In this October 28, 2013, photo, a Chinese police officer reaches toward a journalist outside the courthouse where activists are on trial in Xinyu city, Jiangxi province. (AP/Aritz Parra)
In this October 28, 2013, photo, a Chinese police officer reaches toward a journalist outside the courthouse where activists are on trial in Xinyu city, Jiangxi province. (AP/Aritz Parra)

Foreign journalists in China face harassment, restrictions

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) just released its Annual Working Conditions Report which we have reproduced with their permission, as we have done for several years. Here’s a breakdown of the FCCC’s top concerns:

  • Interference, harassment, and physical violence by authorities against foreign media during the reporting process
  • Attempts by authorities to pre-empt and discourage coverage of sensitive subjects
  • Intimidation and harassment of sources
  • Restrictions on journalists’ movements in border and ethnic-minority regions
  • Staged press conferences
  • Pressure directed to editors and managers at headquarters outside of China
  • Surveillance and censorship

The 3,500-word report fills in the details. This year’s survey was sent to 210 FCCC correspondent-members in April, of whom 120 replied. Not all respondents answered every question, the FCCC says. The FCCC identifies itself as a Beijing-based professional association comprising more than 200 correspondents from 35 countries and regions.