China ex-internet czar sentenced to 14 years for corruption

China's former internet censor, who once held high-profile meetings with industry leaders such as Apple CEO Tim Cook and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison on corruption charges.

The Intermediate People's Court in the eastern city of Ningbo said Lu Wei had confessed to accepting 32 million yuan ($4.6 million) in bribes, expressed remorse and would not appeal his sentence.

Lu helped lead the ruling Communist Party's tightening of control over domestic cyberspace and championed Beijing's position that governments have a right to filter and censor their countries' internet.

China has 700 million people online, but heavily censors content, especially that of a political nature, along with sites related to gambling and pornography. Social media sites such as Facebook and Google are also blocked.