In China, foreign correspondents see worsening conditions
Many international correspondents in China believe reporting conditions have worsened over the past year, according to a new survey by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China that also finds the Chinese government has “increasingly resorted to threats and intimidation against foreign media.”
China, local leaders threaten Hong Kong press freedom
In “Dark Clouds on the Horizon,” the Hong Kong Journalists Association’s latest annual report, the group warns that China is tightening its grip over Hong Kong media. The findings come at a time when attacks on a pro-democracy media group, Next Media, have raised fears of aggression against news outlets known for being critical of…
In Hong Kong law, privacy may trump public interest
Tens of thousands of residents demonstrated on the streets of Hong Kong on Monday, the 16th anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese rule. The protests have become an annual rite, but the demonstrators’ demands were quite specific this year. They wanted the resignation of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and they called for direct elections.…
Snowden travels trace a path of government hypocrisy
Edward Snowden’s global travels have highlighted the chasm between the political posturing and actual practices of governments when it comes to free expression. As is well known now, the former government contractor’s leaks exposed the widespread phone and digital surveillance being conducted by the U.S. National Security Agency, practices at odds with the Obama administration’s…
An open plea: Xi and Obama can accomplish one thing
Dear President Xi and President Obama, You will both have received many public and private letters of advice prior to your meeting on Friday and Saturday in California. They will urge you to take up specific issues ranging from military and trade concerns to human rights. That diversity of concern is an indicator of how…
Anxiety for jailed Tibetan filmmaker as release nears
In a better world, it is usually a time for joy when a prisoner nears his or her release date. Jailed Tibetan journalists and their families do not live in that world. They live in a crueler place, where freedom is a distant mirage that might never be reached, and exhaustion or death is the…
In China, reporter’s death sparks questions on censorship
Twenty-four-year-old Bai Lu was just four days into her new job as a journalist at the Urumqi Evening Post when she was killed. She and her colleague, Chen Aiying, were struck by a bulldozer while reporting at a major construction project on April 18 in the city of Urumqi in Xinjiang province. Chen was seriously…
