Foreign correspondents in China face COVID-19 restrictions and expulsions, FCCC finds
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China found that “media freedoms deteriorated significantly in 2020” in its annual report, released Monday. The report, titled “Track, Trace, Expel: Reporting on China Amid a Pandemic,” surveyed 150 club members representing news organizations from 30 countries and regions. In 2020, China used the COVID-19 pandemic to impose restrictions on…
Australian journalists flee China; government restricts visas for foreign reporters
Taipei, September 8, 2020 – Chinese authorities should end their intimidation of international journalists and let all media operate freely and without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, Bill Birtles, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Beijing correspondent, and Mike Smith, Shanghai correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, left China for Australia…
China detains state-run CGTN anchor and Australian citizen Cheng Lei
Washington, D.C., August 31, 2020 – Chinese authorities have detained Cheng Lei, an anchor for the state-run, English-language China Global Television Network (CGTN) and an Australian citizen, according to news reports and a statement from Australia’s Foreign Ministry. The statement, issued today, said that the Australian government received word of Cheng’s detention on August 14….