Censorship in China

The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing have drawn international attention to censorship in China. Watchdog groups say the preexisting monitoring system piles on new restrictions, and the government continues to detain and harass journalists. But the country’s burgeoning economy allows greater diversity in China’s media coverage, and experts say the growing Chinese demand for information is testing a regime that is trying to use media controls in its bid to maintain power.


As China becomes a major player in the global economy, authorities in Beijing are trying to balance the need for more information with their goal of controlling content as a means to maintain power. Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Senior Fellow Elizabeth C. Economy says the Chinese government is in a state of “schizophrenia” about media policy as it “goes back and forth, testing the line, knowing they need press freedom—and the information it provides— but worried about opening the door to the type of freedoms that could lead to the regime’s downfall.” Although President Hu Jintao was expected to be more liberal than his predecessors, his administration has pursued a media policy that involves increased regulations as well as the arrest and prosecution of journalists.


The watchdog group Reporters Without Borders ranked China 163 out of 168 countries in its 2007 index of press freedom. Journalists face harassment and prison terms for violating these rules and revealing classified matter. The government’s monitoring structure promotes an atmosphere of self-censorship; if published materials are deemed dangerous to state security after they appear in the media, the information can then be considered classified and journalists can be prosecuted.


How does China exert media controls?

The Chinese government uses different means of intimidation to control the media and induce journalists to censor themselves rather than risk punishment. Censorship tactics include:

• Dismissals and demotions. One of the most common punishments, say watchdog groups, is to fire or demote editors and journalists who publish articles objectionable to the Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department (CPD).

• Libel. Government officials occasionally use accusations of libel as a way to intimidate media outlets and publishing houses. Cases range from a journalist charged with libel for writing pieces critical of Communist Party leaders on foreign websites to an author whose book about the extortion of farmers by local officials was banned after one of the officials sued him and his publishing house.

• Fines. In August 2007, China passed the “Emergency Response Law,” which bans the spread of unverified information regarding riots, disasters, and other emergencies. Originally, the law threatened to fine media sources up to $12,500 for violations, but it was redrafted with more ambiguous language before it was passed.

• Closing news outlets. News organizations that cover issues the CPD considers classified face closure. In a 2005 report, the People’s Daily said 338 publications were shut down the previous year for printing “internal” information.

• Imprisonment. China imprisoned twenty-nine journalists in 2007, making it the world’s biggest jailor of reporters for the ninth year running, according to Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Almost two-thirds of the jailed reporters were arrested for materials published on the Internet. One incarcerated foreign correspondent, Ching Cheong of Singapore’s Straits Times, was arrested in 2005 while reporting about leaders within the Chinese Communist Party. Cheong was sentenced to five years in prison, plus one year’s deprivation of political rights. His arrest had a chilling effect on press freedom in Hong Kong, where he was based.


How does China control the influence of foreign media?

China requires foreign correspondents to get permission before making reporting trips within the country and reporters often face harassment if they cover delicate issues.As part of its bid to host the 2008 Olympics, China promised to relax constraints and “be open in every aspect to the rest of the country and the whole world.”


In January 2007, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao signed a decree that allows foreign journalists to report without permits before and during the Beijing Games. The decree also allows foreign journalists to interview any individual or organization as long as the interviewee consents. The new guidelines came into effect on January 1, 2007, and lasted through October 27, 2008.But critics accuse China of reneging on its Olympic promise.


The Foreign Correspondents Club of China reports that 180 foreign correspondents were detained, harassed, or attacked in China in 2007 despite the nominally relaxed regulations. In addition, China continues to filter foreign (and domestic) content on the Internet—in many cases using technology provided by U.S. companies such as Yahoo!, Microsoft, and Google.


One of the largest foreign uproars came when Beijing introduced regulations in September 2006 requiring foreign wire services to distribute news through Xinhua instead of selling economic information directly to clients. CFR’s Economy says the restrictions had less to do with media control than with a bid by Xinhua to cut into wire services’ profits. The move was “brazen,” says Dietz, because even as Beijing continues prosecuting journalists who cover controversial social issues, “China knows it cannot afford to tamper with the flow of economic data, and that is where it will receive the most external pressure.” But despite the pressure that foreign groups place on China, experts say that criticism coming from outside China will have little effect on policy.