Freedom of Press: September 2006 Archives
By REUTERS | The New York Times
September 30, 2006
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - China's new restrictions on foreign media raise concerns about its respect for trade rules as well as human rights and freedom of expression, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.
Opening a Reuters photo exhibition at European Commission headquarters on Friday evening, Barroso said European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson had contacted the Chinese authorities to complain about the measures.
``The Commission has already expressed its concerns over the repercussion these measures are likely to have in terms of trade, foreign operations in China and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,'' Barroso said in a speech.
``We will continue to do our utmost to defend open markets and freedom of expression,'' he said.
The new rules, announced this month, bar foreign companies such as Reuters and Bloomberg LP from selling news and information directly to clients in China.
``Let us not beat about the bush -- these measures are likely to have an extremely severe impact on foreign news agencies in China, and on Reuters in particular,'' Barroso said.
Chinese leaders have sought to play down the impact of the measures, announced by the official news agency Xinhua, which also acts as regulator of the foreign media.
The new rules require foreign media to seek Xinhua's approval to distribute news, pictures and graphics, and the agency has said it could censor reports distributed by foreign media and delete forbidden content.
However, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said on a visit to London that China's open policy toward foreign media and financial information agencies remained unchanged and the government would protect their freedom and rights.
And a senior Chinese diplomat said this week the rules were not motivated by ideology or politics.
``This has nothing to do with ideological or political considerations. It's merely on the economic consideration'' and to bring order to the market, said Xie Xiaoyan, deputy commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's office in Hong Kong.
International rights groups have denounced the rules as an attack on media freedom in China, where the ruling Communist Party is trying to keep a tight grip on information.
By Joseph Kahn | The New York Times
September 15, 2006
Chinese officials on Thursday promised that new rules restricting the sale of foreign wire service news would not affect press freedoms. But they also strongly defended efforts to control the distribution of financial and economic news inside the country.
The New China News Agency, China’s main government news agency, also known as Xinhua, issued regulations on Sunday that would make it the gatekeeper, and presumably also the revenue collector, for all kinds of reports from news agencies sold in China.
The regulations threaten to disrupt a business valued by major Western financial news providers, including Reuters and Bloomberg, at about $100 million a year. Most of the revenue comes from banks and brokerage houses that subscribe to Western news and data services to keep abreast of developments affecting stock, bond and currency markets. Very few news outlets in China subscribe directly to foreign wire services.
The news agency’s attempt to commandeer that business, a repeat of a failed effort it undertook in 1996, raised charges that it sought to use its regulatory authority to enhance its bottom line.
The United States, the European Union and the major players in the financial news and information business protested the agency’s announcement, prompting a vigorous and so far uncompromising defense from Chinese officials.
By BBC World News
September 13, 2006
China has announced tighter controls governing communication between court officials and the media.
Special spokesmen would now release all information to journalists, state-run Xinhua news agency said, and leaks from court officials would be punished.
Officials would decide on releasing details of "sensitive cases", including ones involving foreigners, Xinhua said.
Correspondents say the move comes as China tightens its already rigid control over the country's media.
Xiao Yang, President of the Supreme People's Court, said that 65 official spokesmen had been appointed.
"With the spokesman system, the courts will adopt a more positive attitude towards news reporting and publicity work," Xinhua quoted him as saying.
"All the important information will be released by the spokesmen."
But cases involving foreigners, national security, ethnic groups, religion and "sensitive issues" would be examined before being released to the media, his deputy Cao Jianming said.
Those giving "improper" news to the media would be punished, he said.
By REUTERS | The New York Times
September 12, 2006
International rights groups denounced new Chinese curbs on the dissemination of foreign news as a step backward ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when thousands of journalists will descend on the country's capital.
The official Xinhua news agency announced rules on Sunday requiring foreign media to seek its approval with immediate effect to distribute news, pictures and graphics within China.
Warning against dissemination of news that endangers national security, sabotages national unification or promotes cults, the rules empower Xinhua to censor reports distributed in China by foreign media and to delete forbidden content.
The rules also seek to bar international financial information companies, including Reuters and Bloomberg, from selling news services directly to Chinese customers such as banks and brokerages.
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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