best known for his collaborations with award-winning Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Hong Kong cinematographer Wong Kar Wai -- is the subject of a tribute documentary, "Let The Wind Carry Me", with screenings of his signature works.

In 2006, Wong became the first Chinese director to sit on the jury panel at Cannes, where he had previously picked up a best director prize.

The festival will also pay tribute to the Japanese anime director Satoshi Kon, who died in August. It will screen four of his best-known works, including "Paprika", which is said to have influenced Christopher Nolan's 2010 thriller "Inception", starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

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