How many journalists are jailed in China? Censorship means we don’t know
Reporting on China’s harassment of journalists has never been easy. Lately it’s been getting much harder, which suggests that conditions for the press could be worsening. At least 47 journalists were jailed in China at the time of CPJ’s 2018 prison census and I am investigating at least a dozen other cases, but the details…
On International Women’s Day, CPJ highlights jailed female journalists
On International Women’s Day, CPJ has highlighted the cases of female journalists jailed around the world in retaliation for their work. At least 33 of the 251 journalists in jail at the time of CPJ’s prison census are women. At least one of those–Turkish reporter and artist Zehra Dogan–was released in February after serving a…
Taiwan accuses Beijing-sponsored Hong Kong newspapers of disseminating misinformation, opens immigration investigation into journalists
On January 17, 2019, Taiwan’s presidential office issued a statement on Facebook accusing Ta Kung Pao, a Hong Kong newspaper funded by Beijing, of fabricating a story alleging that Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen secretly sent an envoy to advise three Hong Kong independence activists. The Taiwan government is currently investigating whether the journalists violated immigration…
Surveillance tops foreign correspondents’ concerns in China, FCCC finds
Working conditions for foreign correspondents in China further deteriorated in 2018, according to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China annual survey. The report, “Under Watch: FCCC Annual Working Conditions Report 2018,” highlights growing digital and human surveillance, as well as government interference in reporting in China.
CPJ condemns conviction of human rights journalist Liu Feiyue in China
Taipei, January 29, 2019–The Suizhou Intermediate People’s Court in Hubei province today sentenced Liu Feiyue, founder of the human rights news website Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch, known in Chinese as Minsheng Guancha, to a five-year jail term for inciting state subversion, according to news reports.
Hundreds of journalists jailed globally becomes the new normal
For the third year in a row, 251 or more journalists are jailed around the world, suggesting the authoritarian approach to critical news coverage is more than a temporary spike. China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia imprisoned more journalists than last year, and Turkey remained the world’s worst jailer. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
China detains award-winning photographer in Xinjiang
Washington, D.C., November 28, 2018–Police in Xinjiang detained Lu Guang, an award-winning, New York-resident, freelance photographer whose work has focused on environmental and social issues in China, in early November, according to media reports. Lu’s family lost contact with him on November 3 and later confirmed his arrest with authorities in Xinjiang, according to a…
Hong Kong denies visa renewal for Financial Times editor
Taipei, October 5, 2018–Hong Kong’s immigration authorities declined to renew the visa of Victor Mallet, Financial Times’ Asia news editor and the vice-president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, according to a statement today from the Financial Times and other media reports. The rejection came after Mallet chaired a talk by pro-independence activist Andy Chan Ho-tin…
China arrests Uighur editor, newspaper directors for being ‘two-faced’
Taipei, September 7, 2018–Chinese authorities should immediately release Ilham Weli, Xinjiang Daily’s deputy editor-in-chief, Memtimin Obul and Juret Haji, directors at the newspaper, and Mirkamil Ablimit, the head of the newspaper’s subsidiary Xinjiang Farmer’s Daily, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.