China Cracks Down on Press Freedom on Tiananmen Square Anniversary

Strategic Insights -

Advocates of press freedom, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), lodged a protest with the Chinese government over attempts to suppress news coverage of the fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Authorities detained a CBS News crew attempting to film the square, suspended CNN transmissions into hotels, and restricted access to universities and state employees. The CPJ expressed concern that the restriction of foreign news coverage had become an annual phenomenon and urged the government to respect journalists' rights to gather and disseminate news without interference.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Chinese government detained a CBS News crew, including correspondent James Hattori, producer Joan Gilbertson, cameraman Brad Simpson, and a Chinese staff member, while filming in Tiananmen Square.
  • The crew was questioned for two hours and released after signing a statement apologizing for breaking certain rules, including filming a police officer without permission. Their videotape was confiscated.
  • Police orders were issued to Beijing hotels to switch off CNN transmission.
  • Wall Street Journal correspondent Kathy Chen was stopped on the Beijing University campus and detained for more than four hours.
  • The CPJ urged the Chinese government to respect the right of correspondents to gather and disseminate news without interference and to lift the ban on CNN coverage.
  • Chinese authorities barred outsiders from universities, where the unrest began in 1989, and ordered all state employees to work on what would otherwise be a day off.
  • The CPJ noted that Wang Wangxing, who attempted to unfurl a protest banner on the third anniversary of the crackdown in 1991, was arrested and forcibly committed to an asylum for the criminally insane, where he is deteriorating day-by-day.

Statistics:

  • 5 years: the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
  • 1949: the year of the Communist Revolution in China.
  • Over 4 hours: the duration of Kathy Chen's detention.
  • Over 2 hours: the duration of the CBS News crew's questioning.
  • 1: the number of videotape confiscated from the CBS News crew.
  • 1: the number of CNN transmissions into hotels suspended.

Sources:

  • Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
  • Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)
  • Cable News Network (CNN)
  • Wall Street Journal
  • New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent, non-profit organization that advocates for press freedom worldwide.