BEIJING, Feb 6 (AFP) - A school teacher in central China has accused local authorities of "brainwashing" citizens by forcing them to subscribe to a Communist Party-run newspaper, a New York-based rights group said Thursday.

Liu Feiyue, employed at a secondary school in Suizhou city, published an open letter to the national legislature after he and his family were forced to subscribe to two copies of the Suizhou Daily, Human Rights in China said.

Liu had previously vented his anger on the Internet, insisting that as a non-party member he should not be obliged to provide financial support to a party newspaper he did not wish to read, the group said.

Residents of Suizhou contacted by AFP by telephone confirmed that many officials receive the Suizhou Daily and automatically get the amount deducted from their paychecks.

"It's the middle managers or above who have to subscribe," said Zhang Xiaoping, a staff member at the Suizhou People's Hospital.

China's media landscape has undergone rapid transformation in recent years as publishers have stepped up competition for readership.

Alongside the dry reporting by party-affiliated newspapers, a new tabloid press has emerged with a heavy emphasis on crime and celebrity news.