IFJ Press Freedom in China Campaign: December 8, 2012

Welcome to IFJ Asia-Pacific’s monthly Press Freedom in China Campaign e-bulletin. The next bulletin will be sent in January, 2013, and contributions are most welcome.

To contribute news or information, email ifj@ifj-asia.org. To visit the IFJ’s China Campaign page, go to www.ifj.org.

The new leadership of China was announced on November 15, following the 18th Communist Party National Congress. Xi Jinping was named new General Secretary of the Party. Amongst the other changes, Liu Qibao, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial People’s Congress, replaced Liu Yunshan as the Director of Central Propaganda Department; Liu Yunshan was promoted to member of the Central Committee.

1) China’s senior leaders agree improvements to media needed, but limit scope
China’s senior leaders have agreed that China needs media improvement, but will still limit the scope of any reforms. In early December, Xinhua reported that the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China agreed that China’s media should be improved. Reporting should be based on public interest and newsworthiness, and the meetings and activities of senior leaders should be reported. However, senior leaders also agreed that the freedom to publish for certain people would be limited, and come under the control of the Central Committee. It was not specified, however, which groups would be subject to such controls.

The admission by China’s new leadership that “improvements” are needed in the media is a step forward, but the leadership must also specify the plans for reforms and ensure they are instituted evenly.

2) Foreign Journalists unwelcome at unveiling of China’s new Leadership
The IFJ expressed deep concern that the exclusion of certain media outlets during the announcement of China’s new leadership in mid-November was an act of retaliation for articles published on the Party leadership. A number of foreign journalists were excluded from the official press conference on November 15. A statement issued by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC), said that while it was understandable that the conference venue did not have the capacity to accommodate all foreign correspondents present, they were still dismayed that many major news organizations --including the New York Times and Bloomberg, were not invited or allowed to attend the event at all. Concerns were raised that these exclusions were in direct response for recent articles published by these media outlets about the finances of Chinese leaders and their families, including the new General Secretary Xi Jinping.

See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/foreign-journalists-unwelcome-at-unveiling-of-chinas-new-leadership

3) Internet Service delayed during National Congress
In the lead up to the National People’s Congress, online restrictions were escalated. The Associated Press reported that Google was unnecessarily delayed in China, and internet coverage was cut off in many parts of the country.

The IFJ also received reports from media personnel that they had great difficulty using search engines and accessing email. A Google spokesperson said the company found no problems in their own network that would disrupt its services in China.

4) Chinese Blogger detained after tweeting
A Chinese blogger named Zhai Xiaobing was detained by security officers on the eve of the National Congress after he posted a piece of humorous information about the Communist Party online.

According to Hong Kong news reports, Zhai is accused of disseminating “fake and horrific information” when he tweeted a joke ahead of the Congress, on November 7. Netizens initiated an online petition demanding his release, collecting over 500 signatures. Zhai remains detained and it has been reported that he faces five years in prison for spreading “false terrorist information”.

5) Hong Kong Apple Daily reporter detained by police
An Apple Daily journalist has accused Hong Kong police of illegally detaining him for at least four hours when he was investigating a land dispute in Yuen Long, in the New Territories. Chan Tak-Ho, a news reporter said he was detained by local Hong Kong police on December 3. He said the disputed parties were already in argument when he arrived at the scene to report. Police arrived later, detaining all people at the scene, on the pretext of suspected criminal property damage. When Chan identified himself as a reporter and repeatedly explained he was reporting the dispute, the Police ignored him and reportedly said “you were there so you should be taken away.”

Chan also complained that the police had denied his rights to call his supervisor. He believes he was detained because he is a journalist. Cheung Kam-Hung, Editor-in-Chief of Apple Daily has demanded an explanation. The Daily will also lodge a complaint to the independent Police Compliant Commission.

6) Complaints to Equal Opportunity Commission following headline by Hong Kong Daily News
The Hong Kong Daily News was admonished by the Equal Opportunity Commission for referring to psychiatric patients as “nuts” in a recent article. The headline, and story which ran on December 2, resulted in over 130 complaints to the Commission, who are now set to investigate the matter.

The headline was said to be discriminatory as it depicted people with mental illness as “lunatics”, and pandered to some negative public attitudes about people affected by it.

7) HK Chief Executive fails to account for illegally built structures at his home; evades media pressure to be accountable
Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying is accused of being evasive towards the media and public, after he failed to explain structures that were built illegally at his Hong Kong property by his own admission. The admission has caused a public uproar in Hong Kong, and the matter implicates the Buildings Department, which is alleged to have covered-up the illegal extension at home of CY Leung at Hong Kong’s Peak.

The Department is also accused of being selective with the media, inhibiting the public right to know after a press conference was held about the matter with only a few select television journalists invited. The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) have expressed their dismay at such an arrangement which prevented broad coverage of an issue of public concern.

8) Former Apple Daily photographer found not guilty of common assault
On December 7, the Eastern Magistrate of Hong Kong found Sing Kai-Chung, a former Apple Daily photo journalist not guilty of attacking a security guard. The IFJ had previously reported that Sing Kai-Chung had been charged with common assault for allegedly pushing a security guard to the ground outside the Government Headquarters building in Hong Kong on January 9. The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) and other local media organisations protested in support of Sing on September 28, claiming that the charges had arisen arose from circumstances related to the restrictive regulations that prevent media from reporting outside the Hong Kong Government Headquarters. The IFJ welcomes the verdict.

See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-welcomes-verdict-in-hong-kong-journalist-assault-case
See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/journalists-protest-in-hong-kong-over-photographers-assault-charge

9) Wife of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Liu Xiabo interviewed by Associated Press
On 6 December, Hong Kong media reported that Liu Xia, the wife of 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, was able to talk about her current situation, in a brief visit from journalists from the Associated Press. The journalists were able to visit her apartment, where she gave her first interview in over two years.

Liu Xia has been under house arrest for almost 26 months, confined to her Beijing apartment after her husband – Liu Xiabo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. Liu Xiaobo has served four years of the 11 year sentence given for subversion after he authored Charter ’08. Liu Xia is reportedly taken once a month to see her imprisoned husband but can only leave the house once a week to buy groceries and visit her parents, and is otherwise without any contact to the outside world with no phone or internet.

After the report was released other media outlets including Hong Kong Television Broadcasting and Cable Television tried to visit Liu but they were blocked by the security guards who also prevented them from taking photos.

10) Fears for Media Diversity and Press Freedom Heightened in Taiwan
The IFJ joined its affiliate the Association of Taiwan Journalists (ATJ) in expressing concern about the details of the sale of Next Media’s Taiwan Holdings and the potential threat posed to media diversity and press freedom in Taiwan, after further details of the sale were revealed in November.

After first being reported by local media in mid-October media mogul Jimmy Lai planned to sell his Taiwan-based print and television assets to a consortium including Jeffrey Koo, the chairman of Chinatrust Charity Foundation, William Wong, chairman of the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG), and a Singapore-based private equity fund. Concerns over the impact on media diversity as a result of the sale have heightened following confirmation of the dominance of Want Want China Times Group (WWCT) whose Chairman tycoon Tsai Eng-meng, is largely seen as pro-Beijing--in the US$601.2 million deal has been confirmed.

On November 19, the ATJ, together with the associated Taiwan News Media Industrial Union, filed a formal complaint to the Executive Yuan (Taiwan’s Cabinet), and several other regulatory authorities stating that the sale could potentially violate laws relating to the separation of finance and industry as the acquisition of Next Media (Taiwan) by WWCT would tip the Group’s control over the print news industry to nearly 50 percent. The ATJ warned that such a degree of concentration would “violate the anti-monopoly and fair competition stipulations of the Fair Trade Law and the three laws regulating wireless television, cable and satellite and the broadcasting and radio industries.” Thorough investigations have been urged.

See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/concerns-for-media-diversity-and-workers-rights-in-taiwan
See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-supports-taiwans-media-in-its-protests-against-monopolization

Serenade Woo
IFJ Project Manager
IFJ Asia-Pacific
asiapacific.ifj.org
ifj@ifj-asia.org
ifjchina@ifj-asia.org

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries

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ENDS

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