International media rights groups condemned China yesterday over a recent string of actions aimed at curbing press freedoms, including the shutting down of 79 publications and the jailing of writers.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders called for the immediate release of three journalists jailed this week for writing about villagers' complaints over the alleged illegal government seizure of land for development.
Zhu Wanxiang (
The third journalist, identified as Pan Chunlei or Wang Xianyong, was sentenced to one year in prison, the group said.
The defendants were charged with "illegal business operations" as the publication was not officially registered, a court official said on Wednesday.
They were also charged with "fraud and extortion" because of the magazine's fund-raising and investment activities, the official said.
The media watchdog further accused China's propaganda boss, Liu Yunshan (
Liu announced on Tuesday that China last year shut down 79 "illegal" publishing houses and confiscated 169 million illegal publications as part of the campaign, and vowed to continue efforts this year.
"While Liu Yunshan praises his department for having closed down 79 publications last year, the jail terms imposed on these three journalists serve as a reminder that the fight against pornography and intellectual piracy is often just a pretext," the group said.
"The crackdowns also target journalists whose only crime is to try to break out of the strait-jacket of political control," it said.
In another protest, London-based International PEN protested the detention of Zheng Yichun (
The press freedom group called for the immediate and unconditional release of the poet, professor and dissident writer.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of