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South China morning post
China leads world in jailed journalists for second year in a row, watchdog group
China has topped the world ranking of jailed journalists for the second year in a row, according to a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a watchdog on press freedom. At least 47 journalists were jailed in the country on December 1. including those jailed this year and those serving longer sentences, according to a CPJ report released Tuesday. Last year, that number was 48, according to New York-based CPJ. About half of those jailed this year were Uighurs living in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said Steven Butler of CPJ, which collects annual data based on public data. records, media reports, and calls to local officials, prosecutors, and prisons. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the great stories originating from China. “Many of these journalists [in Xinjiang] They are in jail for things like being ‘two faces’, which means, of course, supporting the Communist Party by name, but [being] accused of secretly undermining it, “said Butler, the group’s Asia program coordinator. China’s place at the top of the ranking comes as global numbers hit a new record high, with at least 274 journalists from around the world in prison. this year for their work, overshadowing a The researchers attributed the deterioration in part to the coronavirus, and authoritarian governments, including Beijing, cracked down on critical coverage of the pandemic. Other countries, notably Egypt, had also been inspired by the US President Donald Trump’s criticism of the pandemic. “Fake news,” prompting a surge in journalists accused of producing false reports, the group said. In China, several “citizen journalists”, unaffiliated persons to any outlet that publishes reports or videos largely through social media, were jailed this year for their coverage of the government’s response to the pandemic. In December, CPJ found three journalists were detained, including Zhang Zhan, a lawyer arrested in May on the nebulous charge of “sparking fights” for her live broadcasts about the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. The Chinese government has imposed strict restrictions on freedom of expression and the ability of the media to publish stories that challenge the line. sanctioned by the Communist Party, a situation that critics say has worsened under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, who in 2016 demanded that state media “have the party as their last name.” Separately, China ranks 177 out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders 2020 index of press freedom, ahead only of Eritrea, Turkmenistan and North Korea. Prison recommended for Chinese citizen journalist for reports of Wuhan coronavirus In addition to the pandemic, CPJ also cited deteriorating relations between Beijing and other major powers as contributing factors to the deterioration of the treatment of journalists in China, particularly those who they work for foreign media. Amid a slump in Sino-Australian relations, authorities detained Cheng Lei, an Australian news anchor who worked for state broadcaster CGTN, on suspicion of endangering national security. Two Australian foreign correspondents based in China subsequently fled the country after being summoned for questioning by Chinese authorities. Also entangled in China’s crackdown are Chinese staff, who nominally work as “assistants” – due to government regulations on Chinese nationals employed by foreign media – but often do original reporting. In a case that has sparked outrage from media industry leaders and foreign governments, one of those t working for Bloomberg in Beijing, Haze Fan, was arrested last week on suspicion of endangering national security. In response to the backlash, Chinese officials stressed that the case was “entirely China’s internal affairs,” arguing that “no other country or organization has the right to interfere.” Australian journalists who fled China after a diplomatic confrontation expressed their opinion Fan’s case comes at the end of a year of tit-for-tat retaliation by the United States and China for the treatment of each other’s correspondents and media. In the name of ensuring “reciprocity.” With China, the Trump administration has limited the staffing of Chinese media operating in the United States, restricted visas for Chinese journalists, and designated various outlets as foreign missions for the Chinese government. For its part, Beijing has expelled US journalists from the country and tightened the rules on US media stationed there. This month, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said his administration would consider relaxing the limits on foreign press if the U.S. government were CPJ’s Butler, calling the Trump administration’s reciprocal-driven approach “counterproductive.” “. “It can be argued that there is some justice in what the United States has done, but the result has been terrible,” he said. “It has paralyzed foreign information inside China.” Chinese Bloomberg employee detained on national security grounds Tuesday’s report, which includes Hong Kong in its China data, was compiled after the high-profile arrest last week of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, the executive of an open newspaper. who runs the city’s Apple Daily tabloid, and he did. It does not include journalists who were released on bail on December 1. After Beijing’s imposition of a strict national security law on Hong Kong this year, Butler said the semi-autonomous city had “certainly become a more dangerous place for journalists,” though it remained to see how exactly the law would be enforced. new law in cases like Lai’s. “The journalists we have spoken to have taken a more cautious stance when reporting, both to protect sources and to avoid breaking the law,” he added. “The very threat of the law could be enough to achieve what the Chinese government intends.” More from the South China Morning Post: * China’s Ministry Tells Foreign Journalists Club to ‘Stop Meddling in Hong Kong’ After Concerns Raised About New Police Media Guidelines * US Sanctions Chinese Entities and Individuals for ‘human rights abuses’ against Uygurs in Xinjiang, using Global Magnitsky Law This article China leads the world in jailed journalists for the second year in a row, watchdog findings first appeared in the South China Morning Post The South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
