China Trying to Tighten Media Control

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | The New York Times
September 1, 2006

China's jailing of a Hong Kong reporter as a spy reflects a deepening dilemma for the communist government: how to tighten control over information in an increasingly open, Internet-savvy society.

Ching Cheong, a correspondent for The Straight Times in Singapore, was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison after being convicted of selling secrets to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its territory.

His conviction came amid a government campaign to rein in a freewheeling press that has seen dozens of journalists and Internet essayists jailed. But the crackdown goes further: China is also tightening controls over legal activists, charities and even mapmakers, whom a state news agency accused this week of threatening national security with unauthorized surveying.

The effort highlights the communist leadership's desire to put the brakes on the societal changes that have been occurring since economic reforms started 25 years ago. In exchange for a more vibrant economy, the government has been forced to ease social controls, giving Chinese the freedom to live where they want, travel or study abroad and post their opinions on the Internet.

While much of Chinese society is hurtling forward to catch up with the West, the leadership is trying to claw them back.

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