The Committee to Protect Journalists' 2023 annual survey on the situation of imprisoned journalists showed that the number of imprisoned journalists in China reached forty-four, once again ranking first in the world.
On January 18, the Committee to Protect Journalists, an international human rights organization, released a report revealing the imprisonment of journalists around the world in 2023. Among them, China once again ranked first in the world with 44 journalists imprisoned. Journalists continue to be persecuted by the authorities. What does this mean for the current news environment in China?
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When the CPJ report was released, Jimmy Lai, one of the representatives of press freedom in Hong Kong and the former founder of Apple Daily, was on trial in Hong Kong and had been detained in prison for more than 1,140 consecutive days. The crimes he was charged with include two counts of "conspiracy to collude with foreign countries or foreign forces to endanger national security" and one count of "conspiracy to publish, publish, offer for sale, distribute, display or reproduce seditious publications", all of which are anti-national. crime.
Expansion of anti-state charges
The report of the Committee to Protect Journalists also specifically mentioned the case of Jimmy Lai, and pointed out that the Chinese government has a tendency to expand anti-state charges against journalists; in 2023, three-fifths of the new cases in which journalists were detained by the Chinese government were accused of engaging in charges of espionage, inciting separatism or subversion of state power.
Former Southern Metropolis Daily editor Programmer Yizhong, who lives in New York, analyzed to our reporter that this trend of expanding anti-state charges reflects the Chinese government’s basic attitude towards freedom of speech. “(This) makes it convenient for the party-state judicial authorities to directly Speech is a crime. This crime does not require any actions or evidence, only speech. This is a false crime."
It is worth noting that China’s amendments to the “Counterespionage Law” that took effect on July 1, 2023, had already caused concern in the press at that time. On June 28, before the bill came into effect, a reporter from South Korean media Yonhap asked a question at a press conference of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, questioning that this new bill would create difficulties for foreigners in China to find and store Chinese statistical data. Some people also questioned There are concerns that this will restrict the reporting activities of foreign journalists.
At that time, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded that it was unnecessary to link the Counterespionage Law with the reporting activities of foreign journalists. China has always welcomed media and journalists from all countries to engage in reporting and reporting in China in accordance with laws and regulations, and provided convenience for them. and assistance.
However, many foreign information companies with similar media work were investigated by the Chinese police on the grounds of national security in 2023, indicating that Mao Ning's words have limited persuasiveness. The latest report by the Committee to Protect Journalists about the detention of Chinese journalists also shows that the press’ concerns about the Counterintelligence Act are well-founded.
An article in August 2023 on the official website of China Social Sciences Magazine with official background sorted out the contents of the new version of the "Counterespionage Law", which mentioned that this law will "other documents, data, and materials related to national security and interests" ", items" are included in the protection; the definition of espionage is expanded to include "theft, spying, bribery, and illegal provision" to include any tangible carrier of intelligence information related to national security and interests. Since Chinese law has always had a vague definition of what is “related to national security and interests”, it is difficult for the expanded content of the new version of the “Counterespionage Law” to make the outside world uneasy about the boundaries or security of media work.
Nearly half are Uighur journalists
Another aspect of the CPJ report that attracted outside attention is that 19 of the 44 imprisoned Chinese journalists are Uyghur journalists.
Overseas spokesperson of the World Uyghur Congress, Dilixiati, told our reporter, “China’s purpose of expanding the imprisonment of Uyghur journalists is very clear. It uses systematic attacks and intimidation against Uyghur journalists to prevent the outside world from knowing more about it. "There are many truths." He emphasized that "Uyghur journalists may be imprisoned and lose their freedom at any time for covering sensitive local issues."
The Chinese government’s large-scale detention of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang has been reported by international media since 2017. However, in China, relevant news has always been listed as a restricted area for media reporting, and the Chinese government has repeatedly denied the existence of such a fact.
Yili Xiati, vice chairman of the World Uyghur Congress Executive Committee, told this station that news about mass detentions did not come from domestic media reporters. “After 2017, the only channel for the international community to understand what happened there is from there. The escaped Uyghurs and the leaked government documents. There are no local reporters reporting." He pointed out that even if international media such as the BBC entered Xinjiang, their investigations were obstructed by the local government.
Yilishati, who was born in Xinjiang, is not surprised by the situation reported by the Committee to Protect Journalists. According to his understanding, Uyghur journalists in Xinjiang media have always been subject to strict restrictions in their work. "They have no right to conduct interviews and publish articles on their own. They must go with a Han colleague. The Han writes the articles and the Uyghurs translate. In other words, The role of Uyghur journalists is that of a translator." He said that this has been the case since the July 5th Incident in 2009 at the latest.
Over the years, many Uyghur journalists Ilishati has known have been arrested and sentenced by the Chinese government on national security-related charges. He mentioned that in 2009, the Urumqi Municipal Court in Xinjiang sentenced Hailet Niyaz, a senior reporter of the Xinjiang Economic News, to 15 years in prison for "endangering national security" because he accepted the punishment after the July 5th Incident in Urumqi. Interviewed by many foreign media.
Yilixiati has been unable to contact his relatives in China for many years. Regarding the above-mentioned report that 19 Uyghur journalists were imprisoned by the Chinese government last year, Yilixiati analyzed that this reflects the Chinese authorities’ comprehensive ban on information about Xinjiang. “Now This kind of suppression can only be understood as that it (the Chinese government) is suppressing the activities of any journalist. It is suppressing any information that is leaked that is not beneficial to it."
He emphasized that Uyghur journalists have been greatly restricted in China. Even under such circumstances, reporters are still being arrested. “It can be imagined that there is no room for Uyghurs to speak, including journalists who are within the system. How big is the space?”
Yili Xiati said that in China's news and public opinion environment, it is not a matter of how much space there is, but whether there is any space.
Jokowi denies reports that some ministers will resign
Jakarta - Indonesian President Joko Widodo denied the news circulating that several ministers in the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet, including Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, would resign from the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet.
"Every day we discuss ministers, every time we have limited meetings, every day there are internal meetings, every day with all ministers or with some ministers," said President Jokowi when met after attending the 78th NU Muslimat Birthday (Harlah) event at the Gelora Main Stadium Bung Karno, Jakarta, Saturday.
Dismissing this news, President Jokowi emphasized that every day he holds internal meetings with ministers from morning to evening.
He admitted that in every meeting with different ministers he did not find any problems.
"Yes, who did the news come from? Our people from morning to evening, morning, afternoon and evening, we have plenary meetings, internal meetings, limited meetings, there is always never a break. Every hour, every two hours we change meetings, we change ministers, there is no problem. ," said Jokowi.
According to him, the issue of the minister resigning is something that is linked to politics, considering that we have entered the political month or ahead of the 2024 democratic election in February.
However, the Head of State emphasized that the ministers were still working routinely as usual.
"Yes, it's called a political month, a political year, yes, everything will be related to matters of a political nature, but we normally work normally, work normally," said Jokowi.
As reported, senior economist Faisal Basri at a discussion event in Jakarta recently said that Sri Mulyani was the minister who was morally the most ready to resign from the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet.
Apart from Sri Mulyani, Faisal also said that the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing, Basuki Hadimuljono, was ready to resign.
According to Faisal, ministers from among the technocrats are ready to resign because of the issue of the President's support in the presidential election.