Chinese bloggers often go missing
CPJ’s ranking is helpful in that it makes the world pay attention to countries that censor the Internet. I do not know much about other countries, but I know about China. I believe that the outside world (as well as people within China) cannot actually know how many people are jailed because of Internet speech.…
Truth beyond bars: Jiang Weiping on being jailed for work
Jiang Weiping, a 2001 CPJ Press Feedom Award winner, spoke on Tuesday on a panel organized by the Ford Foundation in Washington, along with CPJ board member Clarence Page and Executive Director Joel Simon. The panel addressed the concerning number of journalists jailed worldwide–125, according to CPJ’s 2008 census–and discussed how advocacy by CPJ and other…
A twisting road to Canada for a Chinese journalist
From his prison cell, veteran Chinese journalist Jiang Weiping wrote a poem to his daughter, Jennifer, which included the lines: “Though the road home has many twists and turns / Your daddy believes that we will be reunited soon.” She was little more than 10 years old when he was imprisoned in 2000 for reporting…
Press freedom in the news 12/17/08
China has blocked access to BBC and VOA Chinese Web sites, according to reports released yesterday. The Associated Press is covering the story with two releases today that both quote CPJ’s Bob Dietz, who said in a statement: “It’s clear that China has no intention of fulfilling the hopes it raised when it was awarded the…
Press freedom in the news 12/10/08
The release of Iraqi journalist Adel Hussein, who had been jailed in Iraqi Kurdistan, is making news today. The Associated Press has coverage of his pardon from President Masoud Barzani, as does Canada’s CBC News. Both articles cite our coverage of the case and quote CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney, who called on the authorities…
China urged to release Liu Xiaobo
We released this statement after learning that formerly jailed journalist Liu Xiaobo was detained after signing a letter to the government today calling for greater freedoms ahead of the 60th anniversary Wednesday of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The letter was signed by 300 lawyers, writers, scholars, and artists…
Legacy of the Olympics: IOC off the mark
When the International Olympic Committee released its review of Beijing’s August Games a few days ago, it didn’t hold back from patting itself or China’s government on the back. The Games were, to quote the IOC’s fact sheet, “by almost every measure, an indisputable success.” One of the intangible results the IOC mentioned was that…