China told journalists yesterday they must “cooperate” with police and respect the country’s laws, after several foreign reporters were roughed up in a crackdown on calls for anti-government rallies.
The government also blamed foreign media for the ruckus between police and foreign reporters who had gone to cover a protest in Beijing, saying journalists had wilfully ignored laws.
Beijing has launched a massive security clampdown in major cities in response to the calls inspired by the “Jasmine revolution” in Tunisia.
Photo: Reuters
US and EU diplomats in China as well as media groups have condemned the tough police handling of some journalists on Sunday in a Beijing shopping area where organizers of the “Jasmine rallies” had urged people to gather.
“The police provided reasonable guidance, and the journalists should understand and cooperate,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Jiang Yu (姜瑜) told a scheduled news conference. “If both sides take this attitude, we can minimize the occurrence of such incidents.”
“It’s a busy street with many people passing through it. There was nothing going on. So many reporters went there on receiving whose instructions? Who called them to congregate there and mill around? That’s what I want to ask,” she said.
“Foreign journalists should respect and abide by China’s laws and regulations ... Beijing is a very big city with a large population. It is important to maintain normal order,” Jiang added. “We hope that journalists, if you proceed from the need of reporting news rather than creating news or creating incidents, cooperate.”
Hundreds of uniformed and plainclothes police had blanketed the Wangfujing district in the city center on Sunday for the second week running, aggressively pushing away foreign reporters with cameras and briefly detaining several.
Bloomberg News said one of its correspondents was kicked and punched by at least five men in plainclothes — apparently security personnel. He required medical treatment.
Jiang said police were “in the process of investigating” the incident.
A similarly tight security presence was seen at the Shanghai protest site near the city’s People’s Square on Sunday.
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