The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has grave concerns about China’s unlawful detention of a journalist who exposed alleged government wrongdoing around the construction of a dam more than 50 years ago.
Xie Chaoping, 55, formerly with the Procuratorial Daily, a newspaper under direct control of the Procurator of the People’s Republic of China, was detained on August 19 by security officers of Weinan, Shaanxi, accused of illegal publication of a book for commercial sale. His detention has only recently come to public attention.
In the book, The Great Migration, Xie spent three years interviewing victims of Sanmenxia Dam, chronicling the farmers’ trust of the then Weinan government, which persuaded them to leave their homelands to allow the Central Government to build the dam in the 1950s. The book alleges the local government cheated the farmers, depriving them of land and compensation allocated to them by the Central Government.
An IFJ source said Xie wrote an in-depth article about the dam in 2006 when he was working at Procuratorial Daily, but the newspaper censored the story. Xie left the paper in protest and to further his investigation.
After he finished the book, Xie contacted three publishers but none would go to print, with two citing pressure from the relevant department of the Weinan government, while another requesting the deletion of all names of alleged wrongdoers from the book, which Xie refused.
In May 2010, Sparkle, a Beijing-based cultural magazine, agreed to publish the book, on the condition that Xie bear the cost. Xie provided CYN 50,000 (about USD 6,500) to the publisher and signed a memorandum promising that the book was not intended for commercial sale.
On June 26, copies of the book were confiscated by the Weinan government’s cultural department. The Weinan security bureau then searched the houses of interviewees named in the book, and removed at least 8000 copies from an interviewee’s home in the early hours of June 27, reasoning that the book leaked a state secret.
Four Weinan security officers and three Beijing security officers took Xie away from his apartment in Beijing on August 19 with the explanation he might have been involved in an illegal commercial activity.
Xie’s lawyer, Zhou Ze, said Weinan security officers abused their power by detaining Xie without reason and not following proper criminal procedures. Xie’s family has been forbidden to visit him. Zhou has visited Xie in his cell in an unknown location, and says their discussion was recorded.
Zhou said Xie used his own money to print the books, which were not intended for sale.
The magazine has been suspended and the publisher removed from his position. The publisher has admitted negligence in not following the correct procedure, but it is unclear what the correct procedure is.
“The IFJ reminds all levels of government in China of comments made by Premier Wen Jiabao in a public speech on August 27, where he stressed the valuable role of the media in reporting illegal activities and drawing attention to improper behaviour by public officials,” IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said.
The IFJ urges China’s authorities to direct the Weinan security bureau to release Xie immediately. It calls on the Cultural Department of China, General Administration of Press and Publication and Security of Bureau of China to investigate the case promptly and transparently.
For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0919
The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 125 countries
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