Battle breaks out over game

In a rare turf war between regulatory agencies, the Ministry of Culture (MOC) yesterday opened fire on the General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP), saying its decision to pull the plug on a popular online game was "an act out of bounds".

The firefight broke out after GAPP decided Monday night to suspend its approval of the World of WarCraft online game. The game has more than 1 million players on the Chinese mainland.

In effect, the GAPP decision ran against a State Council circular issued last July that declared the MOC was in charge of regulating the multi-billion dollar online gaming industry.