Hong Kong restricts access to chief executive inauguration and handover anniversary events
Taipei, June 16, 2022 — Hong Kong authorities should allow media outlets to freely cover the inauguration of Chief Executive-elect John Lee and the 25th anniversary of the territory’s handover to China, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On the evening of Thursday, June 16, applications closed for media outlets to seek access to…
Hong Kong journalist Eric Wu Ka-Fai sentenced to 1 month in prison for disorderly behavior
Taipei, May 23, 2022—Hong Kong authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Eric Wu Ka-Fai, a reporter for independent news site HK Golden, and stop jailing members of the press for reporting the news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Monday, May 23, Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court sentenced Wu to one month in…
How China is stepping up harassment of foreign correspondents
When international journalists rushed to Zhengzhou city in Henan province to cover a deadly flood in July 2021, they were confronted by angry bystanders who accused them of “spreading rumors” and “smearing China.” Many also received harassing messages on social media and intimidating calls, according to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China. This hostility spread after the Henan Communist Youth…
Hong Kong’s largest journalist association considers disbanding amid government investigation
Taipei, April 20, 2022 – Hong Kong authorities should stop persecuting, harassing, and jailing members of the press and ensure that journalists and journalist associations are able to do their jobs freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On April 13, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) informed its members that it…
Hong Kong police arrest journalist Allan Au for alleged sedition
Taipei, April 11, 2022 – Hong Kong authorities must release journalist Allan Au Ka-lun immediately and unconditionally, and stop detaining members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On the morning of Monday, April 11, the Hong Kong Police Force’s national security department arrested Au at his home in Kwai Chung on…
CPJ condemns cyberattack on News Corp media publications
Washington, D.C., February 7, 2022—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday expressed grave concern about the cyberattack on News Corp that gave hackers access to journalists’ emails and other documents, and urged Chinese authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into who was behind the attack. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the attack…
Opinion: The dilemma facing journalists covering the Beijing Olympics
I don’t envy journalists from around the world who are entering China to cover the Beijing Olympics, held February 4 to 20. Perhaps never in history have the rules of the road for covering the games been so murky and the potential dangers so great for journalists who step over an as-yet-undefined red line that…
China finds new ways to intimidate foreign press, FCCC survey finds
On January 31, 2022, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) released findings from its annual member survey about press conditions in the country. The report, “Locked Down or Kicked Out,” found that 99% of foreign correspondents said China’s reporting conditions did not meet what they considered “international standards.” The survey also documented ways Chinese…
Why the UN’s push for a cybercrime treaty could imperil journalists simply for using the internet
Cybercrime is on the global agenda as a United Nations committee appointed to develop a treaty on the topic plans for its first meeting amid pandemic-related delays. The process is slated to take at least two years, but experts warn that such a treaty – initially proposed by Russia – could hand new tools to…
Journalists at the Beijing Winter Olympics may test China’s tolerance for critical coverage
Can China and the International Olympic Committee maintain a “bubble” of total press freedom inside China’s vast sea of repression? That’s the question facing thousands of journalists as they arrive in the coming weeks to cover the Beijing Winter Olympics, which kick off on February 4. (CPJ’s safety advisory for those attending addresses coronavirus restrictions…