Tibet

Has the Chinese government learned a public relations lesson from its handling of the unrest in Tibet last year? 

New York, March 9, 2009–Chinese authorities in Tibet should open the region to foreign journalists and release imprisoned Tibetan journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Tuesday is the 50th anniversary of an uprising against Chinese rule.

When the International Olympic Committee released its review of Beijing’s August Games a few days ago, it didn’t hold back from patting itself or China’s government on the back. The Games were, to quote the IOC’s fact sheet, “by almost every measure, an indisputable success.” One of the intangible results the IOC mentioned was that…

New York, November 21, 2008–A court in China’s southwestern Sichuan province sentenced a writer critical of the government to three years in prison today on charges of inciting subversion of state power, his wife told the Committee to Protect Journalists. 

New York, October 17, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention in western China of a filmmaker and his assistant, who have been held for nearly seven months after taping interviews with Tibetan residents about their lives under Chinese government rule. 

We issued the following statement today after news reports from Beijing announced that China has decided to extend the relaxation of rules governing foreign journalists. The rules had been eased in January 2007, as part of China’s pledge to allow reporters unrestricted coverage of the Olympic Games.”The reports that China has agreed to extend the…

China’s decision to extend or end the eased restrictions on foreign journalists it put in place for the Olympics is almost a moot point. The decision is expected to be announced tomorrow, and in the past, officials have suggested the new rules will be extended. But a change in the rules will be largely irrelevant…

Watch carefully as the Chinese media report on the explosive story of tainted baby formula. The most recent break came from Central China Television (CCTV), the government’s official, flagship broadcaster. CCTV reported that an industrial chemical, melamine, has been discovered in milk products–everything from yogurt to ice cream as well as baby formula–from 22 companies…

At the Foreign Ministry’s weekly press conference today, Jiang Yu, the ministry’s spokeswoman, left hanging for now whether or not China will continue allowing foreign journalists to travel around China without asking permission from the government, or whether they will be allowed to interview anyone who agrees to speak with them. The new relaxed rules…

With the Games completed, it’s back to Internet censorship as usual. Remember the issue about Web sites being blocked inside the Main Press Center? The problem was only partially resolved. After complaints, more sites became available to reporters inside the MPC and around the country, though many remained blocked. Research by OpenNet Initiative said that…