China
2015
In China, harsh penalties for ‘false news’ make it harder for reporters to work
China’s journalists and bloggers, already under threat of persecution, face new risks from November 1, when amendments to the country’s criminal law come into effect. Under the amendment, passed in August by legislative body the National People’s Congress, those convicted of spreading false news about disasters or epidemics will face harsh penalties.
Harassment in China: Foreign correspondents’ club releases report
From being followed by plain clothes policemen to being locked in a hotel conference room, the life of an international journalist in China comes with its challenges. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China released details on September 13 of six cases of members being harassed by authorities between March and August this year.
In China, last of the liberals under pressure to toe party line
The day after a lavish military parade was held in Beijing on September 3 to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and China’s role in defeating Japan, three major Chinese newspapers–Southern Weekend, Southern Metropolis, and Southern Daily–published pages of photographs and articles brimming with nationalist sentiment. The papers all belong…
In Hong Kong, Kevin Lau’s resiliency reflected in new independent media
A Hong Kong court on Friday sentenced two men to 19 years in prison for the attack on journalist Kevin Lau Chun-to. The brutal knifing, of which the mastermind has still not been identified, came at a time when Beijing is increasingly bearing down on the island, and was seen by many as an attack…
Q&A: How to cope with perils of being a Chinese news assistant for foreign media
News assistants, or zhongmi (which literally means “Chinese secretaries”), are Chinese citizens working for foreign journalists in China. They play a number of roles including monitoring news leads, conducting research, translating materials, and arranging interviews, as well as acting as cultural liaisons who can explain social and political phenomena to journalists who may not be…
An international call for China to release ailing journalist Gao Yu
With the health of jailed journalists Gao Yu fading quickly (see ‘I don’t want to die here’: Gao Yu’s health deteriorates in Beijing prison), 15 media support and human rights groups sent a letter today to Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials calling for the 71-year-old reporter’s unconditional release. Gao suffers from heart disease,…
‘I don’t want to die here’: Gao Yu’s health deteriorates in Beijing prison
The lawyer for jailed Chinese journalist Gao Yu says the freelance reporter’s health has declined since she was sentenced in April to seven years in prison for leaking state secrets. Shang Baojun, who visited Gao in Beijing No.1 Detention Center on July 28, told CPJ that Gao says she is scared she will die in…
How China’s national security and cybersecurity laws will further curb press freedom
Convincing potential sources to share information and publishing independent journalism on social media or with the help of crowd-funding are a few of the practices that are likely to suffer under a pair of new Chinese laws–one passed, one still in draft form–local journalists tell CPJ.
Radio Free Asia reporter’s brothers in China face anti-state charges
This week, Washington D.C.-based Uighur journalist Shohret Hoshur, sent CPJ a message saying that on May 28 charges had finally been brought against two of his brothers, Shawket and Rexim, who have been detained since August. Hoshur, who works for the U.S.-government funded Radio Free Asia (RFA), is convinced they are being put on trial…