As of: March 15, 2024, 9:27 a.m
By: Sven Hauberg
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Press
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In Shanghai, security forces are trying to stop journalists from reporting on the corona pandemic in front of a hospital (archive image).
© Leo Ramirez/AFP
There is no freedom of the press in China.
Nevertheless, journalists are now demanding that the state respect their work.
The background is a tragic accident.
For years, China has reliably occupied one of the lowest places in the press freedom rankings of the organization Reporters Without Borders.
Last year, the People's Republic came in 179th out of 180, only North Korea has it more difficult for journalists.
What is currently happening in China is all the more astonishing: the country is discussing the value of a free press.
The trigger was a short scene that was shown on Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday and has since been deleted but can still be found on X (formerly Twitter).
You can see a reporter standing in front of the smoking ruins of a house in the town of Yanjiao, east of Beijing.
At least seven people died and 27 people were injured in the explosion at a restaurant.
In the middle of her report, the CCTV journalist is suddenly pushed aside by several security guards and the live broadcast apparently stops.
Criticism from China's state-affiliated journalists' association and on Weibo
Sharp criticism of the authorities' actions came from, among others, the All-China Journalists Association, a journalists' association that is under the control of the Communist Party and is not usually known for criticizing the government.
The authorities “must not obstruct reporters’ normal duties in simple and gross ways just to control public opinion,” the association said on Thursday.
Discontent also spread on Weibo, a social network.
Several users accused the authorities of muzzling journalists.
Even Hu Xijin, one of the country's best-known journalists and notorious for his nationalist-charged opinion pieces, spoke out.
“Local governments should facilitate reporting when local rescue is not disrupted, rather than intervening or stopping it,” Hu wrote on Weibo – and received 24,000 likes.
Local authorities react contritely
The relevant authorities said they were “deeply remorseful” in a statement the day after the incident.
The city of Sanhe, to which the town of Yanjiao belongs, said it had apologized to the journalists affected.
The forces on site wanted to evacuate the scene of the accident quickly and therefore “strongly persuaded” the reporters present to leave the scene of the accident.
“We are deeply aware of the need to protect the legitimate reporting of journalists in order to respect the public’s right to know.”
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Clashes between reporters from Chinese state-controlled media and security authorities are rare; such incidents mostly affect foreign journalists.
Reporting on accidents and natural disasters in particular is often censored in China.
For example, after the devastating earthquake in Sichuan province, in which around 70,000 people died in 2008 - according to research, poorly constructed buildings, such as schools, were also to blame for the high number of deaths.
The actions of the Chinese authorities after the accident on a high-speed train in the city of Wenzhou also made headlines around the world in 2011.
After the accident that left 40 dead and almost 200 injured, the responsible authorities initially buried parts of the train in order to prevent an independent investigation into the causes.
The media was instructed not to report on the events.
China: At least 100 journalists are in prison
According to Reporters Without Borders, at least 100 journalists were in prison in China in 2023 because of their work.
State and party leader Xi Jinping is “continuing his campaign against journalism that he began ten years ago,” said the organization.
According to Xi, the job of journalists is to "objectively and truthfully tell the world the story of China, the story of the Chinese Communist Party and the story of the new era we are living through," the party leader said in October 2022.
The government's decision to cancel the Chinese Prime Minister's traditional press conference at the end of the annual session of China's parliament this year and in the coming years recently caused discontent among foreign journalists.
The press meeting was always strictly choreographed; questions had to be submitted in writing beforehand;
Nevertheless, it was one of the few opportunities to ask China's number two questions directly.
Party leader Xi Jinping has not given a single interview since he took office in 2012.