Articles - China
21 March 2012
China

China has approved changes to its criminal code that give the police powers to hold journalists and others who discuss sensitive national issues in secret locations for up to six months without charge, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Freedom House, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
29 February 2012
Tibet (China) / China

In response to a growing number of ethnic Tibetans setting themselves on fire, China has imposed a media blackout on Tibet and the provinces of Sichuan and Qinghai, say Reporters Without Borders (RSF), PEN American Center and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
4 January 2012
China

Officials in China have handed down a 10-year jail sentence to Chen Xi, the second dissident in three days to be convicted of inciting subversion through articles he posted online, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Another democracy campaigner, Chen Wei, was sentenced to nine years on similar charges, report RSF as well as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International Press Institute (IPI) and the Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International. They are some of the heaviest sentences for inciting subversion since the Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo was jailed for 11 years on Christmas Day 2009, say the groups.
21 September 2011
China
Two unemployed Chinese residents have been arrested today, 21 September, in the fatal stabbing of 30-year-old TV journalist Li Xiang. While police in the central city of Luoyang, Henan province, are calling the murder a robbery, IFEX members are urging Chinese authorities to investigate possible links between the killing and the journalist's investigative reporting.
29 June 2011
China

The release of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei last week was a welcome surprise, as was the release a couple of days later of his lesser-known associates, and that of renowned activist Hu Jia. But it also leaves troubling, unanswered questions about his arrest, detention and conditions of release - and what is happening to other jailed dissidents who do not have the benefit of an international campaign behind them, say IFEX members.
2 March 2011
China

Following a response to calls for a "Jasmine Revolution" in China, police have launched a massive security clampdown on activists in what some critics are calling the most severe in recent years, report PEN American Center, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
2 February 2011
China

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has uncovered a series of orders issued by the Chinese authorities in 2010 that blocked information on public health, disasters, corruption and civil unrest, from defective vaccines to deadly explosions.
8 December 2010
China

Did you hear how Li Changchun, China's fifth most powerful man, was named by U.S. diplomats as the brains behind the hacker attacks on Google's email systems last year? Or how China blacked out a Japanese news report on the Nobel Peace Prize this week? Find these stories - all in one place - in Freedom House's "China Media Bulletin", a new weekly digest of press freedom and censorship news on China and its neighbours.
13 October 2010
China / Awards / International

The Chinese authorities are scrambling to block broadcasts of the news that this year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the country's most famous dissident, Liu Xiaobo, report Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
8 September 2010
China
Defiant and resilient, Chinese journalists continue reporting on stories the regime would prefer to conceal. In their effort to inform the public, journalists are often assaulted and arrested, report the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Stories of a deadly aircraft crash that killed 42 people, a young woman gang-raped by individuals with links to the police, and environmental damage and human suffering in the aftermath of the construction of a dam are a few examples of the reportage that evade censorship. This culture of media repression has spread to private-sector companies targeting journalists, with authorities protecting companies at the expense of media freedom.
21 July 2010
China

In a series of surgical strikes against Internet freedom, Chinese authorities have imposed restrictions on micro-blogging services and shut down an estimated 60 blogs by prominent legal and political commentators, report Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). China's influence is also reducing space for dissent and independent press in Hong Kong, says a new report by the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA).
31 March 2010
China

Two US companies are defying Chinese censors. Internet company GoDaddy announced on 24 March that it will no longer sell websites with Chinese domain names because of the extreme controls demanded by Chinese authorities, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Two days earlier, Google confirmed that it would no longer censor the Chinese version of its search engine, report RSF, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Human Rights Watch. Google will be redirecting viewers to its uncensored Hong Kong site.
3 February 2010
China

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has released a new report that highlights the arbitrary manner in which Chinese authorities forbid reporting on numerous issues, manipulating the flow of information. The Chinese media are routinely pummelled with restrictions, leaving very little room for independent news gathering.
20 January 2010
China
IFEX members have applauded Google's decision to stop censoring the Chinese version of its search engine and its new demand for unfettered Internet access. The company's stand for greater free expression came after it found China-based hackers had gone after the Google Mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists in highly sophisticated and targeted attacks.
6 January 2010
China
Chinese dissident and acclaimed writer Liu Xiaobo was sentenced on 25 December to 11 years in prison and two years deprivation of political rights for exercising the right of free expression, reports the PEN American Center. Members of PEN gathered on the steps of the New York Public Library on New Year's Eve in a call for action to release Xiaobo.
16 September 2009
Hong Kong (China) / China

A number of journalists from Hong Kong are among those who have been brutally assaulted and harassed in mainland China in the last two weeks as authorities continue to control independent coverage of ethnic violence as well as local crime, report the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
8 July 2009
China
China has indefinitely postponed the rollout of its much criticised Internet filtering tool, say the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and news reports.
17 June 2009
China
China is planning to force computer manufacturers to install software on all new personal computers that would filter out "unhealthy" information, report the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
3 June 2009
China

Tomorrow (4 June) marks the 20-year anniversary of the massacre of unarmed civilians in Tiananmen Square, but in China, the day is expected to pass like any other.
6 May 2009
Awards / China

A Chinese writer who has been in jail since December for authoring a petition for human rights has been awarded this year's PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.
13 March 2009
China
13 March 2009
China
6 March 2009
China
6 March 2009
China
4 March 2009
China
Did press freedom in China improve during the year of the Olympic Games, or did China renege on its promises? The Asia-Pacific branch of the International Federation of Journalists' (IFJ) looks at the restrictions slammed on foreign and domestic journalists in 2008 and their findings are pretty ugly.
20 February 2009
China
20 February 2009
China
18 February 2009
China
China is planning to create a blacklist to prevent journalists who break reporting rules from working, says the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
19 December 2008
China
19 December 2008
China
17 December 2008
China
IFEX members have condemned China's quiet return to blocking access to websites that were unrestricted during the Beijing Olympics.
31 October 2008
China
31 October 2008
China
29 October 2008
China
The European Parliament has awarded its prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to jailed Chinese activist Hu Jia, despite a warning from Beijing that selecting the political prisoner would damage EU-Chinese relations.
24 October 2008
China
24 October 2008
China
22 October 2008
China
IFEX members cautiously welcomed China's last-minute decision to allow foreign reporters greater freedom, but urged Beijing to extend the same rights to domestic journalists.
10 October 2008
China
10 October 2008
China
10 October 2008
China
10 October 2008
China
8 October 2008
China
A group of Canadian researchers has discovered that a Chinese version of the communications software Skype is being used to filter and record text chats that include politically charged words, such as "democracy", "Tibet" and "Communist Party". The finding by Citizen Lab, a University of Toronto research group that focuses on politics and the Internet, has provoked outcry among free expression and privacy advocates.
8 October 2008
China
At this year's Olympic Games, China proved to be an outstanding host, and won the most gold medals. But is China bold enough to take on an even bigger challenge: fulfilling the human rights commitments they made when they were awarded the Games? The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) hopes so, with its campaign calling on China to extend the relaxation of its media regulations for the Olympics that are due to expire on 17 October.
29 August 2008
China
29 August 2008
China
28 August 2008
China
While the 2008 Olympic Games went ahead as planned in Beijing, Chinese authorities squashed dissent and free expression of Chinese and foreigners, particularly when it involved Tibet.
15 August 2008
China
15 August 2008
China
13 August 2008
China
The Beijing Olympics opened on 8 August 2008 amid a swirl of controversy about Chinese censorship of human rights websites and activists - and continuing protests by free expression advocates around the world.
1 August 2008
China
1 August 2008
China
30 July 2008
China
Beijing's Olympic organisers are reneging on their promises to give journalists full Internet access when covering the Games, blocking websites in the Main Press Centre and other venues where reporters will work, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and news reports.
11 July 2008
China
11 July 2008
China
9 July 2008
China
One hundred journalists and cyber-dissidents still in jail. Foreign journalists blocked and threatened despite Beijing's repeated promises to give them "complete freedom" ahead of the Olympics - both in Tibet and the earthquake-hit areas in Sichuan. Ongoing censorship online and elsewhere. With just one month left to the Beijing Games, IFEX members are asking that you turn up the heat and speak up for free expression in China. Find out what you can do now to add your voice to the protests.
20 June 2008
China
20 June 2008
China
17 June 2008
China
The latest arrests of journalists and bloggers in China suggest the authorities are punishing those who criticise the government's handling of the earthquake, say IFEX members.
9 May 2008
China
9 May 2008
China
25 April 2008
China
25 April 2008
China
25 April 2008
China
25 April 2008
China
22 April 2008
China
For those of us who wanted to stand up against China's crackdown on freedom of expression ahead of the Olympic Games but can't get close enough to the torch protests, there is another way, thanks to International PEN's "poem relay".
22 April 2008
China
Gao Yu, a Chinese journalist jailed twice for her reporting, says that conditions for media in the run-up to the Olympics are "considerably more catastrophic" than they were when she was arrested 15 years ago.
11 April 2008
China
11 April 2008
China
8 April 2008
China
IFEX members have condemned the three-and-a-half-year jail sentence given to prominent Chinese activist Hu Jia, which they say is a way for the authorities to take a high-profile activist out of action before the Beijing Olympics.
28 March 2008
China
20 March 2008
China
20 March 2008
China
7 March 2008
China
7 March 2008
China
4 March 2008
China
In December, Hu Jia, one of China's most prominent human rights activists, once again made international headlines. He was arrested and later charged with inciting subversion against the Chinese government, his only crime to speak "honestly about the tightening chokehold on dissent ahead of the Olympic Games," said Human Rights Watch.
15 February 2008
China
15 February 2008
China
12 February 2008
China
There was real reason to celebrate during the Chinese New Year - three Chinese journalists were freed after years in prison on trumped-up charges. But officials have much further to go before fulfilling the human rights commitments they made upon being awarded the 2008 Olympics, say IFEX members.
8 February 2008
China
8 February 2008
China
5 February 2008
China
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is asking you to sign a petition calling for the release of a Chinese human rights activist who has been held incommunicado in Beijing for more than a month.
23 November 2007
China
23 November 2007
China
20 November 2007
China
The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) has called on all participants in next summer's Beijing Olympics, from the athletes and their sponsors, to the International Olympics Committee (IOC) and their media partners, to "speak out about China's human rights abuses" and hold the government to its promises of reform.
9 November 2007
China
9 November 2007
China
10 August 2007
China
10 August 2007
China
7 August 2007
China
Chinese police temporarily detained about a dozen journalists yesterday after they covered a Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) press conference demanding greater press freedom in China ahead of next year's Olympics.
6 July 2007
China
6 July 2007
China
3 July 2007
China
As part of its "Beijing 2008" campaign, Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) is calling on media and Internet communities everywhere to print ads or post website banners of the Olympic rings made up of handcuffs - to draw attention to China's lax attitude to human rights in the face of hosting the 2008 Olympics.
15 June 2007
China
15 June 2007
China
12 June 2007
China
A newspaper in southwest China has sacked three of its editors and four advertising staff over an ad paying tribute to mothers of protesters killed in the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, report Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontiers, RSF) and Reuters news agency.
8 June 2007
China
8 June 2007
China
5 June 2007
China
The Chinese government is backtracking on new rules that allow greater freedom to foreign journalists ahead of the Beijing Olympics, and is continuing to deny comparable freedoms to Chinese journalists, say Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).
7 May 2007
China
4 May 2007
China
1 May 2007
China
The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) and other non-governmental organisations need your autograph in their online campaign to save the popular broadcaster Radio and Television Hong Kong (RTHK).
27 April 2007
China
27 April 2007
China
24 April 2007
China
Just days after ARTICLE 19 and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) reported that an Uighur activist was sentenced to nine years in prison last week for disseminating "secessionist" articles over the Internet, a Canadian-Uighur activist was given life in jail, according to media reports.
27 January 2007
China
26 January 2007
China
24 January 2007
China
The owner of a mine in the northern Chinese province of Shanxi has been arrested in connection with the death of a newspaper employee who was severely beaten on 9 January. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) are investigating the murder to determine whether it was directly related to the victim's work as a journalist.
2 December 2006
China
2 December 2006
China
1 December 2006
China
30 November 2006
China
22 November 2006
China
As China prepares to host the next Summer Olympic Games in Beijing in August 2008, a growing number of IFEX members are expressing concern that media coverage of the event will be restricted by authorities and that local journalists who report on politically sensitive issues could be targeted during, and after, the Games.
18 August 2006
China
18 August 2006
China
16 August 2006
China
A police officer has been arrested in the province of Guizhou, China for beating to death a reporter on 18 July 2006, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).
15 August 2006
China
Human Rights Watch has called on the United States, the European Union and other governments to pass legislation prohibiting Internet companies from storing personal user information on servers in China. In a new report, the watchdog criticises western corporations for being complicit in actively censoring political material in China without telling users.
11 August 2006
China
11 August 2006
China
9 August 2006
China
China's Communist party has launched a new crackdown on the Internet, with at least seven websites shut down in the past few weeks following a recent pledge by authorities to "take effective measures to place chat forums, blogs and search engines under control," says Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).
28 July 2006
China
28 July 2006
China
21 July 2006
China
21 July 2006
China
19 July 2006
China
At a time when the space for media freedom in Hong Kong is contracting and many previously independent newspapers have toned down their coverage of sensitive matters, the need for a truly independent public broadcaster is more vital than ever, says the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HJKA). Yet press freedom advocates fear possible moves to turn government-owned Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) into an organ of state propaganda.
10 June 2006
China
10 June 2006
China
7 June 2006
China
As China's economic boom continues at breakneck speed, widening unrest is spreading in rural areas as villagers stage protests against corruption, land seizures and environmental degradation, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The government recorded 87,000 such incidents in 2005.
1 May 2006
China
28 April 2006
China
26 April 2006
China
The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) led eight other IFEX members and more than 400 local journalists last week in demanding the release of reporter Ching Cheong, who has been detained in mainland China for a year on charges of spying.
21 April 2006
China
21 April 2006
China
19 April 2006
China
Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have called on U.S. President George W. Bush to put freedom of expression on the agenda when he meets with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Washington, D.C. for bilateral talks on 20 April 2006.
5 April 2006
China
4 April 2006
China
1 April 2006
China
The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) has expressed concerns over the future of public broadcasting in the Chinese territory and the government's plans to enact legislation that could potentially threaten the confidentiality of journalists' sources.
20 February 2006
China
17 February 2006
China
17 February 2006
China
16 February 2006
China
15 February 2006
China
A new report by Freedom House offers insights into how Chinese authorities are using increasingly sophisticated methods to censor the country's media outlets. The report, "Speak No Evil: Mass Media Control in Contemporary China," reveals how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses these mechanisms to pressure journalists into avoiding politically sensitive stories.
8 February 2006
China
Journalists at "Taizhou Wanbao", a newspaper in the eastern Chinese city of Taizhou, are calling for criminal charges to be laid against local traffic police officers, following the death of editor Wu Xianghu on 2 February 2006.
5 January 2006
China
5 January 2006
China
21 December 2005
China
China is preventing its citizens and the international community from finding out what happened in the southern village of Dongzhou, where as many as 20 protesters may have been killed by security forces on 6 December 2005, say Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).
19 October 2005
China
17 October 2005
China
13 October 2005
China
Beijing has introduced new measures to control what citizens in China write and read on the Internet, issuing what Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) calls the "11 Commandments" for online news.
16 September 2005
China
16 September 2005
China
14 September 2005
China
Yahoo! has come under fire from press freedom and human rights groups after it was revealed that the Internet service provider's subsidiary in Hong Kong provided information to Chinese authorities, which was used to convict and jail a journalist.
12 August 2005
China
12 August 2005
China
10 August 2005
China
Wu Shishen, a Chinese journalist sentenced to life in prison in 1993 for "illegally divulging state secrets abroad," has been granted an early release, says Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).
23 July 2005
China
22 July 2005
China
15 July 2005
China
16 June 2005
China
16 June 2005
China
15 June 2005
China
China is moving to curb expression on the Internet, and Microsoft is apparently collaborating, says Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).
11 June 2005
China
10 June 2005
China
8 June 2005
China
7 June 2005
15 April 2005
China
15 April 2005
China
12 April 2005
China
Cheng Yizhong, the former chief editor of a muckraking newspaper in southern China that made waves for exposing government secrecy, has been awarded the 2005 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
28 March 2005
China
28 March 2005
China
23 March 2005
China
Human Rights Watch has criticised the United States and the international community for deciding not to introduce a resolution at the UN Commission on Human Rights condemning China for its poor human rights record.
12 February 2005
China
12 February 2005
China
11 February 2005
China
11 February 2005
China
9 February 2005
China
A jailed dissident from China's remote Xinjiang province, who is seen as a prominent symbol of the Uighur ethnic minority's struggle for human rights, has been awarded a major prize by Norway's Thorolf Rafto Foundation for Human Rights.
9 February 2005
China
8 February 2005
4 February 2005
China
4 February 2005
China
2 February 2005
China
1 February 2005
21 January 2005
China
21 January 2005
China
19 January 2005
China
Fearing possible protests, China's Communist Party has ordered television stations and newspapers not to report on the death this week of former leader Zhao Zhiyang, who was purged for opposing the 1989 crackdown on democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square. The order comes amid a new wave of censorship against government critics, say International PEN and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).
16 October 2004
China
15 October 2004
China
13 October 2004
China
As China's media adjusts to the economic reforms that are changing the way the news is being reported, ARTICLE 19 is forging ties with journalists in the country to promote freedom of expression and investigative reporting.
19 September 2004
China
18 September 2004
China
3 September 2004
China
3 September 2004
China
31 August 2004
China
While censorship, detentions, imprisonment and legal actions against journalists in China are a familiar story, new dangers have surfaced as the country's media becomes more market-oriented: violent attacks from individuals or groups implicated in journalists' reports on corruption and crime.
28 August 2004
China
26 August 2004
China
As China looks ahead to hosting the Olympic Games in 2008, Human Rights Watch has launched a new website to raise awareness of key issues it believes will be under the international spotlight, including freedom of expression.
17 July 2004
China
16 July 2004
China
14 July 2004
China
14 July 2004
China
The Chinese government has approved a company's bid to sell technology that allows text messages sent by mobile phones to be monitored, raising fears that authorities are stepping up efforts to further clamp down on free expression, say Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE).
9 July 2004
China
2 July 2004
China
28 May 2004
China
28 May 2004
China
28 May 2004
China
28 May 2004
China
26 May 2004
China
25 May 2004
16 April 2004
China
16 April 2004
China
16 April 2004
China
14 April 2004
China
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) invites you to write or fax a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, protesting the arrest and detention of journalists Cheng Yizhong, Yu Huafeng and Li Minying, all of whom have been charged with embezzling funds.
14 April 2004
China
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have condemned the recent jailing of three journalists in China on corruption charges, saying it is an attempt by authorities to silence critical voices.
27 March 2004
China
26 March 2004
China
24 March 2004
China
Chinese authorities have granted South Korean photographer Seok Jae-Hyun an early release from prison in response to pressure from the South Korean government and international press-freedom groups, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).
5 March 2004
China
5 March 2004
China
3 March 2004
China
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) has condemned the sentencing of five members of China's Falun Gong spiritual movement to lengthy prison terms for posting material on the Internet.
20 February 2004
China
13 February 2004
China
13 February 2004
China
6 February 2004
China
6 February 2004
China
5 February 2004
China
3 February 2004
16 January 2004
China
16 January 2004
China
8 November 2003
China
7 November 2003
China
5 November 2003
China
A court in Beijing, China, has opened an appeal hearing into the case of four Internet writers sentenced earlier this year to prison terms of 8-10 years, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).
10 October 2003
China
10 October 2003
China
8 October 2003
China
Chinese authorities have released Internet writer Qi Yanchen from prison, more than a year earlier than expected, Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) has learned. Qi was released from Prison No. 4 in Beijing's Shijiazhuang district on 1 May 2003 after serving more than two years of a four-year sentence.
18 July 2003
China
4 July 2003
China
4 June 2003
China
The Chinese government's continued clampdown on Internet free expression has spurred international condemnation after four men were sentenced to prison last week for 8-10 years on subversion charges. The Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) are calling for the immediate release of Xu Wei, Jin Haike, Yang Zili and Zhang Honghai, calling the verdict ridiculous and a clear breach of international human rights standards.
14 May 2003
China
The Internet is supposed to be a space for free expression. In China, however, it has become a trap, with Communist authorities employing sophisticated surveillance and meting out stiff prison
25 March 2003
China
25 March 2003
China
25 March 2003
China
As China's new president, Hu Jintao, takes office this month, the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN (WiPC) is launching a letter-writing campaign to focus attention on free expression violations there, including the jailing of Tibetan writers, increased Internet censorship and a proposed national security law in Hong Kong threatening press freedom.
25 February 2003
China
25 February 2003
China
17 December 2002
China
17 December 2002
China
17 December 2002
China
The state of free expression in China was in the spotlight again last week as press-freedom groups raised concerns over the plight of as many as 30 journalists and other individuals jailed for publishing or distributing information deemed offensive to authorities.
26 November 2002
China
26 November 2002
China
12 November 2002
China
12 November 2002
China
12 November 2002
China
Don't expect China's soon-to-be new leader, Hu Jintao, to loosen the Communist Party's tight restrictions on freedom of expression. If there are to be positive changes, they will likely be cautious and aimed more at meeting the government's economic imperatives than expanding political, social or intellectual diversity, reports Index on Censorship (INDEX).
22 October 2002
China
22 October 2002
China
22 October 2002
China
Chen Ziming, a Chinese publisher jailed for his role in the 1989 pro-democracy protests, has been released from prison, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Although he is free to move about, authorities continue to watch him closely.
8 October 2002
China
International PEN (PEN) has expressed alarm at the Chinese government's repressive measures against ethnic Uighur people in northwest China, including imprisoned writer Tohti Tunyaz, amidst criticism from Amnesty International (Amnesty) that authorities are using the "war on terrorism" as a pretext to further repression.
1 October 2002
China
1 October 2002
China
1 October 2002
China
1 October 2002
China
Internet publisher and outspoken AIDS activist Wan Yanhai has been released from detention following an international outcry over his arrest, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
10 September 2002
China
10 September 2002
China
10 September 2002
China
Free-expression campaigners have come up against the "great firewall of China" again, only this time it's a new problem. In the past two weeks, the Chinese government has shut off local access to two popular search engines, Google and AltaVista, drawing calls of concern from Human Rights Watch (HRW), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
13 August 2002
China
13 August 2002
China
2 July 2002
China
18 June 2002
China
18 June 2002
China
18 June 2002
China
Chinese authorities have imposed a blanket ban on all of Beijing's Internet cafes after a fire in an unlicensed establishment killed 24 students in Lanjisu district. The fire broke out the night of 15 June at the Internet café, which had opened a month ago and did not have a licence, says Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF). It had only one exit, accessible by a narrow staircase.
23 April 2002
China
23 April 2002
China
23 April 2002
China
China's recently-amended anti-terrorism legislation contains provisions that could be used to further suppress freedom of expression, warns Amnesty International.
19 February 2002
China
19 February 2002
China
19 February 2002
China
As United States President George W. Bush prepares to arrive in China for an official visit this week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) is urging him to "reject Beijing's attempts to use the fight against terrorism to justify serious human rights abuses." In a recently-released report assessing China's human rights record over the past year, HRW says Chinese authorities have been tightening restrictions on freedom of expression and the Internet. In the aftermath of 11 September 2001, China has claimed that its crackdown on "peaceful expression of so-called 'separatist' views is part of the war against terrorism," adds HRW. The organisation says Bush should urge China to allow United Nations and independent human rights monitors into Tibet and Xinjiang without restrictions.
6 November 2001
China
6 November 2001
China
6 November 2001
China
Jiang Weiping, a winner of the Committee to Protect Journalists' (CPJ) 2001 International Press Freedom Award, has been sentenced to nine years in prison for "revealing state secrets," "instigating to overthrow state power" and "illegally holding confidential documents," reports CPJ. According to CPJ sources, the Dalian Intermediate Court in the province of Liaoning handed down the sentence, but it was unclear whether Jiang was found guilty on all charges. None of his relatives were allowed to attend the trial, which was held in secret on 5 September.
18 September 2001
China
18 September 2001
China
18 September 2001
China
A landmark media deal currently being negotiated between China and two of the world's largest media companies - AOL Time Warner and News Corporation - "sidelines human rights and press freedoms, and shows disregard for the plight of journalists and programme makers languishing in Chinese jails," warns the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
19 June 2001
China
19 June 2001
China
19 June 2001
China
China deserves a gold medal for human rights violations, not the privilege of hosting the Olympics, according to Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), Solidarity with China and the Committee to Support the Tibetan People. The three organisations are appealing to International Olympic Committee (IOC) members to say no to Beijing's bid for the Olympic Games. They will also launch an international campaign to alert the public of the "abnormality" of Beijing's Olympic candidacy.
23 January 2001
China
23 January 2001
China
23 January 2001
China
While China is one of the world's fastest-growing Internet markets, the Chinese government remains determined to control this new communication technology, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in "The Great Firewall", a special report examining China's Internet struggle. CPJ finds "ample evidence that students, entrepreneurs, and even state employees were using the Internet as freely as they possibly could." China's leaders, on the other hand, have been ambivalent: "they want the economic benefits of e-commerce, but they fear the political consequences of an open information economy."
14 November 2000
China
14 November 2000
China
14 November 2000
China
On 6 November, the Chinese government endorsed a new regulation that controls the content on Chinese news web sites and Internet chatrooms, state Reporters sans frontières (RSF) and the World Association of Newspapers (WAN). "With this new law, China now has one of the most restrictive legal mechanisms in the world to control the free flow of information over the Internet," states RSF Secretary General Robert Ménard. Under the regulation, all individuals must request permission from the Information Office under the State Council's jurisdiction before disseminating any news, including any foreign media news, on a website. The official Chinese news agency Xinhua notes that "nobody can spread information that is in contradiction with the Constitution, that threatens State security, undermines the unity between ethnic groups and spreads heretic ideas, pornography, violence." RSF adds that individuals identified with websites or chatrooms that publish "subversive information" will be held responsible through administrative sanctions, fines or jail sentences. According to WAN, China has shut down a number of websites and blocked access to some foreign news sites, including the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Yahoo! and CNN.
11 July 2000
China
11 July 2000
China
11 July 2000
China
Media coverage of Taiwan has become the key test of media freedom in Hong Kong, according to the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) and ARTICLE 19. On 2 July, the two organisations released their eighth annual joint report, entitled "Patriot Games: Hong Kong's media face to face with the Taiwan factor." According to the report, "the past year under review has seen several disturbing
27 June 2000
China
27 June 2000
China
27 June 2000
China
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on foreign companies involved in developing China's Internet to protest the detention of Huang Qi, who had maintained an Internet website exposing human rights abuses in China. Huang has been detained since 3 June in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. He has been accused of "subversion" and could face life in prison.
20 June 2000
China
20 June 2000
China
14 April 2000
China
14 April 2000
China
11 April 2000
China
Despite the severe repression of the media in China and Tibet, approximately 20 clandestine publications have been in existence since 1980 in Tibet alone, says a recently released Reporters sans frontières (RSF) report on press freedom in Tibet. These publications are each written out by hand and about 100 copies are published at great risk to their writers, distributers, and readers. Tibet continues to suffer the systematic repression of any individuals who express views supportive of autonomy, states the report. In 1999 alone, of the 615 Tibetans in prison for "purely political reasons", 62 were serving sentences of more than ten years, and ten are believed to have died due to torture, RSF records based on the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy. Individuals can receive a four year prison term for writing "Free Tibet" or other pro-autonomy graffiti on walls.
21 March 2000
China
21 March 2000
China
25 January 2000
China
26 October 1999
China
26 October 1999
China
26 October 1999
China
Reporters sans frontières (RSF) took the opportunity of President Jiang Zemin's European visit to publicly denounce China's repressive treatment of journalists, which RSF reports has intensified in the past year. Since Jiang's appointment to the presidency, 48 Chinese journalists have been jailed, 75 Chinese and foreign journalists have been arrested, and 21 foreign journalists have been forced to leave the country for their work - "usually because they had been conducting investigations which the government ruled were 'illegal.'" Those arrested have faced extreme prison sentences, deplorable prison conditions and have been denied basic rights. Ten journalists are still in prison.
14 September 1999
China
14 September 1999
China
China is intolerant of Tibetan political activity, says a report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW)on 8 September. The report, entitled "Profiles of Tibetan Exiles," is based on interviews with manyeastern Tibetan refugees in India and follows the lives of five Tibetans (from areas that China has named autonomous "prefectures or counties") who were detained by Chinese security forces.
31 August 1999
China
1 June 1999
China
1 June 1999
China
1 June 1999
China
In the ten years since the Chinese army crushed the student revolt in Tiananmen Square, Beijing on 4 June 1989, Reporters sans frontières (RSF) says 56 Chinese journalists have been imprisoned, and over 40 foreign journalists arrested in China. "Newspapers, some of which were in the front line during that period, are still suffering the consequences of the censorship and repression brought in after what became known as the 'Beijing Spring'," says RSF. RSF says 43 of those Chinese journalists played a direct role in the events and five are still in jail: Yu Dongyue, an art critic with The News of Liuyang, Hu Liping, a journalist with the Beijing Daily, Chen Yanbin and Zhang Yafei, joint editors of the underground magazine Tielu, and Liu Jingsheng, a journalist with the underground magazine Tansuo. RSF also notes that a leading figure in the student revolt, Gao Yu, a journalist with Economic Weekly was released on 15 February 1999 after spending over five years in prison, but she is not allowed to leave Beijing without permission or talk to foreign media. RSF remarks, "Like her, many journalists who were arrested or victims of sanctions after June 1989 are still the paying the price of their commitment to the democracy movement." Some live in exile, such as Wang Juntao and Wang Dan, while others, such as Chen Zeming, are under house arrest. RSF says, "About 20 journalists have been forced to resign, retire, or change jobs, and 50 or so have been victims of sanctions."
26 January 1999
China
26 January 1999
China
26 January 1999
China
On 20 January, Lin Hai, a software entrepreneur charged with attempting to overthrow the state by providing e-mail addresses to a dissident Chinese magazine, was sentenced to two years in prison, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Human Rights Watch (HRW). At his December trial in Shanghai, Lin was accused of "inciting the overthrow of state power" by giving 30,000 e-mail addresses of Chinese residents to "VIP Reference", a United States-based on-line pro-democracy magazine. According to CPJ, "He is the first person imprisoned in China on charges of subversion growing out of Internet use." Lin's wife, Xu Hong, has been barred from seeing Lin since his arrest and detention on 25 March 1998. His short trial on 4 December was closed to the public.