- I. Summary
- II. Background: Longstanding Constraints on Media Freedom in China
- III. Harassment, Detention, and Intimidation of Foreign Correspondents Despite the New Regulations
- IV. Harassment of Foreign Correspondents' Chinese Staff and Sources
- V. Harassment, Intimidation and Censorship of Chinese Journalists
- VI. Recommendations
- Acknowledgements
- Appendix I
- Appendix II
Media Freedom
"You Will Be Harassed and Detained"
Media Freedoms Under Assault in China Ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
"The Chinese government's attempts to intimidate and detain foreign journalists for simply doing their jobs shows contempt for Olympic ideas of fair play. The ongoing harassment and detention of journalists makes Beijing's Olympic pledge on media freedoms seem more like a public relations ploy than a sincere policy initiative."
In December 2006 the Chinese government unveiled new temporary regulations designed to give accredited foreign journalists expanded freedoms in the run-up to and during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. That decision appeared to mark a significant easing of the tight official controls on reporting activities that have long constrained foreign correspondents’ freedom of expression in China. Most accredited foreign journalists, however, say the new regulations in force since January 2007 are being persistently flouted.
This report analyzes how the Chinese government is failing to fulfill its commitments to respect the reporting freedom of foreign correspondents during the period of the temporary regulations and is instead continuing to subject foreign reporters to detention, harassment, and intimidation. It also examines how the Chinese government maintains a stranglehold on the activities of domestic journalists—intentionally excluded from the new temporary regulations—and strictly censors local reporting to comply with official propaganda objectives.
