Only some Chinese writers allowed to attend PEN Festival
The stage was full of empty chairs on Thursday at “China in Two Acts,” part of the five-day PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York, which ended on Sunday. A two-part program featured writer Zha Jianying speaking for the first part followed by a panel discussion in the second. The chairs, a…
The 10 Tools of Online Oppressors
The world’s worst online oppressors are using an array of tactics, some reflecting astonishing levels of sophistication, others reminiscent of old-school techniques. From China’s high-level malware attacks to Syria’s brute-force imprisonments, this may be only the dawn of online oppression. A CPJ special report by Danny O’Brien
In China, a state of denial on detentions, abuse
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Jiang Yu, today denied having heard of Sydney-based Chinese author and blogger Yang Hengjun, according to The Associated Press. We reported yesterday that Yang was missing, presumed to be the latest high-profile writer to fall victim to the government’s aggressive roundup of critics who might respond to online calls for a…
China detains, censors bloggers on ‘Jasmine Revolution’
New York, February 25, 2011–China’s censors tightened Internet controls and security officials harassed and detained writers and activists in the wake of an online appeal for a “Jasmine Revolution” in China, according to international human rights groups and news reports. The apparent crackdown came in advance of two top legislative meetings, the National People’s Congress…
Sub-Saharan Africa censors Mideast protests
As news of Middle Eastern and North African protests swirl around the globe, satellite television and the Internet prove vital sources of information for Africans as governments fearful of an informed citizenry and a free press such as in Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, and Zimbabwe impose total news blackouts on the developments.
Attacks on the Press 2010: China
Top Developments • Cracking down on ethnic press, authorities jail Uighur, Tibetan journalists. • Talk of media reform and press rights generates no official changes. Key Statistic 34: Journalists imprisoned on December 1, tied with Iran for the highest figure in the world. Operating under the strictures of the central propaganda department, official Chinese media…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Nepal
Top Developments • Three media owners slain. Kantipur group faces threats, obstruction. • Maoist cadres burn copies of two Kathmandu newspapers. Key Statistic 7th: Ranking on CPJ’s Impunity Index, reflecting one of the world’s worst records in solving press murders. The repeated failure to elect a leader cast doubt on the success of Nepal’s transition…
Jailed Chinese journalist, freed on medical parole, dies
New York, January 13, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the death on December 31 of Zhang Jianhong, the founder of Aiqinghai (Aegean Sea), a popular website closed by the Chinese government in 2006, according to several human rights groups. Zhang had been sentenced to six years in prison by a court in Ningbo in…
Chinese reporter dies 10 days after being beaten
New York, December 28, 2010–The death of Sun Hongjie, a senior reporter at the Northern Xinjiang Morning Post, must be fully investigated by regional authorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and by central authorities in Beijing, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Sun died in a hospital in Kuitun today, 10 days after…
CPJ skeptical of official line on Chinese reporter’s beating
New York, December 22, 2010–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the vicious beating of reporter Sun Hongjie and doubts official reports that the attack occurred because of an online dispute with a social media acquaintance. Sun, a reporter for the Northern Xinjiang Morning Post (known locally at the Beijiang Morning Post) was attacked by a group…