IFJ Press Freedom In China Campaign Bulletin

IFJ Press Freedom In China Campaign Bulletin

June 8, 2012
To IFJ Asia-Pacific affiliates and friends,

Welcome to IFJ Asia-Pacific’s monthly Press Freedom in China Campaign e-bulletin. The next bulletin will be sent on July 8 2013 and contributions are most welcome. To contribute news or information, email ifj@ifj-asia.org. To visit the IFJ’s China Campaign page, go to www.ifj.org

Please distribute this bulletin widely among colleagues in the media.

1) Journalists attacked in Shannxi
2) Photographer detained after publishing a book of the Tiananmen Square Massacre
3) The Central Propaganda Department issues more orders restraining the media  
4) Tools to recover censored online posts   
5) Lanzhou Morning Post journalists strike for higher pay
6) Chinese authorities delay release of information
7) Gun charges dropped against official who threatened journalist
8) Four Hong Kong journalists detained by Beijing police during June 4 visit
9) Media outlet damaged

1) Journalists attacked in Shannxi

There were three brutal attacks against journalists within two days of each other in Shannxi province at the end of May:

a) On May 29 Feng, a journalist with the Shannxi Science and Technology Views newspaper, was attacked by two men with a knife after he refused to accept a bribe while investigating an illegal land eviction in Jingbian County, Yulin City, Yuyang District. During the attack, the two assailants told him “Who asked you to be so nosy!” The journalist says he was attacked while meeting the deputy minister of the local propaganda department in his hotel room. The deputy minister did not suffer any injury but the journalist suffered seven wounds.

b) On May 30, two journalists of the New West magazine were threatened and attacked by several people under the instruction of Department of Land and Resource of Shannxi province. A report said the journalists were investigating a suspected illegal gold mining in Tongguan County, Weinan City. When they sought an explanation from the department, a man who claimed to be the Director of the Department responded: “Do we have to report to the media what we are doing? We have the right not to answer your question. I can make you die here today.” When the two journalists were about to leave, they were stopped and surrounded by the alleged director and a dozen of officers. One of the journalists said his head was punched by the Director and other people kicked and punched him all over his body. He suffered multiple injuries.

c) Two journalists of Shannxi Television were attacked by the principal and deputy principal of Shannxi HuaShan Vocational School in Weinan City. They were investigating a student complaint about school malpractice. The journalists were injured and their camera was damaged.

2) Photographer detained after publishing a book on the Tiananmen Square Massacre

A former New York Times photographer Du Bin, has been detained by Beijing police since May 31 after writing a book about Tiananmen Square Massacre. Du, 41, was taken away by a dozen police who ransacked his home, seizing his computer and books. Before he was detained, his landlord had been warned by police and told Du to neither speak nor contact outsiders.

In his book “Tiananmen Square Massacre”, he rewrote a chronology of the massacre based on considerable research as well as highlighting new information. Du has been receiving pressure from the security agents without knowing why. Two human rights lawyers are seeking to represent him. The IFJ condemns the malicious detention and demands police release Du immediately without charge. 

3) The Central Propaganda Department issue more orders restraining the media  

On June 3 a deadly fire broke out in a slaughterhouse in Mishazi township, Dehui City, Jilin province. The Central Propaganda Department immediately ordered tho media to limit themselves to republishing reports issued by the State-owned media Xinhua, no independent reporting was allowed. The fire killed 120 people and 77 were hospitalised.

On May 3 Yuan Liya was found dead outside Jingwen shopping centre in Beijing. Police said Yuan had jumped from the centre but her parents suspected she was killed after she raped by several security guards during the night. On May 8 the media was instructed to republish a statement issued by the Beijing Police and further ordered that no information could be gathered from independent sources. All online news sites were told to downplay the case and social micro blogs had to remove all related news items.

On May 14 media outlets disclosed that several primary school principals were involved in sex scandals. All of the alleged victims were primary students. Some bloggers initiated a campaign aimed at protecting children however the authorities demanded the media to downplay reporting of the scandal and not report about the campaign.

The IFJ Asia Pacific Office said in response to these incidents: “Transparency is the key for people to measure whether the authorities have done their best.”

4) Tools to recover censored online posts   

China claims it has 500 million internet users and 200 million blog accounts. Chinese authorities are stepping up their control of the internet using the excuse that they need to fight rumours being spread online. On May 2, the State Internet Information Office announced authorities will take steps against users deemed to be deliberately spreading rumours online. Since the implementation of the new policy, several popular bloggers have reported their accounts were suspended. In China people often rely on popular bloggers ahead of government-sources in order to get more reliable and accurate information untainted by censorship. With Chinese authorities censoring all sensitive posts relating to issues such as the June 4th massacre, three journalism scholarship students at Hong Kong University, Henry Williams, Jacky Wong and Tony Yoo have established a search engine, Weibosuite which comes under the WeiboScope database, to help journalists and online users to recover Sina weibo deleted posts. The engine is aimed at non-Chinese speakers and Yoo says the search engine will be a valuable tool for journalists. 

5) Lanzhou Morning Post journalists strike for higher pay

According to a Central News Agency report on May 18, employees at the Lanzhou Morning Post, one of the largest newspaper in Gansu Province, went on strike on May 16. The report said about 100 media personnel went on strike seeking improved pay. It said a journalist can earn around 2000 Yuan (around US 200) a month which is hardly sustainable. The strike ended when management promised to increase salaries but it did not say by how much.      

6) Chinese authorities delay release of information

Chinese authorities have been accused of failing to honour the Regulations on Open Government Information by delaying the announcement of the death of Chen Xitong, the Mayor of Beijing during the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989. On June 4 the Hong Kong China News Agency reported that Chen had died two days earlier. Chen ordered troops to enter into Beijing but claimed he was following the orders of Deng Xiaoping, China's paramount leader, and that he had become a scapegoat for massacre.

7) Gun charges dropped against official who threatened journalist

China Youth Daily reported on June 5 that Niu Hao, the Deputy Minister of Housing Department of Shaoling District, Luohe Prefecture City, Henan Province was released on April 7. Niu allegedly assaulted journalists and pointed a gun at the head of Yuan Yuqing, a magazine editor of Life in the Party. Regarding the charge of possession of an illegal fire arm, the prosecution found the gun lacked a component and therefore did not satisfy the strict interpretation of the law and so the prosecution subsequently dropped the more serious charge. Nui and other defendants were subsequently issued the lesser charge of false imprisonment. One of the victims, Guo Cungen of People’s Online, said he remembered the statement issued by police after the incident that said Niu possessed guns which were clearly in breach of the law. An earlier similar incident took place on March 27, 2012 when four Mainland journalists were badly injured by a gang that included Niu when they attempted to report on an illegal property development. Niu threatened the journalists with a gun and demanded to know the sources of their information.

8) Four Hong Kong journalists detained by Beijing police during June 4 visit

Beijing police ramped up the monitoring Hong Kong media during June 4 Tiananmen Square Massacre. Four Hong Kong journalists from Television of Hong Kong, Radio Television of Hong Kong and commercial radio were detained by several policemen in the early morning on June 4. When they just approached Tiananmen Square, police immediately approached their car and shouted “Arrest the reporter”. Police checked their identity cards, searched the car and interrogated the journalists. When the journalists refused to let police examine video content on their smart phones, the police claimed they held the rights over the images and that they were private. The journalists were detained for an hour. A Hong Kong journalist told IFJ that police continued to harass them, demanding register as a temporary residents. Their vehicles were subsequently followed by unknown car. “I feel the restraints being placed on the media this year are much tighter than in previous years,” he said. The journalists were also unable to interview victims of massacre or visit the cemetery.           

9) Media outlet damaged

The Epoch Times in Hong Kong complained to the IFJ that two men destroyed the glass frame door of the office in Tsuen Wan at early morning on May 31. Prior to the incident, people distributing the in Central and Wan Chai districts of Hong Kong had been threatened by unknown assailants. “In early May some of our advertising clients complained to us that they received some threatening messages which asked them to stop advertising in our newspaper.” An employee of the newspaper said, “We have been harassed by unknown people from time to time. Sometimes we found the lock was damaged without knowing the reason, the other time our newspapers were stolen when we place it on the street.” A complaint was lodged with Hong Kong police. The IFJ Asia-Pacific office said: “This is not an isolated case of a Hong Kong media outlet being damaged by unknown people. It is clearly jeopardizes press freedom and aims to create a chilling effect.”

Serenade Woo
IFJ Project Manager
IFJ Asia-Pacific  

ENDS

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