RSF: China marks ‘National Journalists Day’ to mask extreme crackdown on press freedom
BAGUIO CITY — China marked its National Journalists Day on Nov. 8 “to mask its extreme crackdown on press freedom,” Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said, believing such “threatens the existence of independent journalism.”
From the torture of detained reporters to arbitrary detentions and systematic censorship and harassment, RSF cited five tactics used by the Chinese government against journalists in China.
Journalists are killed, mistreated and tortured, Cédric Alviani RSF’s Asia-Pacific Bureau Director said, further citing that violence committed by the Chinese government against journalists is widespread.
“The Chinese regime’s celebration of a ‘Journalists’ Day’ is fooling no one. Given this display of propaganda, it is essential to highlight that Beijing’s ruthless crackdown on press freedom is endangering journalism’s very existence in the country,” Mr. Alviani stressed.
“We call on the international community to increase pressure on the Chinese regime to stop violating the principles of press freedom enshrined in its constitution.”
RSF also noted that China is “(the) world’s largest jail for journalists,” placing at least 122 journalists and press freedom advocates in detention, including Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan, who spent four years in prison for her coverage of the coronavirus outbreak, and was recently criminally detained again for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”
RSF also cited harassment and surveillance of journalists covering sensitive topics. It cited the 2024 annual report by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) noting that “the vast majority (81%) of surveyed journalists believe that authorities have ‘possibly or definitely’ compromised their messaging app WeChat, while four out of five journalists said they had experienced interference, harassment, or violence.”
The Chinese government also was hard against foreign journalist, the RSF further noted, citing how the Chinese regime “is increasingly using a visa weaponization policy to limit access for foreign journalists.”
In the same FCCC’s 2024 survey, RSF said, “nearly one-third of journalists reported their newsrooms suffered staffing shortages due to an inability to recruit the necessary reporters.” — Artemio A. Dumlao
