The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) calls on China’s
authorities to investigate the implementation of rules allowing foreign
journalists more freedom to report on the Mainland, after a foreign journalist
was prevented from interviewing a jobless teacher.
The IFJ is concerned that provincial authorities are either
refusing to adhere to the more relaxed rules for foreign journalists, which
were initially in place for the Olympic Games and then extended in October
2008, or have not been made aware of them.
Under the rules, foreign reporters are generally permitted
to travel where they wish (with the exception of some regions such as Tibet) and to interview anyone who is
willing to talk to them.
A German journalist told the IFJ that provincial officers in
Jining, Shangdong, prevented him on February 19 from interviewing a jobless
teacher who had consented to the interview two days previously.
The journalist, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that he
went to the teacher’s house, as agreed, but the teacher was not there. He
noticed plain-clothes security personnel were watching him and his colleagues.
“I was very worried for the safety of the interviewee,” he
told the IFJ. “The interviewee might be in danger.”
The teacher, who also asked not to be named, told the IFJ that
local officials had taken him from his home on February 19 to an inn for two
days.The officials asked
him not to talk with foreign media because some foreign journalists were
anti-communist and there was a risk of damaging China’s image abroad, he said.
“I’m not an anti-communist party activist,” he told the IFJ.
“I have been appealing to various government departments for ages to demand
fair treatment to all retired rural teachers.”
The teacher said he had called many Mainland-based media to
draw attention to what he thought was unfair treatment of teachers, but none
had shown interest in reporting the matter.
The journalist said he had a similar experience in Henan Province
a week previously. “I don’t know whether it is due to the central government or
whether the local provincial government was trying to undermine the rules,” he
said. “I have started to take caution about the working conditions in China.”
“Under Article 6 of the rules covering foreign media, all
foreign journalists need only obtain oral consent from interviewees at the time
of an interview,” IFJ General Secretary Aidan White
said.
“China’s
central authorities must take action to ensure all officials, at whatever
level, fully understand the rules and adhere to them.”
The IFJ’s recently released report, China’s Olympic Challenge: Press Freedom in 2008, recommends that directives
must be issued to all central and provincial authorities in China, advising
them of the rules applying to foreign media and ordering that they refrain from
intimidating, harassing or intercepting foreign journalists and local interviewees.
China090224 Traditional Chinese.pdf
China090224 Simplified Chinese.pdf
For further information
contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612
9333 0919
The IFJ
represents over 600,000 journalists in
120 countries worldwide