China
2020
Chinese filmmaker and photographer Du Bin detained by police
Taipei, December 18, 2020 — Chinese authorities should immediately release journalist Du Bin and refrain from harassing and detaining members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On the morning of December 16, police in Beijing arrested Du for allegedly “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a criminal offense, according to news reports….
Hong Kong police charge 2 reporters with obstruction over coverage of May protests
In November 2020, Hong Kong police criminally charged two journalists over their coverage of protests the previous May, according to news reports. On November 3, police charged student journalist Nelson Tang with “obstructing police” and “resisting arrest,” according to news reports and a statement from the Hong Kong Baptist University Students’ Union Editorial Board, a…
Record number of journalists jailed worldwide
Editor’s note: In 2019, CPJ published a new database of attacks on the press. Numbers for each subsequent prison census are liable to adjust yearly as CPJ learns of arrests, releases, or deaths in prison. For the most recent data, see cpj.org/data/imprisoned/. The number of journalists jailed globally because of their work hit a new high in 2020…
Journalists jailed for social media “terrorism” highlight content moderation challenges
A journalist in China uploaded a video to YouTube criticizing the Chinese government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Another, in Vietnam, left a state-owned newspaper but continued posting stories they wouldn’t let her cover on Facebook. In Egypt, a freelance photographer streamed an anti-government protest from his balcony on Facebook Live. In Iran,…
Hong Kong police charge Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai with ‘foreign collusion’ under national security law
Taipei, December 11, 2020 – The Hong Kong police force today charged media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Digital Limited, which owns the Apple Daily newspaper, with collusion with foreign forces under Hong Kong’s new national security law, a charge that carries up to life in prison if convicted, according to the Apple Daily…
Authorities detain Chinese staff member of Bloomberg News in Beijing
Taipei, December 11, 2020—Chinese authorities should immediately release and drop any pending charges against Haze Fan, a staff member in the Bloomberg News Beijing bureau, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On Monday, plainclothes security officials in Beijing detained Fan from her apartment on suspicion of participating in activities endangering national security, according to…
Hong Kong court denies bail to Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai in fraud case
Taipei, December 3, 2020 – Magistrate Victor So Wai Tak of the West Kowloon Courts in Hong Kong today denied bail to media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai on a charge of fraud, according to news reports. He is expected to remain in jail until a court hearing on April 16, 2021, according to the reports. Lai and senior…
Hong Kong police arrest, charge producer Choy Yuk Ling for research on mob attack documentary
Taipei, November 3, 2020 — Police in Hong Kong must immediately drop all charges against Choy Yuk Ling, a producer with the city’s public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), and allow journalists to report freely on matters of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, Hong Kong police searched the home of…
Chinese authorities detain, assault Los Angeles Times bureau chief, force her out of region
In early September 2020, police in Hohhot city, in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, detained Los Angeles Times Beijing Bureau Chief Alice Su for more than four hours and released her without charge, according to an account in her newspaper and an Associated Press report. Su wrote the account in the Los Angeles Times without…
Australian journalists flee China; government restricts visas for foreign reporters
Taipei, September 8, 2020 – Chinese authorities should end their intimidation of international journalists and let all media operate freely and without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, Bill Birtles, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Beijing correspondent, and Mike Smith, Shanghai correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, left China for Australia…