China is tightening controls on foreign news organizations in the country by restricting the work of Chinese news assistants, backsliding on a pledge to allow greater media freedom, Human Rights Watch said.
Under a code of conduct introduced last month, assistants of foreign correspondents in China are barred from “independent reporting” and required to “propagate positive information,” the New York-based group reported.
The rules will hamper the work of foreign correspondents, who rely on assistants to help them report, translate and gather information, the group said in a statement. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing said it had no immediate comment.
After granting foreign reporters the right to travel and interview people without prior permission last year, China faces increasing demands from rights groups to extend media freedom. This year marks the 20th anniversary of China’s crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square and the 50th anniversary of an uprising in Tibet that led to the exile of the Himalayan region’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
The code of conduct, issued on Feb. 13, threatens news assistants with dismissal and loss of accreditation if they conduct independent interviews, Human Rights Watch said.
The government hasn’t provided any clarification on its criteria for “independent reporting,” the group said, citing unidentified foreign correspondents.
“After taking some steps forward on media freedom in 2008, the Chinese government is now stepping backwards,” Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in the statement. “Granting greater freedom to foreign correspondents and then increasing the constraints on their crucial Chinese assistants can’t be considered progress.”
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) says it is “appalled” at the restrictions, adding they run “against the promise of openness made last year.”
With the global spotlight on China as it prepared to host last year’s Olympic Games, the government in Beijing instituted a temporary regulation on Jan. 1, 2007, allowing foreign reporters to travel and interview people freely. When the statute expired last October, it made the regulation permanent.
Nevertheless, journalists still face harassment and interference, including violence, denial of access to public areas and being followed, according to the FCCC.
Reporters from at least six news organizations were detained, turned back or had their tapes confiscated this month as they tried to visit the Tibetan areas of Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai ahead of the anniversary of unrest in Tibet, the FCCC said.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television