On Journalists’ Day in China, Shi Tao will be in a high-security prison
New York, November 4, 2005–Journalist Shi Tao has been transferred to a high-security prison in Hunan Province that is commonly used to hold political prisoners and hard-core criminals serving lengthy sentences, according to new details emerging about his imprisonment. Shi, who is serving a 10-year sentence for distributing information online, may read only officially approved…
Internet writer missing after reporting on steel worker protests
New York, October 26, 2005 —A businessman who reported online about steel worker protests in the central Chinese town of Chongqing has disappeared, and is thought to be in police custody, according to the advocacy group Chinese Rights Defenders (CRD). Police seized Shi Xiaoyu from his home in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province on October 20, CRD…
Journalist Ching Cheong imprisoned without lawyer for six months
New York, October 21, 2005 — The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the continuing imprisonment of veteran Hong Kong journalist Ching Cheong, who will mark six months in detention on Saturday. Ching, a China correspondent for the Singapore daily The Straits Times, has been held in Beijing without charge or access to a lawyer. “It…
Reporters attacked while covering political dispute in Chinese village
New York, October 11, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a series of violent attacks on journalists trying to cover the ongoing tensions between local authorities and residents in the village of Taishi in the southern Guangdong province. On Friday, two journalists, South China Morning Post reporter Leu Siew Ying and Radio France…
CHINA
OCTOBER 7, 2005 Posted October 18, 2005 Leu Siew Ying, South China Morning Post Abel Segretin, Radio France Internationale ATTACKED Benjamin Joffe-Walt, Guardian HARASSED Leu and Segretin were struck and threatened by unidentified men and then detained by police as they tried to enter the village of Taishi in the southern Guangdong province. They had…
In China, a popular Web forum is shuttered
New York, October 3, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the shuttering of the Beijing-based Yannan bulletin board system. Radio Free Asia reported today that the popular Web forum was closed after providing coverage and debate on a turbulent recall campaign in a village in Guangdong province. Yannan posted a September 30 announcement stating that…
Newspaper suspended after exposing mining accident cover-up
New York, September 27, 2005— The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the suspension of a Chinese daily for reporting in August on the cover-up of a coal mining accident in the central city of Ruzhou. Henan Shang Bao (Henan Business News) was suspended for a month from September 17 for “inaccurate reporting” on orders…
China tightens restrictions for online news and commentary
New York, September 26, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by severe new restrictions for online news, which were issued by China’s State Council and the Ministry of Information Industry on Sunday. CPJ called the new regulations a “major setback for independent writers and Internet users in China.” Under the new regulations, any…