(RSF/IFEX) – On 6 November 2007, two plainclothes police officers disrupted an interview with demobilised soldiers by “Economist” reporter James Miles and his assistant Jin Dan from the British weekly’s Beijing bureau in Yantai, Shandong province, eastern China. The two had been followed by an unmarked car as soon as they arrived in Yantai the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 6 November 2007, two plainclothes police officers disrupted an interview with demobilised soldiers by “Economist” reporter James Miles and his assistant Jin Dan from the British weekly’s Beijing bureau in Yantai, Shandong province, eastern China. The two had been followed by an unmarked car as soon as they arrived in Yantai the previous day. Two police officers who had been watching them from the start of the two-hour interview with the three veterans then interrupted them and said they were from the Immigration Bureau, and asked to see the British journalist’s passport. Once at his hotel, Miles showed them his passport and press card when five other police officers arrived. He was questioned about the interview and the police officer asked to see documents handed over by the veterans, which the journalists refused. Police did not insist and then left.
Reporters Without Borders deplores the attitude of the police, who clearly interfered with the work of a foreign correspondent in violation of new rules on the international press.