The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) continues to be alarmed at the increasing attacks on press freedom in China as authorities arrest journalists and editors in a widespread crackdown on the media. "There is a cruel systematic attack on the rights of individual journalists and editors under way in China. The aim is to silence voices that seek the truth," said IFJ president Christopher Warren.
"The role of the journalist is to inform the public but the Chinese Government is increasingly using arrests, detention and spurious allegations to stifle the media and strangle the flow of information."
A summary of recent events includes:
? Chinese authorities have announced that the trial of New York Times researcher Zhao Yan, 42, should take place within six weeks. Zhao is facing charges of fraud and divulging state secrets and faces a possible 10-year prison term. He has already been detained for 15 months after being arrested on September 17, 2004. Zhao was an investigative reporter with China Reform and is accused of passing information to the New York Times that former Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin intended to resign from his political positions before the official announcement was made. The New York Times denies the allegation and Zhao is expected to plead not guilty. He is currently being detained in a state security cell in Beijing but had previously been held in an undisclosed location without access to legal representation.
? Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao) editor-in-chief of the Yang Bin and two deputy editors, Sun Xuedong and Li Duoyu, were dismissed last month by the newspaper's parent organisation, conservative newspaper Guangmong Daily. Their sacking sparked a landmark strike by about a third of the Bejing News' 300 staff. The Beijing News has been lauded as a campaigning publication exposing instances of corruption and police brutality. Reports suggest the three editors will be replaced with personnel from the Communist Party-friendly Guangmong Daily.
? China's prosecution department will soon examine spying charges against Hong Kong resident journalist Ching Cheong. Ching writes for Singapore's Straits Times newspaper. He was arrested in Guangzhou in April 2005 and held without trial or access to lawyers and family for four months. He entered China to research reports about memoirs written by Zhao Ziyang, the former Communist Party secretary general who spent 15 years under house arrest following the Tiananmen massacre. Ching was formally charged with spying for Taiwan 106 days after he was first detained. IFJ-affiliate, the Hong Kong Journalists Association has petitioned the HKSAR Government and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in HKSAR calling on Chinese prosecutors to handle Ching's case in a "fair, just and open" manner, and that if there is no evidence of spying, then he should be immediately released and reunited with his family.
? Journalist Jiang Weiping has been freed after serving five years of a six-year sentence for subversion. His release coincides with the imminent visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao. Jiang was sentenced in June 2001 after his articles in a Hong Kong magazine accused a provincial governor of covering up corruption. The governor, Bo Xilai, has since become China's commerce minister.
"While it is encouraging to see the journalists of the Beijing News courageously demonstrating their opposition to political interference, the increase in attacks on journalists' rights is outrageous," Warren said.
"The international community should universally condemn China's record as a repressor of journalists' rights and its misuse of laws with the aim of suffocating criticism. China wants to be a major player on the world stage but when it attacks journalists in such a concerted manner it demonstrates that it is a country where the truth is not able to be told." Warren said.
For more information please contact IFJ Asia-Pacific +61 (2) 9333 0919
The IFJ represents more than 500,000 in 110 countries
