China shuts out Al-Jazeera English in Beijing
New York, May 7, 2012–China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs should immediately grant accreditation to Al-Jazeera English reporters to work in China, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The channel said China has refused its long-time correspondent Melissa Chan and other colleagues journalist visas, forcing it to close its Beijing bureau.
China’s jailed Uighurs: Out of sight, not out of mind
For the first time in more than a decade, China is not the world’s worst jailer of the press in CPJ’s annual census of imprisoned journalists. Among the 27 jailed in China, one group has seen a massive jump in imprisonments. In another first since CPJ began taking its census, more than half of those…
Chinese censorship fans rumors on Jiang Zemin
Sina’s Twitter-like microblog platform Weibo blocked searches for “death,” “river” and “301 Hospital” on Wednesday, according to The Wall Street Journal website. The company was responding to what Reuters reported was the service’s most-discussed topic yesterday–the rumored demise of former President Jiang Zemin, whose surname, Jiang, means “river,” and who may or may not have…
Uighur refugee extradited by Kazakhstan, held in China
Kazakhstan authorities have extradited Uighur schoolteacher Arshidin Israil to China, where officials have described him without elaboration as a “major terror suspect,” according to Reuters and other news accounts. Israil and his supporters believe the detention comes in reprisal for reporting he contributed to Radio Free Asia concerning the July 2009 riots in Xinjiang Uighur…
Uighur website editor sentenced in secret in China
New York, March 10, 2011–The secret sentencing of a Uighur website editor emerged this week, eight months after he was tried along with other journalists and dissidents charged in the 2009 unrest in northwestern Xinjiang, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Washington reporters press China’s Hu on human rights
Thanks to Ben Feller and Hans Nichols for raising questions about China’s human rights and press freedom record. A lot of Chinese journalists are grateful, too. When we urged U.S. President Barack Obama last week to raise press freedom concerns in his meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao, we received no response. But when Feller of…
Obama should raise Chinese press attacks with Hu
In an open letter on January 11, CPJ asked U.S. President Barack Obama to raise the issue of jailed journalists with Hu Jintao while the Chinese leader is in Washington this week. They have plenty to talk about, but journalist freedom and security should be near the top of the agenda.
Chinese reporter’s death came days before Hu’s U.S. tour
CPJ has written to President Obama asking him to raise press freedom issues when Hu Jintao comes to the U.S. next week. China’s practice of restricting and imprisoning reporters domestically has serious implications for the U.S.-China relationship, and a concerning case last month suggests it may be getting worse.
China sets prison terms for 3 Uighur Web managers
New York, August 2, 2010—Three Uighur-language website managers were sentenced Friday to prison terms of three to 10 years after being found guilty under broad charges of “endangering state security.” The men had been jailed after ethnic rioting in July 2009 in Urumqi, capital of the far-western, predominantly Muslim, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
China sentences Uighur journalist to 15 years
New York, July 26, 2010—The 15-year jail sentence imposed by a Chinese court on Uighur journalist and website manager Gheyrat Niyaz is unjustly harsh and should be overturned immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The fact that Niyaz was convicted under sweeping “endangering state security” charges is an indicator of how far the government will go…