China
2024
CPJ calls on Hong Kong to scrap proposed law that could further criminalize critical reporting
Taipei, March 1, 2024—The Hong Kong government must immediately halt plans to introduce new national security legislation that could strangle the city’s news industry by introducing new offenses including “acts of seditious intention” and “theft of state secrets,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On January 30, Hong Kong’s security bureau published a “public…
Chinese director Chen Pinlin arrested over White Paper protest documentary
Taipei, February 22, 2024—Chinese authorities must immediately release documentary director Chen Pinlin, drop all legal proceedings, and allow journalists to document demonstrations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On February 18, Chinese authorities charged Chen, who published a documentary on anti-COVID restriction protests in late 2023, with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” according to…
CPJ calls on China to reverse death sentence against Yang Hengjun
Taipei, February 5, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Chinese court’s decision to hand Australian blogger and writer Yang Hengjun a suspended death sentence, and urges the Chinese authorities to free him immediately and unconditionally. “The suspended death sentence for Yang is completely unacceptable, revealing the arbitrary nature of the Chinese legal system,” said…
Hong Kong court finds 2 journalists guilty of unlawfully entering legislature during 2019 protests
Taipei, February 1, 2024— A Hong Kong court found journalists Wong Ka-ho and Ma Kai-chung guilty of unlawfully entering the legislative council on July 1, 2019, during a protest where demonstrators stormed the parliament in opposition to an extradition bill that would have allowed authorities to send Hong Kong citizens to mainland China for trial,…
Chinese anti-corruption journalist Shangguan Yunkai sentenced to 15 years
Taipei, January 12, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the 15-year prison sentence issued to Chinese journalist Shangguan Yunkai and calls on the authorities to release him immediately. A district court in the central city of Ezhou handed down the sentence on January 5 after Shangguan was convicted for selling fake medicine, picking quarrels and…
In Tajikistan, independent media throttled by state repression
Giant portraits of President Emomali Rahmon adorn even the most nondescript buildings in Tajikistan’s capital of Dushanbe. Throughout the country, his sayings are featured on posters and billboards. Their ubiquitous presence underscores the consolidation of power by Rahmon – officially described as “Founder of Peace and Unity, Leader of the Nation” – since he emerged…